W.A. Scholten
The remains of this 2589 ton early Dutch liner lie at 51 04 54;01 24 40E after a collision in November 1887. Her captain, G.H. Taat, his first officer and 130 passengers and crew were drowned.

On the evening of November 19, 1887, when she was about 4 miles east of Dover, there was a thick haze - almost a fog - over the sea. The captain fo another ship, the Rosa Mary thogh that the fog was too thick to go on, so at 10.20pm he anchored and hoped that the mist would lift.

Suddenly the lights of the Scholten loomed out of the fog and the liner crashed into the starboard bow of the Rosa Mary. The Rosa Marywas badly damaged but managed to st afloat and at day break struggled into Dover Harbour.

Though the Scholten was much bigger, she suffered more damage. There was an 8ft wide hole in her port bow and the water oouring in gaver her a heavy list to port. Twenty minutes after the collision, she went down by the head.
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The Toward
The Toward was a British merchan steamer of 1218 tons carrying a gerneral cargo from London to Belfast, and currently sits at 51 07 44; 01 25 02E. The Toward was built in 1899 and owned by the Clyde Shipping Co. of Glasgow.

She sunk after hitting a mine on Octer 13, 1915, but all aboard were saved. The mine was one of four laid parallel to the shore "off the Southern entrance to the Downs" by Oberleutnant Count von Schmettow in UC-6 during the night of October 30-31. She was one of 54 ships sunk by the actions of UC-6 during the war.

The wreck is owned by Tony Goodfellow, Sid Meadows, and Dave Knight. They say that they do not mind anyone diving her, but object strongly to anyone taking anything off the wreck. They warn that the debris in the break where the bow snapped off is unstable and dangerous to divers.
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HMS Othello II
The 206 ton armed Admiralty trawler was part of the Dover minesweeping force when she became yet another victim of UC-6's October 30 minefield. On October 31, 1915, she was ordered by Commander W.G. Rigg, the Minesweeping Officer, Dover to move to "Section Two", which was the code for the area between the Goodwin Gate and the Gull Light ship. It was as she battled against a strong gale to get there, that tshe hit a mine at 11.55 am. The explosion broke here nearly in two and she started sinking immediately.

The wheel house was so disorted by the explosion that neighter the door nor the windows would open. Trapped inside as the water rose up around them were the skipper, the second-in-command, the hlmsman and a deck boy. The three men managed to squeeze the boy out of a partially open window, but could not follow themselves. The boy was the only one saved out of the ten aboard.

As a result of this incident, orders were given to remove all the sliding doors of the trawler's wheelhouses and to replace them wioth canvas screens which could be pushed out in an emergency. This is said to have saved a number of lives in later sinkings.

Today the Othello II lies at 51 08 04; 01 24 40E. The wreck is about 100ft long and stances 5m proud. She has been positively identified by her builder's plate.
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HMS Weigelia
This steel Admiralty trawler of 262 tons, 125ft long with a beam of 22 and draught of 12, was sunk by a mine on February 28, 1916, at 51 08 32; 01 27 13E. It is interesting that the boy survivor from the wheelhouse of the Othello II (see above) was sent to join the Weigelia after he had recovered, and was on board when she sunk. He survived again, and only one man from the crew was lost.

reporduce by permission from "A Diver Guide Dive Kent" by Kendall McDonald ISBN 0 946020 20 5