Discovery of the sailing vessel Abernyte, an un-dived shipwreck site off the Lizard in Cornwall.

The sailing vessel Abernyte was lost on the Lizard in Cornwall in 1898 during a night of dense fog.
In the summer of 2021 we used an old photograph of the vessel breaking apart on rocks to be able to locate the wreck site, along this rarely dived section of UK coastline.
We found the wreck very smashed apart, but many pieces still remain in deep gullies and buried in the stony seabed. To our suprise, amongst the wreckage we discovered a iron muzzle loading cannon, this was unusal as in 1898 these guns were outdated and considered obselete in terms of warfare.
Initially we suspected the cannon may have been used as a lump of ballast in the bottom of the ship, however digging around the gun would reveal both trunions are intact and there may be a possibility that the gun was actual on board as a signal cannon, although typically these would have been smaller.
Toward the end of the video we show you some of the discoveries that we made on the wrecksite and items we have raised. All items have been reported to the MCA reciver of wreck as per UK maritime law, and the site has been show to contractors working directly for Historic England when they were looking at historic wreck sites in the area.
For those interested, here is a copy of the account of the vessels sinking:
The Board of Trade enquiry found
After a tedious but otherwise uneventful passage, the "Abernyte" made the Bishop Lighthouse, Scilly Islands, about 10 a.m. on the 7th May last, and a course was set and steered to pass five or six miles south of the Lizard. Between five o'clock and six o'clock p.m. the "Wolf" was sighted, and when abeam was estimated to be five or six miles distant, but no cast of the lead was taken nor other means used to verify the position of the ship; and it may here be noted that the lead was never used after the Bishop Lighthouse was made on the morning of the 7th May. She still continued on her course towards the Lizard, the weather being fine and clear, with a moderate breeze from the S.W., the ship making about three knots. The Lizard lights were made between eight and nine o'clock, and it is at this point that the master seems to have made the fatal mistake which eventually led to the loss of the ship. For three hours, or until 11.30 p.m., the lights were continually in sight and in line, which, had the master consulted his chart with ordinary intelligence, was a sufficient indication that he had not the offing he was reckoning upon, and that he had passed the "Wolf" much closer than he estimated, and that also if he continued his course he must inevitably strike on the Lizard Point. At 11.30 p.m. the weather became foggy and the lights were obscured and not again seen. The same course was continued until about 1.30 a.m. on the 8th, when it was altered one point towards the land. At midnight sail had been shortened to topsails and foresail.
Shortly after the course had been altered, the noise of the surf was heard, and directly afterwards breakers were seen on the starboard side. it being evidently impossible to stay the ship owing to the vicinity of the rocks, the master attempted to wear her, calling all hands and making sail. She appears to have reached along the shore for some little distance on the port tack, but owing to the lightness of the wind and a heavy ground swell she had got into, she gradually drifted on the rocks off Rill Head and became a total wreck. The crew, who did not save any of their effects, got into the life-boat and pulled seawards. While in the boat the crew heard the siren on the Lizard, which had not been previously heard.
About daylight they were picked up by a pilot cutter and ultimately landed at Falmouth.
No lives were lost.
The Court having carefully inquired into the circum stances attending the above-mentioned shipping casualty, finds for the reasons stated in the Annex hereto, that the casualty was caused by the master, Mr. Edwin Cardwell, neglecting to use the lead and ignoring the fact that he had brought the two lights of the Lizard in a direct line.
The Court finds the master in default, and suspends his certificate for six months."

[@LiamPalmerMedia]

Was so excited to see this video in my feed! Been waiting for another Shipwreck video! Thanks!

[@scubadive]

You can’t beat diving on a new or even a long forgotten dived wreck site. Great video and nice clear stable footage. A sketch of the whole wreck site would add another dimension to the video so we can work out in our own minds how she lies in the gullies. The photogrammetry is great, I done this on shipwreck of a B17 Flying Fortress engine once then 3D printed it out. I really enjoyed this one thanks 🤿👍🏻👍🏻

[@tropicalscuba]

Great find and the conditions look great. Perfect timing with these easterlies we've been having around this part of Cornwall recently. Best time to get into the water on the west of the lizard.

[@BenoCam]

Yeah nice little run of weather. We have been looking for a few more sites but not doing too well at it 🤣 the viz hasn’t been great. Easterly stirred it up and now it’s gone around the point even to the west side. Need it all to settle out !

[@benjaminpepy3837]

One more nice video. Good job. 👍

[@anon6366]

Another great vid 👍

[@Un_known861]

Absolutely beautiful, thanks Ben!

[@alastairmiller7838]

Crazy the think that she travelled all those miles from Chile and around Cape Horn only to run aground so close to her destination. Gutted.

[@BenoCam]

Yeah the crew must have been rather disappointed! A 6 month journey just to lose the entire cargo and ship only a few hours away from its destination ! Fog has caused a lot of wrecks around the lizard and in the days before GPS you can see why. I also did another video last year of a wreck called the Boyne from 1873. The crew on that weren’t so lucky as most of them got smashed to pieces as the ship went apart 😬 in that way the Abernyte were lucky it was calm weather .

[@alastairmiller7838]

Excellent Ben, cheers!

[@mickkiters3901]

Dived the Cromdale back in the late seventies, found a porthole still on the plate, we had been on the remains of the Mosel below bass point

[@BenoCam]

Cheers Mick, exciting place down there isn’t it. Love getting down there whenever the weather allows, which isn’t very often !!

[@vykintassimutis]

Nice one

[@UKAbandonedMineExplores]

Fascinating, I've never got the chance to dive, would love to one day though.

[@MrDickydribble]

Have you any plans for diving on the wreck of the Queen transport ship that went down off Trefusis point? Great video by the way!

[@BenoCam]

Ha yeah dived the queen a few times. It’s a great story but sadly not much remaining ! A large piece of keel is all that remains . Another similar one is the bay of Panama ... Fantastic story ... but again very little remaining

[@djowen5192]

Be nice to clear those old pots, stop em ghost fishing boy.

[@BenoCam]

Only had a small boat.. had to make do with just cutting the ends out !

[@dindinmel762]

I'm pretty sure that you can't find a better job than this one.

[@mattabbfal]

what’s the clicking noise in the background in some parts of the video? do you dive with a geiger counter??

[@BenoCam]

Not sure actually. The camera picks up noises you don’t actually notice when your down there as you can’t hear them. Sometime the reef makes noise, other times leaky equipment or kit banging against itself etc I haven’t learnt yet how to edit it out 🤣

[@mattabbfal]

@@BenoCam I wonder if it’s echo location from nearby dolphins or something similar? Interesting stuff!

[@mattabbfal]

@Rex Truth 😂