A ship that became the final resting place of more than 500 men in the early months of World War I has been found off the coast of northeast Scotland in what divers say is "remarkable" condition. The HMS Hawke, a 387-foot cruiser, sank on October 15, 1914, after it was hit by a single torpedo from a German U-boat, the BBC reports. The Hawke, which had been on patrol off Aberdeen, sank within minutes. Around 70 survivors were rescued, but 524 men, including the captain, died.
The shipwreck was found around 70 miles off the coast by Lost in Waters Deep, a group that searches for wartime shipwrecks in Scottish waters, the Express reports. Diver Steve Mortimer tells the BBC that finding the HMS Hawke took years of research, including looking at the U-boat captain's journal, but they found it after just a few hours on the ground, less than a mile away from where fishery authorities had reported an "obstruction" in the 1980s. Mortimer, a marine biologist, says the lack of nutrients in waters in the area means there has been little growth on much of the boat, even after 110 years.
"The guns are in utter pristine condition. They are ready for battle. There were bits that were shiny—it is bonkers," he tells Sky News. "There was bridge gear, portholes looking into the cabins, the teak is still there. It's incredibly, incredibly intact." He says that more than 100 of the ship's crew were under 18, with the youngest just 14 years old, and the team hopes the find will give families some closure. "You've got the resting place of sadly 524 naval lads," he says. "It's absolutely devastating, but at the same time families now have an 'X marks the spot.' They've got closure, they've got a resting place." (More shipwreck stories.)
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