Sensational discovery on Gallipoli

The wreck of the World War I submarine HMS E14 has been successfully recovered. The ship sank 94 years ago during hostilities on Turkey’s Galipoli Peninsula.

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The location of the wreck remained unknown until now, when a Turkish diving team came across it in the eastern Mediterranean, 250m off the beach in the town of Kumkale. HMS E14 rests at a depth of about 20m, tilted at a 45° angle and almost completely buried in the sand.

The 55-metre vessel was sunk in January 1918 during a mission to sink the flagship of the Ottoman Empire. Twenty-five members of the 32-man crew were killed. The main cause was a premature torpedo explosion, which damaged HMS E14 and forced her to surface. There, exposed to artillery fire from the coastal defences, she had not the slightest chance of escape.

This was well known to the 31-year-old captain of the ship, White, who manoeuvred to get as close to the beach as possible in order to save his crew. Those who managed to survive later said that the captain’s last words were “we are in God’s hands”. Shortly afterwards he was hit by a shell fragment and went down with his ship.

Finding the wreck, is the result of a 3-year search, led by marine scientist Selcuk Kolay and filmmaker Savas Karakas. It took almost 2 years just to apply for a diving permit in the military zone.

According to Kolay, the finding of HMS E14 is of huge historical significance as it is in good condition and is one of the best preserved wrecks of its type in the world.

Source: dailymail.co.uk