The discovery of a WWII-era wreck has solved a 77-year-old mystery!

The wreck of a World War II-era landing craft, which until now was thought to have sunk in a completely different location, has been found off the coast of Wales. Landing Craft Tank – LCT – type units were used by the Royal Navy to land tanks. The unit found dates back to 1943, when it disappeared with its entire 14-man crew.

LCT 326 Type Mk3 was built at the Tees-Side Bridge shipyard in Middlesbrough and measured 59 metres long and 9.8 metres wide. She entered service with the Royal Navy on 15 April 1943 and was used until she was lost on 2 February 1943.

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For 77 years it seemed that the LTC 326 lander had hit a mine, or sunk as a result of a storm, near the Isle of Man. However, the latest findings from experts at Bangor and Bournemouth Universities have led to claims that the vessel is as much as 100 miles from the location singled out as the most likely place to sink.

Through the documentation taken, researchers have determined that LCT 326 is located at a depth of around 90 metres, on the seabed near Bardsey Island, north Wales. The documentation and new findings were based on work carried out from the Prince Madog research unit. However, the material relating to the lander wreck is only a small part of the work that has been done.

“The wreck of LCT 326 is one of over 300 sites in Welsh waters that have been investigated by the crew of RV Prince Madog. The aim of this project is to identify as many of the wrecks in Welsh waters as possible so that we can shed new light on the heritage that lies within them. This aspect of the project has resulted in many new and exciting discoveries relating to both World Wars.” – said Dr Innes McCartney, a highly respected expert from Bournemouth University.

Landing Craft Tanks were used in many landing operations, including the legendary Allied landing in Normandy, code-named D-Day.

As we are dealing with a war grave, the new location of the wreck of LCT 326 will be reported to the Admiralty so that records can be corrected and the exact resting place of the 14 crew members can be marked.

^{Source: glasgowtimes.co.uk}