The image above is of the Amicitia which is a similar ship built by the same builder, Bergens Mekaniske Verksteder A/V – BMV, Bergen

Known to be carrying “patent fuel” (Coal Briquettes stamped Cardiff with a royal crown mark) when she sank, she was on her way from Port Talbot to Rouen when Oberleutnant Stoter torpedoed her at 2.45 pm from one of the two bow tubes of UB-35 as he lay in wait on the surface for Allied coastal shipping. He had been ordered to patrol between Start Point and the Eddystone and the Skaala was his first victim on that patrol which lasted from December 22 to January 1, 1918. One man died in Stoter’s attack, the other 16 crew landed safely at Dartmouth.

UB Type

There have been two diving deaths on the Skaala, which lies about a quarter of a mile from the wreck of the Maine. A 20ft fishing boat lays across her number 2 hold.

She lies in 43m to the seabed and 33m to the deck.