![\"Crown](\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/480\/cpsprodpb\/de28\/live\/a476d0f0-5b31-11ef-b1b4-cdfdd7474852.jpg.webp\")
Crown Copyright, Courtesy of the National Museum of the Royal Navy<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\nA wreck discovered off the Aberdeenshire coast is believed to be a lost Royal Navy warship sunk by a torpedo during World War One.<\/p>\n HMS Hawke was discovered by a team of divers about 70 miles east of Fraserburgh earlier this week in “remarkable” condition. <\/p>\n More than 500 of the ship’s crew died when it was attacked by a German U-boat in October 1914.<\/p>\n The ship caught fire and, following an explosion, sank in less than eight minutes with just 70 sailors surviving. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n It is hoped that the wreckage will be formally identified by the Royal Navy in the coming weeks.<\/p>\n The wreckage was found by the Lost in Waters Deep group – which searches for shipwrecks to remember wartime losses in Scottish waters.<\/p>\n HMS Hawke, a 387ft (118m) long and 60ft (18m) wide Edgar-class protected cruiser, was first launched in 1891.<\/p>\n In 1911, it was badly damaged in a collision in the Solent with the Titanic’s sister ship, RMS Olympic. <\/p>\n When World War One broke out Hawke was deployed to the 10th Cruiser Squadron and took part in blockade duties between Shetland and Norway.<\/p>\n In October 1914, the squadron deployed further south in the North Sea as part of efforts to stop German warships from attacking troop convoys from Canada.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n On 15 October 1914, the squadron was on patrol off the coast of Aberdeen when HMS Hawke was struck by a single torpedo from German submarine U-9 <\/p>\n This major attack in the early stages of the war was an early indication of the Royal Navy\u2019s vulnerability to German U-boats, even in the north of Scotland.<\/p>\n The wreck, the last resting place of 524 sailors, was located on 12 August, 360ft (110m) below the surface.<\/p>\n Steve Mortimer, a diver who is working alongside the Lost in Waters Deep project, told BBC Scotland that finding the location of HMS Hawke took a lot of hard work.<\/p>\n The team’s research involved going back to data from the time such as the U-boat commander’s day journal which gave an indication of where it had been when it fired the torpedo.<\/p>\n They also looked at the logs of other Navy cruisers which had “exchanged post” with HMS Hawke just before it was sunk, giving them a general area for where the ship might lie.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Another piece of data was an “obstruction” on the seabed reported by Scottish fisheries in the 1980s.<\/p>\n The dive ship investigated the obstruction site but found nothing.<\/p>\n However, just a kilometre away they found a huge shipwreck.<\/p>\n “It took years of research but the actual time on the ground was just a few hours,” Mr Mortimer said.<\/p>\n He said HMS Hawke had clearly deteriorated after a century on the seabed but it was still in remarkable condition.<\/p>\n “Lots of the decking in still in place – teak decking,” he said. <\/p>\n “There is a wonderful captain’s walkway around the back of the stern. There’s loads of guns because obviously she was a warship.<\/p>\n “There’s lots of Royal Navy crockery. It is fascinating. She clearly was taken completely by surprise because lots of the portholes are still open.”<\/p>\n Mr Mortimer said the area of the sea that the ship was in has few nutrients, which means the wreck has not been eaten away by organisms.<\/p>\n He said: “You can look into the portholes and see rooms with artefacts – teacups, bowls and plates just there on the floor.<\/p>\n “It’s a really remarkable time capsule.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/bbcx\/grey-placeholder.png\")
![\"Lost](\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/480\/cpsprodpb\/9754\/live\/22f80a90-5b35-11ef-9734-5999d67cfdb6.jpg.webp\")
Lost in Waters Deep<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n![\"Paul](\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/480\/cpsprodpb\/9472\/live\/4131d180-5b2b-11ef-997c-711b7066309d.jpg.webp\")
Paul Downs<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n