At a depth of 106 meters
Researchers find a warship sunk by Germany
November 15, 2025 – 14:11Reading time: 2 minutes
200 sailors died when the British HMS Bayano sank more than 100 years ago. Now researchers have made a spectacular discovery at depth.
An international research team has identified a British cargo ship more than 100 years old at a depth of 106 meters. HMS Bayano was sunk by a German submarine in March 1915 during the First World War, killing almost 200 sailors.
The shipwreck is located in the North Channel between Ireland and Scotland. Expedition member Alexandra Pischyna explains: “At this depth the conditions are demanding and the time on the seabed is short, but the site is very well preserved.”
Identification is based on several mutually confirming clues. Steffen G. Scholz, head of the underwater photography and videography expedition, cited the size of the cannon, location and dimensions and structural features of the ship as evidence, among other things.
“The shipwreck has a very different historical significance. HMS Bayano has a very interesting story behind it,” said Scholz. The ship was part of the British naval blockade against Germany in World War I. As a ship called an “Armed Merchant Cruiser” (AMC), this ship, which was originally a civilian ship, was armed with two six-inch guns.
The research team also used German archives, contemporary reports and statements from survivors for identification. One of these accounts describes how Captain Henry Carr stood on the bridge until the end, waving his arms and shouting “Good luck, son” before the ship disappeared into the waves.
Researchers at “ProjectXplore” have set themselves the goal of finding historically significant shipwrecks. “Currently there are 15 to 20 shipwrecks that we are looking at and want to work on,” explained Scholz. Sometimes the projects are very specific, sometimes just the history and sea area. “Then it only continues when a new source appears, for example a tip from a fisherman whose net was caught.”
According to Pischyna, the researchers were “very careful to leave things as we found them.” Souvenirs from the wreck will not be brought to the surface. “This is a historic site and must be preserved.
