The Fire King

Lying just over 32 miles due west of Whitehaven, Cumbria, the wreck of the Fire King is the premier sports diver-grade dive for Solway BSAC. Although we now think of this wreck as one of our local dives, it is in fact situated about a mile off the Point of Ayre, the northerly tip of the Isle of Man. The tidal stream pushes strongly around this point, creating a bounty of life on the wreck.

The dive
Our dives on the Fire King start quietly enough. The club RIB is loaded in the shelter of Whitehaven Marina, and all the checks are made there, before heading out through the sea loch and into the open sea. From here it’s an hour-plus steam across to the site. After a few miles we leave the murky waters of the Solway Firth and are soon in clear, blue Manx waters, where we often see porpoises and basking sharks.

Outside of the spring plankton bloom (late May, early June) the visibility on the wreck is superb. Often, you’ve hardly started move down the shot-line before you see the white plumose anemones which mark the outline of the wreck below. In late summer, a shoal of pollack often obscures this view and they part like a curtain as you drop through them.

The wreck is quite broken, having been blasted with explosives shortly after sinking, to prevent it becoming a hazard to shipping, everything above deck level is scattered. At that time it lay on a sea bed at 26m, but the strong currents have caused it to dig itself down. It now lies at the bottom of a large scour crater, the maximum depth of which is 33m. The wreck now lies at 45 degrees on its starboard side, pointing at the lighthouse, with all the debris and one of its two boilers spilled out into the crater on this side.

The natural way to dive the wreck is anticlockwise. Currents mean that the shot-line almost always hits on the starboard/ debris side, so heading down towards the stern gets the deeper (30m-plus) part of the dive over first. As you duck under the stern next to the intact rudder and propeller, you enter a small cavern where monster lobster and conger eels fill the deep gap between wreck and shingle. Heading up the portside brings you through a large tunnel which is covered with plumose anemones, where hull plates have popped off the wreck, before a small gap where the wreck is flat before the bow. The bow itself sits high with anchor still in place, and can be safely entered and explored.

The marine life on the wreck is big and prolific. Ballan wrasse, dogfish, pollack, lobsters and especially crab all grow to sizes not commonly seen elsewhere. This is down to the high energy of this site, and the fact that its exposed remote location and strong tides protect it from exploitation.

To successfully dive this wreck, your most important asset will be a boatman who knows what he’s doing. The site is exposed to weather from all directions, and you’re always alone as difficult launching and other attractions down south mean that Manx divers rarely visit this site. The wreck is only diveable for one hour or less on a neap tide, with very strong currents before and after. Low-water slack is needed, as high-water slack lasts about ten minutes. Conveniently, low-water slack on neap tides tends to fall around the middle of the day.

Divers must carry at least one delayed surface marker buoy per buddy pair. The boatman must be ever-vigilant to the current, and divers’ times/plans. With a bit of discipline, you can get two shifts on the wreck, but it’s far easier safer if you take a dedicated boatman so all diving can be completed in full slack. If you don’t have a boatman, think about doing the nearby wreck of the Polar Light, which is arguably as good as the Fire King, but more forgiving.

History
Launched on the 29 October 1925 in Aberdeen, the Fire King grossed 758 tons with a length of 190ft (58m) and beam of 32ft (10m) and powered by a triple-expansion steam engine.

On 10 December 1939 the Fire King was bound for Glasgow with a general cargo. Approaching the Point of Ayre on a fine, clear morning, the mail steamer Duke of Lancaster was observed ahead while on her passage from Belfast to Heysham with cargo and 180 passengers. The ships were on a collision course, but for some reason the Duke of Lancaster failed to give way. The bows of the larger ship sliced right through the second hold of the Fire King at about 3.30pm. The Fire King sank within minutes. Ramsey lifeboat attended the collision scene with a doctor on board and the survivors were put ashore at Ramsey. In 1940 the exact position of the Fire King was located and salvaged, and the wreck was blown up so that it would not be an obstruction to shipping.

Slack water
Because of the strong currents, take care to get your shot-line right. Don’t drop it in before high water plus five hours, as it will have no chance of landing near the wreck. Full slack normally occurs 10–20 minutes after high water, plus five hours – but you can normally set your watch that high water plus five hours represents the start of the diveable window.

Boat launching
The easiest launch is into Whitehaven Marina. Load up on the floating jetty, and then out through the sea loch (32 miles to wreck). This works at all states of the tide on neaps. A £5 fee is charged by the sea loch for visiting boats. Launching for free down the beach in the outer harbour is possible at high water plus or minus four hours.

Essential information
Whitehaven Harbour Master: 01946 692435
Ronaldsway Met Office: 0900 624 3200
James (Jimmy) Tyson –
Solway Branch diving officer: 01946 67928
Alan (Pointy) Goodwin –
Solway Branch training officer: 01946 690656
Peter McLean – Solway
Branch boats officer: 01946 822265
Phil (Fire King Phil)
Hutchinson : 01946 590866.

Thanks to Adrian Corkill for allowing the use of his Dictionary of Shipwrecks off the Isle of Man, and to Manx diving legend Dave Copley for his assistance in locating the Fire King and aiding all our other exploits in Manx water.