The
Wreck of the 'Dimitris'
Cleveland
Divers have been diving and surveying the remains
of a shipwreck off the coast of Redcar for several
years. The ‘Dimitris’ sank after hitting
rocks about half a mile off shore on the night
of December 14th 1953.
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The wreck of the Greek steamer Dimitris is located
on the East Scar Rocks at Redcar, 275 metres
off the Cleveland coast in the north-east of
England. Map Reference NZ 618 253.
The Dimitris actually began life as a Standard ‘A’ Class
vessel, the ‘War Malayan’. She was
built in 1918 by Caird & Co. Ltd. at Greenock,
measuring 122 metres long, with a beam of nearly
16 metres, a depth of hold of 8.5 metres and
powered by a 3-cylinder Triple-expansion engine,
also built by Caird & Co. This gave her a
top speed of 11 knots. Completed just after the
end of the First World War in 1919, she was then
sold to a Greek, S.G Embiricos, who changed her
name to the ‘Michael L. Embiricos’ and
converted her to a dry cargo ship.
She spent the next 33 years quietly going about
her business, interrupted only by the Second
World War, which, unlike a great many ships,
she managed to survive. In 1952 she was sold
on to new Greek owners, Bogiazides Brothers & N.D.Rallias
and re-named ‘Dimitris’, though her
Port of Registry remained the Greek port of Andros.
Her final voyage began on December 1st 1953,
when she left the port of Bona in Algeria, bound
for Middlesbrough with a cargo of iron ore. At
around 9.30 p.m. on December 14th, in good visibility
and the moon shining, the Dimitris inexplicably
crashed onto the East Scar rocks, some 275 metres
from the shore. At 10.17 pm Cullercoats Radio
received the following message from the stricken
vessel;
“ SOS, have run ashore one mile from
Middlesbrough Roads; require tugs.”
Chief Cook Petre Theoharopulos (the only member
of the crew who could speak English) later spoke
to an Evening Gazette reporter;
“I was in the galley when it happened.
There was a bang and the ship shuddered. A few
minutes later the lights went out and I ran out
on deck.”
The Dimitris had struck the rocks amidships;
the engine room quickly flooded and the boilers
put out. Distress flares were fired and the Redcar
Lifeboat ‘City of Leeds’ was quickly
launched and arrived at the scene. In pitch darkness
and with a heavy swell running, the lifeboat
rescued the 36 crew members with assistance from
local fishing boats.
At daylight the next morning, officials from
the Tees Towing Company surveyed the vessel and
held out little hope of refloating her. Listing
to starboard and firmly impaled on the rocks,
the Dimitris was doomed. Extensive salvage operations
were carried out in 1954 and the actions of the
sea soon reduced the vessel to a pile of scrap
metal.
Today, the wreckage of this vessel, known to
local scuba divers as the ‘Dimi’,
provides one of the best dives on the north-east
coast. Lying in shallow water and in an exposed,
rocky position, marine life thrives here. Many
types of kelp, crabs, lobsters and fish are the
regular residents, while large Grey Seals are
also frequent visitors.
At low water during the Spring tides, one of
the two large boilers just breaks surface and
a pipe also marks the site from just after half-tide.
The steel propellor shaft is still in place and
two sections of the shaft tunnel can be swum
through. The rudder, quadrant and a 9.5 metre
long section of the stock are still in position
and the vessel’s spare 4-bladed iron propellor
is clearly visible and lies nearby. Much of the
remainder of the wreckage is made up of the lower
hull plates and covers a large area, while in
the area of the bow, a considerable quantity
of anchor chain covers the seabed.
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