British sailors honored underwater 115 years after shipwreck off Nahariya

On Thursday, divers and officials gathered for the first memorial ceremony honoring seven British sailors who perished 115 years ago in a shipwreck off the coast of Nahariya, Israel. The ceremony was led by Thomas Phipps, Britain’s deputy ambassador to Israel, who represented the sailors' homeland alongside members of the Putsker diving club from Gesher Haziv and underwater photographer Amir Weizman of AQUAZOOM.

For years, local divers and fishermen believed the underwater site, home to the remains of an iron steamship, belonged to a decommissioned Turkish vessel. However, an archival discovery revealed the truth. Marine archaeologist Prof. Ehud "Udi" Galili and Weizman uncovered documents related to the trial of an English ship's captain transporting coal from Britain to Israel.

The wreck, now recognized as the Ardo, a British coal ship that sank during a storm in 1911, claimed the lives of seven sailors. "We are here today not only to remember the ship, but also to remember the people who sailed on it," Phipps stated, emphasizing the importance of honoring these forgotten individuals. Phipps expressed pride in the British Embassy's role in paying tribute to the sailors, attributing the memorial to the diligent efforts of local divers, historians, and researchers.

The Ardo was built in Glasgow in 1894 and departed from Newport, England, carrying approximately 10,000 tons of coal and a crew of 22. On the night of December 27, 1911, a navigational error led the steamship to collide with a kurkar reef off Nahariya. The mishap during the rescue attempt resulted in the drowning of seven crew members.

In recent years, the wreck's true identity and story gained renewed attention, prompting the British Embassy to invite Phipps and the diving team to commemorate the sailors' lives.