A remarkable discovery has been made off the coast of Scotland, where a team of divers has located the wreckage of HMS Nottingham, a Royal Navy warship sunk during World War One more than a century ago.
The 457-foot cruiser was torpedoed on 19 August 1916 by a German submarine in the North Sea, resulting in the deaths of 38 crew members. Despite numerous efforts over the past hundred years, the exact resting place of HMS Nottingham remained a mystery, until now.
Led by ProjectXplore, an international initiative dedicated to uncovering historically significant shipwrecks around the UK, a team of ten divers identified the wreck roughly 60 miles off Scotland’s coast at a depth of 82 metres.
ProjectXplore confirmed the ship’s identity by closely matching its dimensions, layout, and unique equipment to historical records. Divers also found definitive proof including white dinner plates bearing the Royal Navy’s distinctive blue crown emblem and the name “Nottingham” embossed on the stern.
HMS Nottingham was conducting a reconnaissance mission when it was struck three times on its port side. Earlier that day, crew members had spotted the German U-boat, but a fatal mistake occurred when it was mistaken for a small fishing vessel.
Despite the attack, the majority of the crew survived. The captain, 20 officers, and 357 other sailors were rescued by two nearby Royal Navy destroyers.
ProjectXplore’s discovery comes after months of painstaking research beginning in September 2024, when the team delved into ship logs, telegrams, and naval charts to narrow down possible locations. In April, they deployed sonar technology to survey the seabed, identifying a wreck whose dimensions aligned closely with those of HMS Nottingham.
A follow-up diving expedition in July 2025 finally confirmed the identity of the century-old shipwreck.
The finding not only solves a long-standing maritime mystery but also honours the memory of the crew who served aboard HMS Nottingham during a perilous chapter in naval history.
