Pollockshields

History

Pollockshields was built in Hamburg in 1890 as the Herodot and later sailed for the Hamburg America Line as the Graecia. When the First World War began she was serving as a supply ship for German warships in the Atlantic; in October 1914 she was captured by the cruiser HMS Argonaut, taken into British service and renamed Pollockshields.

In August 1915 she left Cardiff with stores and some 350 tons of shells and powder. She ran into a violent squall and days of thick weather, and on 7 September 1915, when the fog lifted, the crew saw from the colour of the water that they were among Bermuda's reefs. Minutes later she struck near Elbow Beach. Bermudians rowed a whaleboat through heavy surf several times and took off the crew, but Captain Ernest Boothe was swept away and drowned.

For decades her engine stood above the water and swimmers cut themselves on the coral-covered steel, so in 1960 the government had Teddy Tucker blast the superstructure down. From 1999 police and military divers removed most of the munitions, but shells still turn up after storms.

Diving the wreck today

A shallow, easy wreck dive and snorkel on the reef off Elbow Beach, from about 15 ft inside the reef line to just over 40 ft outside the breakers. The boilers, triple-expansion engine, propeller and scattered plating are all overgrown with coral, and fish life is good. Live shells and shell casings are still found on the site - look but never touch or remove anything. Surge can be strong on the South Shore in a southerly swell.