Buoys Marking the Submerged Remains of the Prince Ivanhoe, Port Eynon BayThe Prince Invanhoe (formerly the Shanklin) was a 986 ton pleasure cruise ship which sailed from Swansea's Ferryport Terminal during Summer months, taking holiday-makers and sight-seers on short cruises along the Bristol Channel. Operated by Waverley Excursions Ltd., which still runs summer cruise ships along the same route, the Prince Ivanhoe ran into trouble on the afternoon of Monday August 3rd 1981. Carrying over 400 passengers, the ship sailed too close to Port Eynon Point and struck a submerged object which ripped a 25 metre gash into the portside of her hull. Taking on water fast, the Captain was quick to realise the seriousness off the situation and grounded the ship at Horton Sands. With little wind and a calm sea all passengers and crew were brought ashore alive. Unfortunately, due to the commotion, two passengers suffered heart attacks whilst recovering their ordeal on Horton Sands and one of the pensioners was pronounced dead on arrival upon reaching the local hospital.
Scene of the Wrecking of the Prince Ivanhoe - Click On the Above Image
to See the Distant Buoys Which Mark the Submerged Remains
to See the Distant Buoys Which Mark the Submerged Remains
Abandoned by her underwriters, the remains of the Prince Ivanhoe proved to be extremely hazardous to the Horton Inshore lifeboat and to small vessels that frequented the sea here and during 1983 and 1984 the bulk of the wreck was removed from the sea at the behest of Trinity House.
The submerged object the Prince Ivanhoe had struck is a matter of controversy to this day. An intriguing theory, put forward by diver and author George Davies, in his excellent book "The Gower Coast," was that the ship had struck one of two other submerged wrecks - either the Eldon Park or the Orion (a steel hulled sailing vessel wrecked here only two weeks previous to the Prince Ivanhoe incident).
