MV Derbyshire
P1
Liverpool Bridge
The motor vessel Derbyshire was a British OBO carrier that sank in 1980 in the Pacific Ocean.
The Derbyshire was built in 1976 by Swan Hunter Shipbuilders in the yard Haverton Hill as Liverpool Bridge and bereedert of the Bibby Line in Liverpool. She was the last of six ships of the " Bridge " class. In 1978 she was renamed in Derbyshire. The ship transported crude oil and bulk materials, especially minerals.
Sinking of the ship
From Sept Isles in Canada coming on the road to Kawasaki came loaded with 157,000 tonnes of iron ore concentrate freighter on September 9, 1980 south of Japan (25 ° 30 'N, 130 ° 30' O25.5130.5 ) in a typhoon and sank within minutes so that the crew could not even make an emergency call. The 42- member crew and two accompanying wives lost their lives.
The Wreck of Derbyshire was discovered in June 1994 by a search expedition, which was co-financed by survivors.
First, as the reason for the downfall of monster waves or a design flaw, which had in 1986 led to the loss of the sister ship Kowloon Bridge off the Irish coast, accepted.
Initial studies of the wreckage revealed that the bug was relatively intact on the seabed, while the rest of the ship was badly damaged. It was therefore assumed that the bug was flooded before the sinking, while the rest of the ship was destroyed in the demise by rising water pressure.
More detailed studies of the wreckage revealed that heavy seas during the typhoon tore the covers of several ventilation shafts at the bow, so that the ship over a longer period by nine to twelve holes of approximately 30 cm in diameter took water. This results in the bow and over the coming waves beat lowered directly onto the front hatch cover. This eventually gave way and the front cargo space was full. By further lowering of the forecastle was repeated this in rapid succession at the holds 2 and 3, after which the ship lost its buoyancy and eventually sank quickly.
The Derbyshire is the largest ever fall in under the British flag ship.