WRECKTOUR:140 The Cristina

TO ROUND OFF THE SUMMER, we're back in the usually clear visibility of the north coast of Cornwall, out of Newquay towards Perranporth, for the WW1 wreck of the 2083-ton Spanish steamship Cristina.
With the wreck flattened close to the 40m seabed, the only good target for an echo-sounder are the Cristina's two boilers, so this is where skipper Chris Lowe drops the shot and we begin (1).
Behind the boilers, the triple-expansion steam engine has fallen to starboard (2) to leave the bottom of the cylinders and connecting rods exposed.
Moving towards the starboard side of the wreck, the propeller-shaft (3) leads all the way to the stern. Alongside the shaft, the bearing blocks (4) stand on a reinforced section of keel.
Such a step in the main line of the wreck aft of the engine suggests to me that the torpedo from U55 struck just aft of the engine, and that the Cristina's back was broken before the ship hit the seabed.
Continuing aft, the propshaft breaks again at a flanged joint (5), just before entering the stern gland.
The remains of the stern show that it has fallen to port. The propeller is part-buried in the sand, with the rudder lying flat behind it (6). The bent rudder-shaft stretches out to port, with the steering quadrant at the top (7).
Further debris is scattered out to port, ending with a small hatch-coaming (8). Being a neutral Spanish ship, the Cristina did not carry a gun at the stern.
Now following the wreckage back forward, a single cargo-winch (9) marks the separation of the two aft holds. Next to this, the lower section of the aft mast has fallen to port. The upper part of the mast would have been wooden, and has now rotted away.
Almost straight out to port from the engine, the helm (10) also rests at the port extremity of the wreckage. This would originally have been located in a wheelhouse above the forward end of the boilers.
Staying to port, debris besides the boilers includes one of the boat derricks (11).
Forward of the boilers, a hull-plate from the starboard side of the ship rests across the wreck (12), with a section of railing poking out from below. A third, smaller donkey boiler (13) lies across the ship, just forward of the two main boilers.
Over the forward part of the vessel, the distribution of wreckage is more obvious with the deck and sides of the hull having collapsed to port. Close to the section of rail, a small hatch-coaming (14) would have been above the bunker space for loading coal.
Again, there is only a single winch between the forward holds (15), this time upside-down. Running between South Wales and the north of Spain, with a coal cargo, most of the cargo-handling would have been by dockside machinery rather than the Cristina's own winches. On the return journey from Bilbao, I suspect the usual cargo would have been iron ore.
The forward mast lies out to port, and aft from just forward of the winch. The base of the mast is still slotted through the reinforced ring of a deck-plate.
Just below the base of the mast are some metal bars stacked across the ship (16). Perhaps part of a cargo?
Now at the bow, the anchor-winch is broken, with one spindle lying next to a folded spare anchor (17). Next, a big pile of anchor-chain (18) marks the location of the chain-locker; then we meet the second spindle of the anchor-winch (19).
The bow is completely broken down to the seabed with no structure remaining, but the outline is still there. To the port side of the anchor-winch, a pair of bollards are tipped over on the sand.
Forward of these, the port anchor (20) is splayed out from the bow, the shaft still in the hawse-pipe. The starboard anchor (21) is similarly arranged, the shaft still in the broken hawse-pipe.
After a 40m rectangular profile, a fair amount of decompression will have been accumulated. With a large group, this may necessitate everyone returning to the shot and a decompression station.

Thanks to Chris Lowe.

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DEPTH
-20m
20m-35m
35m-45m
45m+
DIFFICULTY RATING