Warrior 2 HMS

Type of vessel - Motor yacht

How sunk – Air raid

Former names – Warrior ex Goizeko Izarro ex Wayfarer

Wreck height - 5m

In the outbreak of the second World War, the ‘Warrior’ was requisitioned by the Royal Navy, and as they already had a vessel called ‘Warrior’, she was renamed ‘Warrior II’.

She was stripped of her luxurious fittings, which were put into storage and fitted with a Lewis Gun and depth charges to protect her from enemy action and given the role of escorting British submarines through the English Channel between Portsmouth and Portland. She was returning to Portsmouth on the 11th July 1940 when she was spotted and attacked by over 50 German aircraft in two waves. Bombs were dropped all around her from the first wave, which she fought off bravely, but received a bomb from the second wave straight through the decks. The ship was abandoned and the only casualty was the chief steward whose had been in the ward room where the bomb landed.

The wreck lies on shingle bottom. The bow section is still intact and lies on its port side. An anchor and her gun can be seen on her port side. Her two boilers fitted fore and aft to suit her narrow hull design. Her twin engines are side by side behind. There is a debris pile between the boilers and engines. A large letter ‘W’ can be seen on each engine. There is very little of the stern left.