Diver thought to have identified wreck of steamship lost in 1869

A deep-sea diver believes he has solved the mystery of a cargo vessel which disappeared more than 150 years ago.

Dominic Robinson, from Plymouth, said he discovered crockery on board the wreck sitting 100m (330ft) below the surface of the Celtic Sea, halfway between Cornwall and Ireland.

He said the vessel was thought to have belonged to the Anglo-Greek Steam Navigation and Trading Company, which is the name embossed on plates that were found, and that he also found it had been carrying bricks.

He said that “within all grounds of reasonable possibility”, and with contributions of evidence from people who had been following his progress, the vessel was thought to be the SS The Greek.

Mr Robinson, who explored the wreck last September, said a breakthrough came when one of his social media followers found reference to a ship in newspaper archives which had “disappeared” laden with the same cargo.

He said: “He tracked down the newspaper articles that showed that a ship called the Greek left Clyde in Glasgow in 1869 for Rotterdam, and clearly that route would take it over where the wreck was, and then vanished.

“Crucially, it was carrying a cargo of bricks.

“You know we can’t say with 100% certainty, but, within all grounds of reasonable possibility, we have identified what happened to SS The Greek.”

Mr Robinson, an experienced wreck diver, said it was also important to recognise this was the final resting place of the ship’s 23 crew members.

He said: “We should never forget that these weren’t just ships.

“These were people’s homes and their livelihood. There will have been families. But we now know where it is.”