Explore forgotten First World War shipwrecks off the Isle of Wight coast with a new interactive map

The map brings together research, images, documents, 3D models and videos on more than 1,000 shipwrecks and archaeological sites off the Isle of Wight and the south coast.

The resource is the culmination of a four-year project, coinciding with the centenary of the Great War, investigating the vital, yet little known, struggle that took place on a daily basis, off the south coast of Britain.

It tells extraordinary stories of the war — stories of the ships, their crews and their communities.

Between 1914 and 1918 shipwrecks were ‘everyday’ events.

There are just under 1,200 sites in the project area alone.

These sites include 1,130 wrecks, as well as 39 coastal sites.

Among them are ocean liners, merchant vessels and fishing trawlers, seaplane lighters, airships, submarines, troop and hospital ships.

There are naval and commercial ships, steam and sail.

There are ports and harbours, seaplane bases, wireless stations, quays, jetties and piers.

Britain’s merchant fleet kept the country running during the war and everything necessary for that war, from troops and munitions to materials and intelligence, moved by sea.

The Forgotten Wrecks project is itself huge — 1,200 sites including 62 fieldwork sites, 200 new geophysical images, more than 700 artefacts recorded and 44 exhibitions with over half a million visitors.

This unique and important new resource, spearheaded by the Maritime Archaeology Trust, for researchers, family historians and the public is accessible for free through the Forgotten Wrecks project website at

http://forgottenwrecks.maritimearchaeologytrust.org/wreck-database