Fake 'island' off Welsh coast with a decades-old secret below the surface

Over the decades it's been confused with a tiny island or a boat in trouble. Lines of cormorants frequently rest on the seaweed and algae-draped mass, spreading their wings while travelling to their colony at neighbouring Ynys Seiriol (Puffin Island), the UK's largest. When the tide recedes, it's revealed as a corroding wreck, now a 49-metre artificial reef hosting all sorts of marine life. For 55 years the Hoveringham 11 has rested on its side in the waters off Penmon Point in southeast Anglesey . Beneath the waves, where lobsters dwell and curious seals sometimes appear, the vessel conceals a little-known secret shared amongst divers. The steel-hulled craft was a sand and gravel dredger belonging to Hoveringham Gravels, a firm renowned for excavating the Trent Valley and using a woolly mammoth as its company mascot. It went down after springing a leak in 1971. Today the wreck is a point of interest for passing vessels and a diving location with a difference. For passengers sailing with Anglesey Boat Trips, part of the Seawake group, it's a fascinating stop-off on the journey to Ynys Seiriol, reports North Wales Live . "When the tide is out, you can look right into the wreck," said Jason Zalot, the group's chief skipper. "In recent days, during the warm weather , the water has never been so clear - you can see 20ft down to the keel, handrails and the dents and holes where the vessel hit rocks. "It's one of the few wrecks in the world with an air pocket. When divers explore the vessel, they can take off their masks and watch the marine life - there's all sorts down there." Constructed in Sweden in 1954, the Hoveringham 11 became part of the fleet of "sand suckers" operating in Liverpool Bay during the 1960s. During this period, aggregate was in high demand as Britain experienced swift post-war reconstruction and urban growth. Stay in the know by making sure you’re receiving our daily newsletter Equipped with a substantial suction pipe featuring a seabed drag head, dredged material was pumped aboard into sizeable hopper compartments. When full, the vessel would release its cargo through bottom doors, or it was pumped out, at an unloading facility. On the morning of 28 January 1971, the 471-tonne ship was heading towards Port Penrhyn, Bangor , following sand dredging operations off Rhyl, Denbighshire . "It came in a bit early," said Jason. "The vessel hit some rocks, sprang a leak and fired a distress flare." It was 8am. An hour afterwards, two lifeboats from nearby Beaumaris were dispatched. Four crew members had boarded a life raft and they were quickly rescued. Three others remained aboard while RNLI volunteers fastened a line to the dredger in an effort to tow her to safety through a powerful tidal race. An account of the ship's final hour stated: "Coxswain Jones began to tow the vessel to shallow water. Suddenly the dredger began to list alarmingly and it became obvious she was about to capsize. "Coxswain Jones slipped the tow line, took the lifeboat straight alongside the dredger and rescued the remaining three members of the crew, landing them all safely." Jason explained that the vessel's substantial cargo of sand rendered her difficult to manoeuvre. Once the sand shifted position, her destiny was inevitable. "When she began rolling over, the remaining crew slid down the deck to the lifeboats," he said. "The vessel went right over on its side at 120 degrees." Hoveringham 11 was merely 300 metres from Penmon Quarry jetty. All seven crew members were safely back on shore at Beaumaris by 11.30am. Subsequent salvage operations were called off by February 26. The wreckage partially emerges at half-tide, becoming visible 4-5ft above the water's surface. During particularly low tides it becomes increasingly conspicuous, occasionally triggering false alarms from passing vessels. For numerous years a buoy identified the wreck as a warning to other craft navigating the Menai Strait, though not always successfully. When this vanished, resourceful mariners secured a scaffolding pole vertically on the wreckage as an improvised marker. The vessel's diminutive funnel and its distinctive emblem has long since disappeared. The woolly mammoth was chosen by Hoveringham Gravels as its corporate symbol following the discovery of a large tusk in one of its quarries in 1953. When Tarmac acquired the company in 1982, its headquarters mammoth sculpture was no longer required and was gifted to Nottingham Trent University. Hoveringham Gravels' proprietor was Harold Needler, a Hull-based businessman who served as chairman of Hull City FC for three decades following the war. Upon floating the business in the 1960s, he allocated £200,000 worth of shares to the club. Last weekend, Hull FC secured promotion to the Premier League . Seawake passengers reach the Menai wreck location after navigating the waves in one of two high-speed RIBs, each equipped with V8 outboards. Following a gentle pass by the sunken vessel, it's on to Ynys Seiriol for some nature observation. "We give them a mixture of everything," said Jason. "A fast ride to Puffin Island with a wreck site en route. So all in one trip they can be James Bond, Jacques Cousteau and David Attenborough!"