North Wales and Optima shipwrecks found at Haisborough Sands

Paul Hennessey, of Norfolk Wreck Research, and members of the Anglian Divers have recently uncovered the hidden shipwrecks of two 19th Century sailing vessels – the North Wales and Optima - at Haisborough Sands - a sandbank about nine miles off Happisburgh.

When Mr Hennessey and Anglian Divers members Roger Smith and Paul Whistler visited the North Wales in July, they were the first people to see the ship since it went down 142 years ago.

Paul Hennessey, right, of Anglian Divers Club and Norfolk Wreck Research, with club members, from left, Tony Holmes, Roger Smith, and Rob Wade (back) ready to set out from Sea Palling to a wreck site (Image: Denise Bradley)

Mr Hennessey, who lives in Field Dalling and set up Norfolk Wreck Research in 2018, said: “It’s a time capsule.

“It makes for a very unique experience and one we all feel very privileged to have had.”

The North Wales was en route from Newcastle-Upon-Tyne to the Indonesian island Java with a cargo of 572 tonnes of coal when it grounded on Haisborough Sands in 1881.

Mr Hennessey and the Anglian Divers, who dive out of Sea Palling, said there were “no signs of it ever being dived or fished” due to the artifacts and sea life they found on the wreck.

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Paul Hennessey, left, of Anglian Divers Club and Norfolk Wreck Research, with club members, Tony Holmes (front) and Rob Wade (Image: Denise Bradley)

“The only people that know its exact location is me and the Anglian Divers,” Mr Hennessey said.

“We’ve withheld its position to let it continue its 142 years of unhindered history and to allow the sea life to continue to flourish.”

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Spare anchor discovered on the North Wales wreck (Image: Norfolk Wreck Research)

Last month, the group identified their second shipwreck in as many months - the Optima.

Originally called the Placilla when it was built in 1892 but later renamed the Optima, the ship’s maiden voyage proved to be record-breaking. She was the first to travel from the Lizard peninsula in Cornwall to Valparaiso, Chile, in 58 days.  

The Optima also became stranded at Haisborough Sands when it was lost in 1905.

The ship was carrying coal, which Mr Hennessey and the Anglian Divers found as they investigated the wreck, and later proved to be what helped them to identify it as the Optima.

The Optima (Image: Supplied)

Vertical boiler used for powering winches on the North Wales wreck (Image: Norfolk Wreck Research)