ANNIE YVONNE

The Annie Yvonne was a small French wooden schooner, a sailing vessel that was still a common sight carrying cargo along coastal routes even in the age of steam. In March 1918, during the final, intense year of World War I, she was on a voyage from Swansea, Wales, to Granville, France, navigating the treacherous waters of the English Channel, which had become a prime hunting ground for German U-boats.

On March 17th, her luck ran out. She was intercepted by the German submarine UB-57, a successful and feared predator of Allied shipping. As the Annie Yvonne was an unarmed sailing vessel, the U-boat simply surfaced. Rather than waste a valuable torpedo, the German crew scuttled the schooner, likely by placing explosive charges against the hull and allowing her crew to abandon ship in their boats before sending the vessel to the bottom.

Today, the remains of the Annie Yvonne lie in 21 meters of water off Cadgwith, Cornwall, making for a fascinating dive for recreational divers. As a wooden ship, her hull has largely disintegrated over the last century, leaving behind a scattered but intriguing debris field. Divers can explore the site searching for the non-wooden parts of the ship that have survived, such as iron ballast, metal fittings, anchors, and other hardware. It's an archaeological dive that offers a direct connection to a dramatic WWI encounter.