wreck

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HMS Pine

The HMS Pine offers a real peek into maritime history down in the cooler waters off Cornwall. This isn't your average wreck; she was a trawler requisitioned by the Royal Navy in World War I, later sinking in 1918 after a collision. You feel that history when you descend, the metal bones of her structure lying broken but still proud on the seabed. We love picking our way through the more open sections of the hull, imagining the crew on deck over a century ago. Now, though, she's home to some fantastic local life. Ballan wrasse dart in and out of the plating, while conger eels often peek from darker crevices – always a thrill to spot. We’ve even found lobsters tucked away under overturned plates of steel. Visibility can be a bit hit or miss, typical for the English Channel, so we’d suggest timing your dive for slack water on a neap tide. That’s when the light really gets to penetrate, illuminating the rust-coloured metal and the green fronds of kelp that cling to her. It’s a dive for those who appreciate wrecks with a story and don’t mind a bit of a current for the reward.