Less than two months after the tragic loss of the SS Saganaga and the SS Lord Strathcona, the SS Rose Castle met her fate at the hands of the German U-boat, U-518.

U-518, commanded by Friedrich Wissman, was under orders to drop off a German agent at New Carlisle, Quebec and attack allied shipping.  On her maiden voyage, it was decided to slip into Conception Bay and attack at first opportunity.  Early on the morning of November 2, 1942 as U-518 was approaching the Bell Island anchorages she spotted the ‘Anna T’, a coal boat of 3,000 tons anchored off the Scotia Pier.   The first torpedo was let loose towards the Anna T, but as luck would have it, it passed underneath the stern of the Flying Dale, also lying at anchor, and struck the Scotia Pier.  This change of events became the first and most likely only enemy strike on a North American shore during the Second World War.  Two more torpedoes were quickly fired towards the Rose Castle, anchored nearby.  She went down in less than ninety seconds, taking twenty-eight men to their watery graves.

Of special note in regard to the ill fated SS Rose Castle is the fact that on a previous occasion she had escaped a similar fate.  U-69, the German submarine that sank the ferry ‘Caribou’ (this vessel ran on the Port Aux Basques to North Sydney service), had fired a torpedo at the Rose Castle on October 20, 1942.  Fortunately it had a defective detonator and the Rose Castle was spared - but only briefly.

Being the deepest of the other three ore carriers sunk during this tragic event, the Rose Castle is the most spectacular.  She sits upright at approximately one hundred and fifty feet, looking almost ready to set sail just as she was over sixty years ago.  Lines running to her mast are still taut, the Marconi Room’s radio is still awaiting messages, and deep in her hull one can still see personal effects of the ill fated crew.  Without a doubt, she is well preserved from the elements.  One can visit the 4.7 inch gun located on her stern and decorated with flowering sea anemones, for evermore ready for action.  Cavernous cargo holds beckon the adventurous diver, but beware – this shipwreck is deep and unforgiving!