HMS Barking

Wreck

What is recorded here

This map point and the nearby Welsh heritage record mark the same HMS Barking, not two wrecks. The unmanned boom-defence vessel broke from tow on 14 March 1964, grounded below St Ann's Head and was later heavily cut up for scrap.

Read the whole record

The vessel and voyage

HMS Barking, naval number Z181, was a Bar-class boom-defence and heavy-lift vessel built by Lobnitz at Renfrew in 1941. She could lay cables, handle buoys, lift heavy gear and support salvage as well as work on harbour booms. After service that included Freetown, she entered reserve and was sold in March 1964 for breaking at Briton Ferry.

How it was lost

While Barking was under tow to the breakers, the tow failed in a south-east Force 6 wind. Nobody was aboard the unmanned vessel to reconnect it. At about 9.15am on 14 March 1964 she drove ashore below St Ann's Head coastguard station. Rocks pierced the hull as the tide fell and attempts to refloat her failed.

Deaths and survival

Nobody was aboard Barking when she broke free and grounded, so no one died in the wreck. That fact matters because the dramatic shore remains can look like the result of a crewed disaster. The danger was instead the loss of control of a large unmanned tow in rough coastal water.

What remains

Barking lay on the shore for about ten years and broke her back. Dismantling began in 1974, leaving a heavily salvaged spread. Deck and winch pieces, hull plating and sand-buried metal can still be found on the beach. This OpenStreetMap point and Coflein record 273329 are two entries for those same remains.

Why it mattered

The wreck preserves the end of a specialised wartime support vessel rather than a battle loss. It also became a conspicuous local landmark below St Ann's Head and later a long-running salvage site. The duplicate records show why nearby names and positions must be joined before wreck totals are interpreted.