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What is recorded here

This is the surveyed bow section of HMS Bullen, the Captain-class frigate torpedoed by U-775 on 6 December 1944. The midships hit split the vessel and killed 71 of 168 aboard; 97 survived. The bow lies in about 86 metres of water north-east of Cape Wrath and its saved point closely matches the published survey position. It is protected military wreckage and part of the same loss as the separate probable stern and misleading general pin.

The vessel and voyage

HMS Bullen was built in Massachusetts as the United States destroyer escort DE-78 and transferred to Britain on completion in October 1943. Renamed Bullen with pennant K469, she joined the Captain class of convoy escorts. Her weapons and sound equipment were designed to defend shipping against submarines. On 6 December 1944 she was operating with the 19th Escort Group off northern Scotland, one of the exposed entrances to the Atlantic convoy routes.

How it was lost

U-775 fired the torpedo that hit Bullen amidships west of Strathy Point. The blast broke the frigate in two, leaving bow and after sections to sink separately. Escort ships searched and attacked the submarine while survivors were recovered. Because the break occurred around the centre, separate seabed records are expected rather than signs of two different ships. This bow point agrees with the published 58 degrees 43.751 minutes north, 4 degrees 51.373 minutes west position.

Deaths and survival

Seventy-one people died and 97 survived according to the detailed U-boat record, though a regional source lists 72 dead. Nearby ships rescued the majority of the 168 aboard, and Hesperus later landed survivors at Scapa Flow. The bow is not automatically where every death occurred: the ship broke around the torpedo hit and people entered the water from both sections. It is nonetheless protected military wreckage tied directly to a loss that killed more than two people in every five aboard.

What remains

The bow section lies in about 86 metres of water roughly seven miles north-east of Cape Wrath. The national saved point is within the modern published survey position, giving this record a much stronger physical match than the general Bullen pin. A separate target has been suggested as the stern. Deep water limits ordinary inspection, and the wreck is a designated protected place under military-remains law. Nothing should be removed or disturbed to settle the remaining details.

Why it mattered

The bow makes the violence of the torpedo attack physically clear: a frigate designed to hunt submarines was itself struck and divided in seconds. It also connects the far north coast with the shared American and British effort to escort wartime shipping. Keeping this section linked to the stern and survivor story turns an isolated deep-water point into evidence of attack, rescue and loss, while its protected status recognises the people who died rather than treating it only as a technical dive target.