Man Who ‘Always Fancied’ Owning a Shipwreck Buys One on Facebook Marketplace for $400

Hobbyist diver Dom Robinson jumped at the chance to purchase the S.S. “Almond Branch,” a cargo ship that’s been resting 190 feet beneath the surface of the English Channel since World War I

Hobbyist diver Dom Robinson has spent the past three decades exploring shipwrecks, which have fascinated him since childhood. So when he recently spotted one for sale on Facebook Marketplace, he jumped at the chance to purchase a piece of history.

Now, Robinson is the proud owner of the S.S. Almond Branch, a roughly 330-foot-long cargo ship that sank during World War I. It’s submerged off the coast of Cornwall, England, 190 feet beneath the surface of the English Channel.

Robinson, a 53-year-old project manager from Plymouth, bought the vessel for about $400 (£300). He doesn’t expect to find any valuable treasures onboard, so “the only real reason to buy it is for bragging rights,” he tells CornwallLive’s Kirstie McCrum.

Built in 1896, the Almond Branch was a British merchant ship that was equipped with weapons for protection. In November 1917, the vessel was sailing near Dodman Point when it was torpedoed by a German submarine. One person died in the attack, according to Robinson.

After the war, the British government processed an insurance claim for the sunken ship and became its owner. Then, in a bid to recoup some of its losses, the government sold the vessel to a private owner in 1978.

Nearly 50 years later, the owner decided to part ways with the historic ship. Robinson, who had already dived the wreck, snapped it up.

→ Read the entire article on the Smithsonian Magazine website.
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