Located half way between Salcombe and Plymouth, the Second World War wreck of the steamship Persier is one of the classic South Devon wreck dives. Located half way between Salcombe and Plymouth, the Second World War wreck of the steamship Persier is one of the classic South Devon wreck dives.
The wreck is fairly well collapsed, with just a section of the bow, the boilers and the stern standing significantly from the seabed. The stern has fallen to port, but still rises a good 6 metres from the 29 metre seabed. Inside there is just room to swim through between the tangle of girders and the rudder shaft.
The rudder shaft itself is intact but bent and contorted. At the top is the steering quadrant, while at the bottom the rudder lies flat against the seabed. Just out from the steering quadrant is the reinforced box like structure of a gun mount, though no gun. Behind the rudder the propeller has been salvaged leaving a short section of shaft pointing forwards before it breaks.
The propeller shaft resumes a little further forward with a flange and section of shaft sticking out of the propeller shaft tunnel.
Forward of the general debris of the broken number 4 hold the aft mast fallen at an angle slightly towards the stern. As with many south coast wrecks the Persier is swarming with bib and pollack, and some of the biggest seem to hang out along this mast. It is cracked open in a few places leaving nice residences for more of the fat conger eels that inhabit the wreck. Forward of the mast is a more intact winch before the wreckage again degenerates into general debris of the collapsed number 3 hold.
The field of jumbled steel is broken by a row of three boilers. Heading towards the keel, all that remains of the Persier's engine is a section of crankshaft.
The whole wreck has collapsed to port. With the bows to the south this leaves the western side of the wreck mostly hull plates and the eastern side of the wreck mostly deck fittings. Even so it is worth venturing out onto the hull plates for the forests of gorgonian sea fans that spread perpendicular to the gentle current that washes across the wreck.
On the forward side of the boilers, all the fire holes are now at the top of the boilers showing that they have rolled 180 degrees before coming to rest in their present orientation.
Out from the wreck in a location that would have originally been above the boilers, a section of superstructure provides an open box big enough to easily swim through which is another favourite of the bib.,br clear=all>
Forward from the boilers the wreck is again a general jumble of steel debris from the number 2 hold. The forward end of the hold is marked by an intact winch and the forward mast, again a good place to find a monster conger.
It is somewhat unusual that the base of this mast is closer to the bow than would be expected in a classic 4 hold steamship. There doesn't seem to be enough space for the number 1 hold. Further forward the bow points back towards the rest of the wreck. The only explanation I can think of is based on the history of the sinking. The Persier was originally torpedoed several miles away out towards the Eddystone. The ship was then abandoned, sinking by the bow with the stern out of the water, and drifted off into the night pushed by force 7 winds.
Maybe the bow hit the seabed first pointing towards the shore, then broke off as the rest of the Persier twisted round it as it sank. Coincidentally this would also account for the location of the forward mast being out of proportion, as the forward hold would have been broken and folded back.