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Type: Steel steamship Built 1884. 54nrt. Length: 28m. Beam: 6m
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Wreck Information: The Cuirassier was a Steel Steamship. Launched 1860. Sank: July 1894. lying on a steep slope 250 metres north of the Little Cumbrae Lighthouse. Depths range from 30 to 42m bow to stern. The wreck is well broken up with the only recognisable part being the aft section from boiler room to stern. if your off shore facing the lighthouse, there is a painted marker to your right of it (south) drop in close to the shore, in around 10m of water. swim down the steep slope until you pick up the cable around 24m or so. follow the cable north so turn to your right facing off shore. In around 32m or so you should hit the wreck. (see dive report)
Cargo: machinery
Harbour / slip: RIBs can be launched from the nearby marina at Largs yacht haven. You can also hire a mooring to save on launching and retrieving your boat every day. Contact Tel. 01475 675 333 or look them up on the web at: Largs yacht haven .
Parking directions: Inverkip car park
Distance from harbour: From Inverkip its a Ten minute 8.8 km RIB ride to the wreck. Or you can launch at no cost and a fifteen-minute 11.5 km RIB ride from the RNLI slip at Largs
Lat & Long: 55 43 660N / 04 57 766W
Chart: GB 2221
Depth: 30-42m
Tides: Tide tables
Diveboat: Flying eagle Seren Las
Dive Shop: C+C Marine
Accommodation:
Suggested experience: Experienced sport diver
Other comments:
Created by: John Nicolson
Date: 30/4/07
Thanks To:
Links:
Underwater photos: Contact me
Wreck diagram: Contact me
Dive reports : Dave Warner 4/4/09 The first thing I came across was the large winch up near the bow of the wreck although all the bow consists of is some broken hull plates with small boulders among the wreckage.. as you descend the hull is more intact, although i got the impression quite a bit of it is now buried beneath the sand. It rises from approx 6 inches above the seabed to 1 mt maybe 1 and 1/2 mt at the stern. The top of the rudder is visible .. I assumed the rest was buried but one of my buddies said the remains lay broken on the seabed. The boiler is close to the stern (she was a rear engined boat). Again lots of broken plates and coal strewn around the vicinity. It's a nice wee wreck and because its so small you still get plenty of time on her despite the depth. (30 - 36 mts ... mid tide). A good rummage dive, the other guys on the boat were luckier as they had my directions and were put right on her. Someone has tied a blue rope from the wreck to the pipe which provides a more direct route than following the pipe itself. Now that we have found her we will prob dive her a lot more and should be able to provide more detailed information.
Dive reports : Brian Mckenna 5/2/2012 Out on the club rhib on sunday cloudy and cold but pretty flat .Six divers one a trainee so we decided to go to wee cumbrae as there are a number of sites suitable for all levels .My bud Alastair took Amy the trainee so the other four decided on the currassier for our first dive . I was buddied with Scott and we dropped in between the large boulder and a distinctive gash in the rock .You can see a pile of old cable to the right of this (looking towards the shore ) .We went straight out and down to 30mtr turned left (south) for about 20mtrs going down to 36mtr there she was .The viz was around 8mtr and pretty clear .There,s not a lot of this wreck and what there is is almost buried in the silt ,the boiler and what i think is part of the bow is sticking up about a mtr lots of bits and peices around about left the wreck with a couple of minutes to deco as i said theres not a lot of it .We followed the power cable back up heading in a southerly direction theres a rope with a small bhoy at 24mtr back up to 12mtr then poked about in the rocks dsmb up and out .