A shipwreck off the Dorset coast has finally been identified more than 30 years after it was discovered. 

A team of marine archaeologists believe the wreck is of a ship built in 1866 and is thought to have been used in the salvage operation of HMS Eurydice off the Isle of Wight in 1878. 

They said it is an admiralty mooring lighter, which would have towed vessels containing mechanical devices for moving heavy loads. They were used for laying moorings and in salvage work. 

It has been named pin wreck after the hundreds of metal bolts which lie around it when it was discovered off the coast of St Alban's Head in 1990. 

(Image: Bournemouth Uni)

Investigation leader professor Dave Parham, a maritime archaeologist at BU, said: “This is a rare example of a type of service vessel which was essential for maintaining the operations of Britain’s ports in the 19th century, so it is vital that we preserve it. 

“Its identity has remained a mystery for three decades but what we observed on our dive meant we could find the clues that could reveal the secrets of the wreck and understand how it ended up on the seabed. 

“The materials the vessel is made from suggest a high-quality build, possibly linked to a royal dockyard. 

“The fact it appears to have been lost in service and was carrying substantial haulage equipment means it could offer valuable insight into the role these craft played in our maritime history."  

The pin wreck is about 24 metres long, constructed of wood with yellow metal sheathings and lies around 27 metres deep. 

The wreck includes a large steam capstan on its stern driven by a steam engine that lies just in front of the capstan, admiralty mooring buoys, chain and anchors 

BU’s team dived the wreck in 2019 having viewed objects that had been recovered from the site in the 1990s by Nigel Bryant, a former employee of the university.  

These objects included a ceramic fragment attached to a large pulley block marked Portsmouth Dockyard. 

It was evident during the dive that the layout of the wreck suggested that it was a mooring lighter and the finds recovered from it suggested that it had a mid-19th century naval origin. 

Research in the National Archives uncovered plans of two identical lighters from Portsmouth Dockyard, named YC 5 and YC8. These were the only vessels whose precise details matched that of the wreck, but there was no record of their loss. 

They then found a crucial piece of the puzzle in a copy of the Shipping Gazette from September 11, 1903.  

This reported the sinking of a mooring lighter off St Alban's Head in rough weather while on tow from Portsmouth to Portland. Thirty men had to transfer from the lighter to its tug before it sank.  

Later Sheilah and Martin Openshaw who worked with the Bournemouth team found a reference to the lighter lost in September 1903 that confirmed the wreck’s identity as that of YC8.  

BU has now applied for the wreck to be designated as a protected site.