A World war 1 Royal Navy Armed Merchant Cruiser HMS Bayano has been identified 110 years after being sunk by German submarine U-27 in 1915 on the Galloway Coast.
The report stated “On 12 October 2025, ProjectXplore divers, supported by skipper Richard Lafferty and crew Timmy Donaghy on board the dive charter MV Aquaholics 5, successfully identified the wreck of HMS Bayano, at a depth of 106m in the North Channel between Northern Ireland and Scotland. On 12 October 2025, the team surveyed the site using a towed side scan sonar (SSS). Subsequently, on 12 and 13 October 2025, the team documented the site.
The wreck of HMS Bayano sits in 106m, with a least depth of 84m, lying bow NNW / stern SSE, with a 20-degree list to starboard. In places, the wreck rises over 15 metres high from the seabed. Much of her superstructure is still in place above her.
We are confident that we have conclusively identified the wreck of HMS Bayano due to the fact that she remains the only Armed Merchant Cruiser (“AMC”) sunk with an armament of six QF 6-inch Mark I central-pivot naval guns and two 3-pounder guns
Her main guns were photographed, one on the forecastle and one on the stern, confirming her conversion from a merchant ship to an AMC. We also measured and photographed the internal diameter of the muzzle of the 6” gun at the stern.
Furthermore, the barrel length was confirmed via sonar to measure 6.8m as expected for a BL 6-inch Mk VII naval gun. ”
It continued, “For over 110 years, mystery had surrounded the identity of HMS Bayano. To the best of our knowledge, HMS Bayano had never been dived or identified prior to our expedition. The authors of Clyde Shipwrecks, Ian Crawford and Peter Moir, who have been diving and researching Scottish shipwrecks for over forty years, confirm: “The wreck of the Bayano … has not been identified as there are a number of large wrecks charted in this area.”2 The Irish dive charter skippers we consulted, Richard Lafferty and Dean Cullen, were not aware of the wreck having been dived or identified.
Wreck databases (e.g. WreckSite.EU) listed the reliability of the stated position as ‘Bad > 1km’ and the survey details stated: ‘No previous record’. ”
You can read the full report and see the images HERE and HERE
Credit – ProjectXplore
(Note: Updated 8 November 2025 to reflect corrected armament details confirmed by ProjectXplore.)
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