Browse Facebook Marketplace and you’ll encounter an assortment of odd finds: vintage lamps, used socks, a car engulfed in flames. Dom Robinson found a 3,300-ton, 330ft long cargo ship that sank off the Cornish coast during World War I. And it was a bargain: only £300 ($400 USD).

Robinson purchased the wreck of the SS Almond Branch from someone who bought the wreckage from the British government in the 1970s. He told BBC Radio Cornwall that the original owner hoped to uncover something of value, but found it to just be a “big pile of rusting iron.” That didn’t bother Robinson, who is an hobbyist diver and had already done a dive visit to the site before acquiring the sunken pile of rusty iron.

The SS Almond Branch was a British defense-armed merchant ship built in 1896 that a German submarine torpedo took down on November 27, 1917. The ship came to a rest in the waters near Dodman Point off South Cornwall.

In the UK, private individuals can purchase shipwrecks. Thousands of wrecks sit in the waters around the UK, and owners need to follow a set of guidelines set by the government to ensure safety and historical preservation.

Robinson took cameras along for his first dive of the wreck since finalizing his purchase. You can watch his dive, which took place in January 2025, in the video above. Happy exploring, Dom.

 

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