The stern has split almost completely from the rest of the ship, damage that was begun by the collision that sank the Kos XVI and completed by time, tides and gravity.The Kos XVI is a very rare kind of wreck. A minesweeper that is actually intact and upright and was not blown to bits by a mine! It started life as one of a fleet of Norwegian whaling boats, named surprisingly enough Kos I to Kos XVIII. During the Second World War the Kos XVI was converted to a minesweeper and served in the Royal Navy.
The wreck is located at a depth of 38 metres on the outside edge of the Rough gas field on the Dogger Bank.
Along the side of the deck, sets of heavy cables run the length of the ship. With its minesweeping role these would include copper de-gaussing cables and steel hawsers used to tow minesweeping gear, in addition to the cables used to steer the ship.
The stern has split almost completely from the rest of the ship, damage that was begun by the collision that sank the Kos XVI and completed by time, tides and gravity.
Above the stern a large steering quadrant is still attached to the rudder post. Below the stern the rudder has bent to one side and is now buried, but the large iron propeller is still attached to the shaft and like most of the ship is covered in anemones.
On the starboard side the split is much larger and stove in at the edges, indicating the point of the collision. I can imagine the helmsman of the other vessel turning hard to port at the last minute to try and clear the stern of the Kos XVI and not quite making it.
The superstructure is an open steel framework covered in a thick growth of plumose anemones. The engine room ventilation hatches and a collapsed pair of boat derricks. Engineering drawings of the Kos XVI show a twin Hotchkiss gun mount fitted just aft of the ventilation hatches, but I could find no trace of this.
As befits a fast whaling ship, the boiler and engine are massively oversized. Most large freighters are listed as having "triple expansion engines". The steam engine in the Kos XVI has 5 cylinders of steadily increasing size, indicating quintuple expansion to get the maximum power available from the steam. It is no doubt this availability of power and speed that leas to the Kos XVI's conversion to a "minesweeping corvette" for wartime service.
A collapsed area is the remains of the wooden wheelhouse. Originally standing higher than the rest of the superstructure, it has now collapsed down into the fuel bunkers below.
The next cabin forward is another minesweeping addition, the remains of the generator room. The structure has partly collapsed, but looking inside it is possible to make out the tops of two diesel generators used to provide electric power for the minesweeping equipment.
The foremost cabin above deck is the crew's toilets and washroom. This cabin has been substantially reinforced to support a 2-pounder gun mount on its roof.
On the bow deck, to the port side lies a spare anchor and a large metal conical structure. This is the noise-maker for sweeping acoustic mines. Over the side of the hull here is one of the pivots at the end of an "A" frame that lowers beneath the bows for minesweeping.
Ascending the bows, both anchors are still in place, with chain leading back to the anchor winch. Beneath this, another spare anchor rests on the starboard side of the deck.
To the starboard side of the crew's washroom, the 2-pounder gun, fallen from the gun mount above, lies flat against the deck. Having toured the wreck all that remains is to return to amidships and ascend the line to decompress.