A local diver has discovered what has been confirmed to be a steamship that sank off the coast of England following a collision with another vessel nearly 140 years prior.
Seasoned diver and explorer Dom Robinson said that the wreck of the steamship Nantes has been located on the seabed off Plymouth.
In November 1888, Nantes collided with the German sailing ship Theodor Ruger, according to Dr Harry Bennett, maritime history expert and Honorary Associate Professor at the University of Plymouth.
The crew then spent "several hours" attempting to keep the steamship afloat immediately following the collision but were unsuccessful. The ship later sank along with over 23 sailors.
Dr Bennett said only three of Nantes' crew survived the tragedy while the bodies of some of those who perished later washed up ashore on the coast of Cornwall along with some fragments of the ship's hull.
The location of the ship remained unknown until 2024, when the wreck was discovered by a local dive team.
Robinson told the BBC that the identity of the wreck remained unknown until he himself recovered, "a broken piece of plate," that features the Cunard Steamship crest (pictured).
Nantes was being operated by the Cunard Steamship Company at the time of her sinking, Dr Bennett confirmed.
Robinson said that, on a later dive to the wreck site off Plymouth, he had found a piece of crockery that provided additional confirmation that the sunken ship was indeed Nantes.