1 mile off the Grand Harbour shore. The wrecks co-ordinates are of N 35’ 54.484// E 014’ 32.117
Access: Boat Dive
Depth: 56 metres
Visibility:There is a lot of sediment inside which quickly silt up and reduce the visibility to nil
Sea Bed: Silt
Interests: Wreck Dive
Certification Required:Tec divers or very experienced divers. Dangers:
Diving on this wreck is considered hazardous due to its close proximity of Grand Harbour entrance and ship traffic in and out of the Valletta Harbour. Wreck Statistics:
It has a large hole in its hull on the starboard side caused by the mine that sunk her. The main deck is mainly wooden so most of the superstructure has collapsed over the years. This is a small wreck by comparison as it is about 27 metres long and has a beam of 6 metres (wide). Most of its navigation equipment is still on the bridge although lying flat they still indicate the course the ship was heading to at the time of the explosion.
From research gathered it is known that four Maltese port workers died on HM Drifter Eddy that Tuesday morning of the 26th May 1942. From research conducted it appears that the bodies of these four victims were all recovered. Three other port workers also died whilst serving on HM Drifter Eddy a few days earlier on 25th May 1942. The bodies of these three victims were all taken to shore. It is important to note that no human remains have been identified or found on HM Drifter Eddy by the diving team.
Wreck History:HM Drifter Eddy was built by A. Hall and was launched as a drifter on 6th August 1918 and sunk after hitting a mine on 26 May 1942 seven cables off Grand Harbour. The wreck was found at a depth of 56 metres, not much maritime history is known on this vessel except that she carried out port duties in the UK. Prior to World War Two she sailed to Malta to continue these same duties in Grand Harbour for the Royal Navy. After the commencement of World War Two HM Drifter Eddy was rigged to sweep for mines and because in those days minesweepers were mainly built of wood, HM Drifter Eddy on the other hand had a steel hull which made this vessel unsuitable for this job. Due to war necessity and improvisation HM Drifter Eddy had to carry out this role only to fall victim of a mine herself.