Maritime Archaeology Trust gets £1m for WW1 wrecks study

The forgotten shipwrecks of World War One are to be explored in a £1.1m project to mark the centenary of the conflict.

It is thought there could be about 700 wrecks off the south coast - many were sunk by German u-boats - but most are unrecognised and unprotected.

Now the race is on to survey them properly before they disintegrate.

The Hampshire-based Maritime Archaeology Trust will use the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) money to research more than 1,000 forgotten wreck around the UK.

The information collected by the Forgotten Wrecks of the First World War project will then be put online.