World War Two mystery solved after Wales wreck discovery

Sonar images show the wreckage in two parts on the seabed

A mystery has been solved with the discovery of a World War Two wreck - more than 100 miles from where it was thought to have sunk.

The Mk III Landing Craft Tank LCT 326 disappeared on its way from Troon to Devon in 1943 with the loss of 14 crew.

The Admiralty thought it had sunk near the Isle of Man, but it has now been discovered off the Welsh coast.

The discovery was part of a project to identify hundreds of wrecks in Welsh waters.

Designed to land armoured vehicles during amphibious operations, of the type used extensively in the D-Day landings in June 1944, the vessel was built in Middlesbrough.

The landing craft were used to get troops and equipment on to the Normandy beaches on D-Day

More than 800 tank landing craft took part in Operation Overlord

It was part of the 7th LCT Flotilla, which set sail from Troon on 31 January 1943, for Appledore, according to documents in the National Archives.

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It was last seen the following day, and it was thought it had hit a mine or run into bad weather.

Now sonar data gathered by researchers from Bangor and Bournemouth universities shows the wreck more than 100 miles away, off Bardsey Island.

Bangor University's research vessel Prince Madog has been scanning the seabed off the Welsh coast

"The aim of this research is to identify as many offshore wrecks in Welsh waters as possible and shed light on their respective maritime heritage," said Dr Innes McCartney.

"This aspect of the project has resulted in many new and exciting discoveries relating to both world wars."

The wreck is on the seabed in two halves lying 130m apart.

The dimensions and appearance of the wreck from the sonar data show it is 58m long and 10m wide, which is similar to the dimensions of a MKIII LCT.