Maritime MPM1950 - SMS V44

Remains of the First World War German Imperial Navy Destroyer/Torpedo Boat SMS V44 on the eastern side of Portsmouth Harbour. The vessel was brought to Portsmouth in 1919/20 and used as a target for gunnery practice prior to being sold for scrap in 1921.

Remains of the First World War German Imperial Navy destroyer/torpedo boat SMS V44 located in the intertidal zone on the eastern side of Portsmouth Harbour, south of Whale Island. A site report produced as part of the Maritime Archaeology Trust's Forgotten Wrecks of the First World War project in 2016 recorded that only a small number of features belonging to the ship could be seen protruding through the mud flat in the harbour, with parts of the hull and funnel surviving beneath.

V44 was launched in 1915 and took part in a number of engagements during the First World War including the Battle of Jutland in May 1916. In June 1919 she was beached off the Fara Island when the German fleet was scuttled at Scapa Flow. V44 was then moved to Portsmouth Harbour along with two other vessels, SMS V82 and the cruiser Nurnberg, where she was used as a target for gunnery practice. The vessel was subsequently beached and sold to a ship breaker in March 1921. In 1927 V44 was sold to scrap merchant H.G. Pounds but the remains of the ship were left in the harbour.

Maritime Archaeology Trust, 2016, German Destroyers V44 & V82: Archaeological Report (Unpublished document). SPM551.