James Egan Layne

This old US Liberty ship used to be the most popular dive site in Europe. Torpedoed by U-1195 on the 21st March 1945, she was towed to Plymouth, but denied entry, so they attempted to beach her in Whitsand bay. Just before they got there the stern section broke off and she sank in minutes. Upright and now shaped like a large canoe since the decks have fallen through, the James Egan Layne is a beautiful historic site.

Length: 120m

Max Depth: 24m

Depth to deck: max 9m at bow, 16m over main deck

Viz: Worst we've seen 1m, best 20m+

Orientation: Upright, stern points out to sea.

Buoy Lines

There is 1 chain line at the bow with 5 gallon drum full of air attached halfway up to keep the lower part of the chain from snagging the J.E.L. and pulling the buoy underwater, please do not tamper with it or moor off the orange buoy. Use the chains keeping one hand on it as currents do run quite fast at the surface sometimes.

Location of Buoys
Just by the bow about 3 foot back on the starboard side. However this can often become congested. A delaid SMB is mandatory equipment for this dive.

Areas of interest

Around the base of the bow, you can see good variety of fish, anemones and soft corals.

The pogeys are all quite interesting...

The old drum wheels make a good photo, starboard side c.30m back.

The stern section is about 50m off the port side from the rubble area at the rear of the main section. It is dived less often as is harder to find.

Wreck Penetrations
Not really possible since the majority of the decking plates have fallen through. You can still swim through the old ribs of the ship (see photo's).

Snagging Hazards
As with all wrecks there are things to cut hands and get gear caught on. Gloves are advised and caution should be used.

No Take Zone
That means both fish life, and bits of the ship.

Life you could see
There are corkwing and ballan wrasse all round the bow, with pollack swimming in mid water throughout the ship. Bib can generally be seen by the port side of the bow, with the occasional John Dory. There are Tompot Blennies running around the crevices, with the odd conger or two if you look really hard. There are a large number of the endangered pink sea fan, please be very careful when swimming anywhere near these as they are fragile and can be damaged easily. Other appearences have been made by shoals of Sea Bass, Squid, and even Sunfish.