Madiana

History

The Madiana began life as the Balmoral Castle, an iron-hulled passenger and cargo liner launched at Govan in 1876 for Donald Currie's Castle Line. She passed through several owners, spent some years under the Spanish flag as the San Augustin (surviving a serious fire off northern Spain in 1883), and in 1893 was bought by the Quebec Steamship Company and renamed Madiana for its New York-Bermuda-West Indies service.

On the night of 9-10 February 1903 she was nearing Bermuda from New York. Captain Roderick Frazer took the North Rock light for the St David's light, changed course, and the ship ran hard onto the reef. Heavy seas kept the tug sent to help at a distance, but everyone aboard escaped in the lifeboats and no lives were lost.

An inquiry found Frazer negligent, though the Board of Trade later reversed that finding. The wreck was partly salvaged during the Second World War, when her engine was removed.

Diving the wreck today

The Madiana is a big, sprawling wreck on a hard coral bottom at about 25 ft. The engine is gone, but the twin boilers and the propeller shaft are still there, and the stern hangs out over a sand hole. Plates and ribs are encrusted with coral and alive with reef fish.

The shallow depth and usually good visibility make it a good dive for most levels in calm weather, and it is often combined with the nearby Caraquet.