Kevin divulged the position to Mark Reeves and Alex Deas of the European Technical Diving Centre, Burray, Orkney. The position we gave them was so accurate that it took them only 20 minutes to locate the wreck. They dived and confirmed its identity on 24 June 2001. Alex Deas described the wreck as an underwater garden of stunning beauty, covered with bright hydroids, anemones and starfish. It was teeming with shoals of large fish, with many lobsters, crabs and sea urchins on the wreck. He said, “It is most fitting that the site has been transformed from one of death and destruction to one of tranquillity and life. I have never seen so much sea life on any other wreck”, a point Mark Reeves affirmed, and added “It is clear why the Exmouth sank so quickly after the explosion. The torpedo did not simply make a hole, but it literally blew the ship apart. It was evident from surveying the wreck that the Exmouth obviously sank immediately. Now it is a very beautiful site, in clear water”.

The wreck is lying almost upside down, very smashed up, twisted and corroded. The 4.7” gun turrets are lying upside down in the wreckage. The “terrific explosion, much louder than the first”, described by those on the Cyprian Prince, was very likely Exmouth's forward magazine exploding, and this would be the source of the black cloud of smoke seen by U-22. A magazine explosion would also account for a lot of the enormous damage to the wreck.

Exmouth obviously hit the seabed bow first, causing the fore end to bend and distort. The wreck was detected by anti-submarine vessels during the war. They possibly assumed it to be a U-boat, and may have subjected it to depth-charging, causing further damage. We now have about an hour of video footage of the wreck, and several features, including her distinctive anchors, propellers, range finder, etc. have been matched with plans of the ship.

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