Amateur Diver Stumbles Upon Century-Old WWI Shipwreck—Snaps It Up on Facebook for Mere $400
Ever dreamt of owning a shipwreck? No? Well, Dom Robinson from Plymouth, England—not your everyday guy—just did exactly that. For a mere $400, he snagged the rusting remains of the SS Almond Branch, a British merchant ship torpedoed in 1917, right off the Cornish coast. Yep, you read that right: a World War I relic bought on Facebook Marketplace. While his wife wasn’t exactly popping champagne over the deal (“What a waste of money,” she reportedly fumed), Dom’s been diving into shipwrecks for over thirty years, so owning one was basically a lifelong itch he needed to scratch. Sure, it’s mostly “a big pile of rusting iron,” but there’s something irresistibly awesome about holding the title to a sunken story—and hey, bragging rights don’t come cheap, right? So, what’s the big deal about owning underwater history? And who knew shipwrecks could be sold like used cars online? Dive in, because this tale is as deep as the Channel itself. LEARN MORE
Dom Robinson of Plymouth, England just fulfilled his childhood dream of owning his own shipwreck when he bought the 1917 wreck of the SS Almond Branch on Facebook Marketplace.
Dom RobinsonDom Robinson, the diver who purchased the wreck of the SS Almond Branch on Facebook Marketplace for just $400.
Amateur diver Dom Robinson has been exploring shipwrecks for more than three decades, and now he is the owner of one.
Robinson was browsing Facebook Marketplace when he came across a listing for the wreck of a World War I-era British merchant ship called the SS Almond Branch. The wreck, which sits at the bottom of the English Channel just off the Cornish coast, was originally purchased from the government in the 1970s by a private owner who had hoped to find something valuable among the remains. Instead, they found a “big pile of rusting iron,” Robinson told the BBC, and finally put the wreck up for sale.
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