Sunk ‘RMS Rangoon’ detected in sea off Galle

RMS Rangoon, a steam-powered Royal Mail Ship which operated during the British Colonial period had been detected sunk in the Galle Port sea seven nautical miles away at 30 metres depth, the Education Ministry said yesterday.

“The Maritime Archaeology Unit (MAU) of the Central Cultural Fund (CCF) was able to identify the remaining parts of the vessel,” it said.

RMS Rangoon was believed to have been sunk in 1871.

Mail steamer RMS Rangoon left Galle harbour with mail for Australia on November 1, 1871 and it was sunk in the seas of the south-west of Galle lighthouse. All the mail had been lost, however, the passengers and the crew members had been saved.

The MAU had discovered 20 boats and sail boats, sunk recently and more than 100 years ago following explorations carried out in the sea off Dehiwala in 2017, the Ministry said in the statement.

“The discoveries were made under a special programme launched on the direction of Minister of Education Akila Viraj Kariyawasam under the Central Cultural Fund,” the Ministry said in a statement.

“Among the exploration and reconstruction programmes implemented under the guidance of the Director General of the Central Cultural Fund, several maritime activities have been carried out in maritime archaeology.

“Many of those were experimental vessels. They are detected at a depth of more than 25 meters and are made of metal. The vessels include large cargo vessels, steam ships, small and medium-sized steam craft and powered barges.

“Further, the research was expected to be carried out with the help of modern scientific methods and instruments used in maritime archaeology.

The project expects to inspect the large ships in the Unawatuna Tourist Zone, exploring of smaller craft around them are being carried out under operation called ‘Iron Wreck 2’.

“A large number of items and equipment had been found during the explorations. They have been placed at the Maritime Archaeological Museum at the Galle Fort.”