The Gavina was outward bound from Fleetwood to the West of Ireland fishing grounds when she was caught in dense fog on the night of the 4^th October 1921, and ran onto a reef, slightly to the North of Bruce’s Castle. The crew managed to launch the ship’s lifeboat and row ashore and thence raise the alarm. An attempt was made a few days later by a salvage company to refloat the Gavina but it was unsuccessful as she was too badly holed so they returned to their original task  of trying to salvage the Tarv in Church Bay. As was usual, anything that could be removed was done so by the islanders the lifeboat in which the crew rowed ashore was used by an islander for many years as a fishing boat.

Diving information – The wreck of the Gavina lies about 300 metres north of Bruce’s Castle. The boiler can usually be seen on a clear day about 1 metre under the surface. The wreck is broken up but the engine, boiler and quite a lot of plating can still be seen. In recent years, some very nice portholes have been recovered from the wreck. The ebb tide runs very strong at this spot – about 5 knots – so it is advisable to dive only on the flood tide. The depth is only about 6 metres and the visibility is usually quite good.