I had forgotten that I had photographed this ship a few months before it sank.



Asgard II was the Irish national sail training vessel, and the replacement for the previous Asgard. A brigantine, she was designed specifically for service as a sail training vessel by Jack Tyrrell, and built in Arklow, County Wicklow. She was commissioned on 7 March 1981. Owned by the Irish state, and managed by Coiste an Asgard (a founding member of Sail Training International), the vessel had a traditional figurehead in the form of a carving of Granuaile. Asgard II sank in the Bay of Biscay on 11 September 2008, 20 nautical miles (37 km) southwest of Belle-Île-en-Mer. The 5 crew and 20 trainees had earlier abandoned the vessel after she started taking on water. Asgard II was heading from Falmouth to La Rochelle for some routine maintenance. Before Christmas 2008 a plan to raise the ship will be put to the Irish cabinet, with the costs being paid for by the boats insurer's of 3.8 million euros, with the ship perhaps being raised in spring 2009 given favourable conditions. The ship is believed to be in a relatively good condition on the sea bed with one of hull planks damaged, it is unclear whether this was caused by impact with the sea bed or caused the sinking itself possibly from a collision with an semi submerged container.