British Loyalty Wreck

The British Loyalty is a 145-metre British tanker torpedoed by a Japanese submarine in 1942 and subsequently sunk in 1946 when her damage proved irreparable — her position in the sheltered lagoon of Addu Atoll has preserved her remarkably intact and created one of the finest wreck dives in the entire Maldives. Lying on her starboard side in 33 metres, the hull is completely colonised by massive sea fans and black corals, and the superstructure hosts permanent populations of large grouper and schools of glassfish that fill the engine room and holds. Lionfish, moray eels, and a resident Napoleon wrasse complete the wreck ecosystem, while the surrounding sandy bottom regularly hosts eagle rays and whitetip reef sharks resting between hunting forays.