A group of scuba divers have launched an appeal to find the relatives of a captain who died following the sinking of his ship in World War I.
Merchant Navy captain Arthur Ligertwood Murrison was in charge of the SS Baygitano when it was torpedoed on March 18, 1918.
The ship, which had been carrying coal for the Allied war effort, was hit by a missile from a U-Boat when it was travelling across the English Channel from Le Harve to Cardiff.
The vessel has been lying 65ft down on the seabed off the coast of Exeter ever since.
Now, nearly one hundred years later, the British Sub-Aqua Club (BSAC) are preparing to perform a commemorative dive on March 18, 2018, to mark the centenary of the ship’s demise.
In the run-up to their commemorative dive, BSAC are attempting to track down the descendants of the ship’s captain.
Captain Murrison, who was from Methlick in Aberdeenshire, survived the attack but died a year later in Gironde, France, aged 58.
Two men died when the ship was torpedoed, the first mate and fourth engineer.
BSAC member and nautical historian Nigel Braybrooke said: “As a club we intend to dive her on the 100th anniversary of her sinking in 2018, to commemorate her loss as part of the Nautical Archaeology Society’s ‘Lost Beneath the Waves 1914-1918’ initiative.
“I will be trying to locate relatives of anyone who may have served on her at the time of her sinking, especially Captain Arthur Ligertwood Murrison and the two casualties, First Mate Rudolph Richards and Fourth Engineer John Chinn.”
Not much is known about Captain Murrison, except that he married a woman named Annie Donaldson in May 1900 and had two daughters, Annie Murrison, who died in 1999 in Maryland in the United States, and Agnes Hastie Murrison, who died in March 1995 in Perthshire.
Mr Braybrooke, who has been diving for more than 30 years, added:”It would be fantastic to find relatives of Captain Murrison so we can share our project with them, particularly the dive we are planing on the centenary of the ship sinking.
“If anyone can help locate the descendants or has any further information on the Baygitano I would urge them to get in touch via the Severnside Sub Aqua Club.”