Hurds Deep
Encyclopedia
Hurd's Deep is a deep underwater valley in the English Channel
English Channel
The English Channel , often referred to simply as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates southern England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest to in the Strait of Dover...

, north west of the Channel Islands
Channel Islands
The Channel Islands are an archipelago of British Crown Dependencies in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They include two separate bailiwicks: the Bailiwick of Guernsey and the Bailiwick of Jersey...

, at position 49 degrees 30 minutes North, 3 degrees 34 minutes West. From marine navigational charts, the maximum depth is 172 metres, and lies to the north of the isle of Alderney
Alderney
Alderney is the most northerly of the Channel Islands. It is part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, a British Crown dependency. It is long and wide. The area is , making it the third-largest island of the Channel Islands, and the second largest in the Bailiwick...

.
It is most probable that it was named after Captain Thomas Hurd
Thomas Hurd
Captain Thomas Hannaford Hurd was an officer of the Royal Navy, who rose to the rank of captain, becoming the second Admiralty hydrographer, a Superintendent of Chronometers and a Commissioner for the discovery of longitude...

 RN. by Admiral Martin White
Martin White
Martin White is an English musician, comedian and animator. As well as performing solo with an accordion around the London comedy circuit, White also fronts the Mystery Fax Machine Orchestra and the Karaoke Circus live bands...

 (born at Hayling Island, 1779).

Following the First World War Hurd's Deep was used by the British Government as a dumping ground for both chemical and conventional munitions. The SMS Baden
SMS Baden (1915)
SMS Baden "SMS" stands for "Seiner Majestät Schiff", or "His Majesty's Ship" was a dreadnought battleship of the German Imperial Navy built during World War I...

 was scuttled there in 1921. Following the Second World War it was used to dump military equipment, munitions and weaponry left behind by the ousted German invaders of the Channel Islands.

Hurd's Deep is the final resting place of HMS Affray
HMS Affray (P421)
HMS Affray , a British Amphion-class submarine was the last Royal Navy submarine to be lost at sea, on 16 April 1951, with the loss of 75 lives...

which sank in 1951.

Routine dumping of British munitions carried on until 1974.

Between 1946 and 1973 the area was also used for the dumping of low and intermediate level radioactive wastes.
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