DATELINE: 10th September 2001

EXMOUTH CONFIRMATION
The identity of HMS Exmouth, in the Moray Firth, has been confirmed by independent archaeological analysis of evidence filmed this summer.
The survey was carried out by the HMS Exmouth Expedition, led by Stewart McDermott, a relative of one of its lost crew.
A key feature was the 4.7in diameter of the ship's guns, indicative of an E-class destroyer. Exmouth, says the dive team's report, was the only vessel of this class sunk in the area.
Orkney's European Technical Dive Centre says it has also dived the ship. Divers raised a 4.7in shell for photography, having informed the MoD, before returning it to the site.
The shell's stamped manufacture was 1937, reloaded 1939, which would put it in the frame as Exmouth ordnance. The divers also filmed a helm unit made by Mactagget & Scott of Edinburgh, tying in with the Exmouth's specifications.
A memorial service was held at the beginning of September to mark the deaths of all 189 crew when the Exmouth was torpedoed in 1940. Members of the ship's relatives' association attended, along with members of the diving groups that have worked to confirm the ship's resting place.

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