Numidia

Also known as: SS Numidia · Railway Wreck

Built in Glasgow in 1901 for the Anchor Line, the Numidia was bound from Liverpool for Calcutta with railway material when she grounded on Big Brother in the early hours of 20 July 1901. Every attempt to refloat her failed, the cargo was taken off over the following weeks, and she eventually broke in two and her stern slipped down the reef. Today she lies almost at right angles to the reef, with railway wheels and axles still marking the shallow bow section. With the wooden decking long gone, only the steel skeleton of the superstructure remains and the holds are easy to enter, and the whole wreck is thickly overgrown with hard and soft corals. Recreational divers usually see the upper parts and then drift along the island wall, while the propeller at around 80 m is a technical dive. Grey reef sharks, snapper schools, tuna and mackerel are reported around the wreck.