THE wreck of a Southampton ship which sank nearly 90 years ago has been discovered by divers off the coast of northern Scotland.

HMS Caribbean, a former liner with the Union Castle Mail Steamship company, was used to carry mail and passengers from Southampton to Cape Town.

Orkney skipper Andy Cuthbertson located the wreck in 106 metres of water off Cape Wrath.

Previous efforts to find the Southampton-built ship had been scuppered by the notoriously rough and unpredictable weather conditions around Cape Wrath.

HMS Caribbean, formerly known as the Dunnottar Castle, first sailed from Southampton in 1890 and reduced the voyage time to South Africa, from 42 days to 17 days and 20 hours.

After being converted to an auxiliary cruiser in 1915, she sank with the loss of 15 crew.