The ss.Vina's entry into the Lloyd's Register tells us that she was a vessel of 1021 gross tons.  She was built at Leith by Ramage and Ferguson in 1894 and was registered at Grangemouth.   Owned pre-war by J.T. Salvesen & Co., her sea-going life remains a mystery but almost certainly she was a coastal vessel and carried general cargo in two holds.

In 1940, nearing the end of her sea going life, ss Vina was pressed into war service as a naval vessel at Yarmouth, carrying a crew of 12.  Yarmouth was an important naval base during the last war and the authorities feared an attack from the sea.  Vina's holds were filled with explosive and in an emergency she would have been towed to her station at Gorleston pier where, after being blown sky high, she would have blocked the harbour entrance.   Fortunately, this never happened and the Vina was taken in 1943 to be moored off Brancaster, where she was used as a target ship for planes preparing for the Normandy invasion.  Proving too costly to remove after the war, what was left of the Vina has stayed rusting on the sandbank ever since.

Sometime in the 1960's a move was made to destroy the wreck of the Vina with explosive.   This proved not feasible because of the fear of the resultant wreckage becoming hazardous to local shipping using Brancaster Harbour Channel.

Again moves are being made to remove this wreck from the sands, but the cost could run into six figures and she has long been a local navigational aid in avoiding the sandbanks and approaching the Harbour Channel.  Brancaster Parish Council and the local fishermen are against its removal for these reasons.  Local opinion has it that even without its wreck, the sandbank on the other side of the Harbour Channel would remain an attraction for people to reach. 

Little Jake was taken by the swift flowing tide while playing by the water.  See Brancaster Beach for further information regarding the tragedy and the avoidable dangers of Brancaster Beach.