After WW1 many wartime ships were being sold off for scrap by the government. In November 1921 a Sunderland scrap company acquired H.M. Submarine G3 and in December towed it, with a crew of three on board, up the North Sea. As it was passing Scarborough a storm rose up and it was felt prudent to take off the crew of three and slip the tow. The next day the G3 came aground on the north beach between the Corner Café area and Scalby Mills. It took three days to re-float her and resume the towing only for the weather to intervene again causing the tow to be slipped again. This time the tide dragged the submarine back to Cayton Bay where she went aground yet again. It took a further few days to re-float her before the towing could resume, this time they got well above Whitby before a bad north easterly gale caused them to slip the tow again. The submarine was lost and adrift for three days before Filey Coastguard sighted her passing Filey Brig and crossing the bay before she came aground at Speeton Cliffs. The towing crew decided that she was best left where she was and made no further attempts at re-floating her and claimed on their insurance for her. She was eventually bought from the insurance company by a local man who stripped her of any valuable scrap and equipment before abandoning her. In 1940 it was deemed that wreck of G3 could be used as a landmark for enemy forces and it was decided to blow her up. To this day remains of G3 can still be found around the base of Speeton Cliffs. G3 wasn’t registered as a wreck but as flotsam.
