A group of diving enthusiasts discovered the nameplate of a sailor among the wreckage of a First World War destroyer - and are set to reunite it with his family in Canada.

The brass plate - bearing the name Charles Smith - was found by members of the Thanet Sub Aqua Club in Ramsgate during a routine weekend dive.

And now research by the divers has shone a light on the fascinating life of the sailor, and even led them to his great, great niece across the Atlantic.

The extraordinary discovery was made on September 5, when the the group set off on diver Mick Terry's pleasure craft, Kelsey-Jane.

They had originally planned to dive a wreck near the Goodwin Sands, but the surface conditions were a bit lumpy and visibility was very poor. They instead decided to head further out to a second dive site, but the conditions were the same.

However, they continued to travel seven miles more - taking them 15 miles southeast of Ramsgate, where they decided to revisit the wreck of HMS Flirt.

The C-class destroyer operated out of Dover during the First World War until the 63m warship was sunk by a German torpedo on October 26, 1916.

With about 10 metres of visibility, the divers descended onto the wreck.

Mr Terry moved along the starboard side of the ship's bridge, which is three metres above the seabed and the highest point of the destroyer.

The ship has been in the Channel for more than 100 years and the wooden deck has rotted away - exposing the cabin area. Mr Terry saw a piece of brass lying on the deck, and he brought it up to the surface for further inspection.

Diver Mark Watson, 53, who researched the story behind the name plate, said: "To find something with a name on it is the ultimate find because you can start researching the history and find the story that goes with it.

"The club goes out most weekends diving to look at the wrecks. We’re not specifically searching for anything but if you come across something like that it’s lovely.

"We’ve dived the wreck many times. It’s a First World War destroyer but it’s well broken-up and a mess of tangled metal. On this particular day the visibility in that area was very good. We had 10 metres, which is outstanding for the English Channel."

When Mr Terry returned to the boat, it was obvious to the divers the brass object was a plaque of some kind.

Although it was quite dirty, it was possible to make out where it had been hand stamped with the name C. Smith.

Because of a series of rivet holes around it, the group worked out it had previously been attached to something metal. Their best guess is that it would have been on a "ditty box" - a small container sailors would keep personal belongings in.

Mr Watson added: "It had always been a dream of the club members to find a personal item that they could then trace the history of, but with a surname like Smith, it seemed they may not be able to get very far.

"Mick checked the crew list of HMS Flirt and, while there were two Smiths on board, fortunately there was only one ‘C’: Charles.

"On further investigation, Charles Robert Drake Smith was found to be one of only nine survivors from the crew."

Mr Watson contacted local historian and naval history expert Chris Sandwell, who searched Ancestry.co.uk for Charles Smith.

He found details of his family and managed to trace his great, great niece - Amanda Boucher - who is based in Canada.

Research found Charles was one of five children who had "very poor" parents who spilt while the kids were young.

One of his siblings died in childhood and the two youngest, Rosalie and Victor, were sent to Barnardo's before being transported to Canada under the Home Children scheme on the Allan, when their father became unable to care for them.

The eldest brother was adopted and remained in England, but unfortunately Mr Sandwell was unable to trace him or his family.

Charles had been due to join Rosalie and Victor but joined the Navy aged 17 on March 4, 1913 as a boy sailor before the outbreak of the First World War.

He trained with several ships before joining HMS Flirt on December 6, 1915, as an able-bodied seaman.

But on the night of October 26, 1916, the Germans launched an attack on a nearby drifter, Waveney II.

Survivors were spotted in the water and HMS Flirt went to assist. Charles was one of the sailors tasked with rowing a boat to rescue them.

But tragically, HMS Flirt suffered a direct hit from a torpedo - and most of the crew were killed.

The only survivors were Charles and a few of his fellow crew members who were manning the rescue boat.

The sailor went on to join minesweeper HMS Seagull, which was sunk in a collision with a merchant ship, SS Corrib, on September 30, 1918 in The Firth of Clyde.

Charles died in the accident and his body was never recovered. He is remembered on the Portsmouth Naval Memorial, which commemorates 10,000 First World War and 15,000 Second World War sailors with no known grave.

The plaque has been cleaned and polished - and will be returned to his family as a keepsake.

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