Scuba Geek

Scuba Diver dies after dive off Plymouth Coast August 7, 2006

Posted by Andy Carroll in : Accidents, WreckDiving , add a comment

There is some bad news this weekend for divers in the UK as we hear about a fatality off the coast of Plymouth. Richard Lewis, 57, died after a 30 minute dive on the Poulmic which lies in 18 mtrs. It looks like it might be the result of a medical problem given the conservative dive plan and the information published so far. From the Melton Mowbray Today;

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Polish navy finds wreck of Graf Zeppelin August 3, 2006

Posted by Andy Carroll in : News, WreckDiving , add a comment

I found this via Divester, that the Polish Navy have announced they may have found the Nazi aircraft carrier, the Graf Zeppelin. I say ‘may’, but they are ‘99.9% certain’. Nobody as yet, has actually dived the wreck and it has been explored so far using submersibles, but it lies in 86 mtrs of water. Amazingly the ship never saw combat due to political squabbles within the Nazi party, and Hitler’s disenchantment with the German Navy, and it was eventually sunk by the Soviets after being used for dive bombing practice, in 1947. This from MSNBC;
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Divers discover World War One sub off Lothian coast July 31, 2006

Posted by Andy Carroll in : News, WreckDiving , add a comment

The South Queensferry Sub Aqua Club (SQSAC) have become the centre of attention after finding what is thought to be a World War I submarine. Initially believing it was a trawler on their first trip, the divers visited again and found that it was a sub. They are now waiting for information from the Admiralty before they decide to ecplore further, as they have no idea whether any lives were lost when the vessel sank. This from the Scotsman;

AN intact First World War submarine has been discovered in deep waters off Eyemouth after divers initially mistook it for a sunken fishing trawler.

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Story of the Andrea Doria July 27, 2006

Posted by Andy Carroll in : WreckDiving , 1 comment so far

As it is the 50th anniversary of the Andrea Doria, I thought I’d do some digging and found a nice article which covers some of the history of the sinking of the Italian luxury liner, and some of the people on board. Apparently, at least 14 people have died whilst exploring the wreck, the latest one being on July 8th this year, when David Bright died from Decompression Illness.

The Andrea Doria sank after colliding with the Stockholm, a Swedish passenger ship. There were disputes over whose fault it was and the case was eventually settled out of court, but many say it was simply human error. The collision paved the way for increased communications between vessels as well as well defined shipping lanes, which means that a similar incident today is unlikely.
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Scuba Diving the Yamashiro July 27, 2006

Posted by Andy Carroll in : WreckDiving , add a comment

I recently mentioned that Cedric Verdier was planning to dive the HJMS Yamashiro, which is a Japanese warship sank during World War 2, and now lies in nearly 200 mtrs of water in the Phillipines. Cedric recentyl reported that he has made the dive, although everything didn’t quite go according to plan. After all the time, effort and money Cedric spent literally only a few minutes on the wreck. The question now is, will he go back? This from Cedric’s report;

180m. The line is horizontal, 15m above the bottom. I follow the line and discover a huge hull in front of me. My Halcyon canister light has flooded and I have to use a 10W HID light. The beam is narrow and hardly covers more than a few metres. When I finally reach the wreck of the Yamashiro, I’m already 14 minutes into the dive. A quick check at my handsets and my computers and I start exploring the wreck. It’s so dark and the wreck so huge that it’s difficult to have any clue about where I am. I see superstructures, a hull and it looks like the complete wreck sits on her side. After a few minutes on the bottom, my VR3 and my tables strongly remind me that it’s maybe the right time to start my ascent. Already!!
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Scuba Diving the Andrea Doria ‘exhilarating’ July 27, 2006

Posted by Andy Carroll in : WreckDiving , 3comments

The Andrea Doria is said to be the Everest of diving. The Italian luxury liner, which sank off the coast of Nantucket 50 years ago yesterday, lies at a depth of 230 feet, in the cold, dark, and unpredictable New England water. Metrowestdailynews.com has published an interesting report interviewing Joseph Augusto, who enjoys diving and penetrating the wreck;

“It was awesome to go down and see the outline as you descend, look at your depth gauge and see the ship come into view,” said Augusto, who grew up in Shrewsbury and owns Augusto Sprinkler Co. in Worcester with customers in the MetroWest area.
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