Articles about Wreck Diving (in English)
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You can also find some wreck diving-related articles in French (based on the Triade Project):
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What could be the common point between a fish exporter from Norway, a Chief Information Officer living in the Netherlands, a renowned lawyer based in Cyprus, a Program Manager working in Sweden, and a diving instructor far from France?
Apparently none. Except their love for underwater wrecks and their desire to explore some of the most famous ones all over the world.A few months ago, Per Bjorn Rakvag, Pim van der Horst, Spyros Spyrou, Henrik Enckell and Cedric Verdier decided to participate in a wreck expedition to Lebanon.
Their goal: exploring the HMS Victoria, a British battleship sunk in 1893 between Beirut and the Syrian border.
- Their main tool for this impressive exploration to 140m/460ft is the ISC Megalodon Closed-Circuit Rebreather.
Their life insurance for such a big exploration: the DIRrebreather diving standards.
- Since summer 2007, Spyros and Cedric have been discussing about the HMS Victoria, the impressive and quite unusual wreck that lies vertical between 140m/460ft and 77m/250ft, her bow deeply stuck in a thick layer of silt, a few miles off Tripoli, Lebanon. Spyros has contacted ambassadors and officials from Cyprus and Lebanon in order to get the proper authorisations. He soon became in touch with Christian Francis, owner of Lebanon Divers and original discoverer of the wreck.
During that time, thanks to the DIRrebreather forum and its members, Cedric spoke with several experienced rebreather divers who wanted to participate in this interesting project. Soon a team was formed. But this kind of expedition not only asks for a lot of good will and tenacity, but also experience and finances.
On April 2008, the plan for the team was to finally meet in Cyprus a few days before the trip to Beirut but the mysteries of airlines traffic and multiple delays decided that some of the participants would have to go directly to Lebanon after some adventures comparable to Ulysses’. Some of them even used a Rolls-Royce as a taxi to the airport!
(to be continued)
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By Cedric Verdier
Henry Nelson. Does this name ring a bell? You’ll not find him in any History manual or on any monument. However, the thousands of scuba divers who visit Vanuatu every year should bless this name. This former French/English condominium named New Hebrides till 1980, was also the second most important US base in the pacific during WWII. These 80 islands strategically located between Fiji and Australia still keep some remains of this strange time. Amongst them the wreck of the SS President Coolidge.
This huge luxury cruise liner use to travel between San Franscisco and Pacific Rim, before being transformed into a troop carrier in 1941, with the same captain, Henry Nelson, already in his mid 63. October 26th 1942, the SS President Coolidge comes back to Espiritu Santo with more than five thousands US soldiers and a whole load of military and medical supply.
Because of a communication problem, the captain doesn’t know that a mine filed has been set up around Luganville, the main harbour in Santo, to avoid any Japanese submarine to come around. At 09:30, a loud explosion. The ship just bumped into two mines. After having considered the different options, the captain decides to land this 200m long ship on the beach nearby. All the men on board will then be able to safely swim and walk to the shore.
But because of the bottom configuration and the tide, only an hour later and the luxury cruise liner will sink on a gentle slope from 20 to 70m. It will then become the biggest most accessible wreck in the world, a dream come true for scuba divers from all over the world who just to walk from the beach and swim fifty metres to start exploring the huge shipwreck.
Everything is interesting on what the local divers call « The President ». Thousands of fish swim around or stay protected in the cargo holds. Huge groupers and moray eels are so used to see divers that they act like pets, distracting them from the impressive number of jeeps, vehicles and military supply that lay virtually everywhere. With nine decks, the wreck is so complex that it looks like a maze, a feeling increased by the fact that the ship lays on her portside. Navigating inside the wreck could be quite challenging, except for the native dive guides who daily find their way to the most interesting artefacts.
Maybe the most amazing feature of The President is her impressive conservation after more than fifty years. Twice a day, avid wreck divers explore this « Titanic of the shallows ». Through the hull, opened up several times for salvaging operations, they swim in a real museum full of helmets, gas masks, guns and china. They look for the barbershop, the post office or the huge machine room. They take pictures of the several guns that were supposed to protect the ship from the Japanese threat she never met. They dream about the peaceful time when rich passengers were swimming in the multi-coloured swimming pool that now rests at 55m. Then they stop and careful watch the symbol of this forgotten cruise liner: a bas-relief that used to be in the 1st class smoking room, named « The Lady and the Unicorn ».
(to be continued)
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By Cedric Verdier
The HIJMS Yamashiro was a proud battleship of the Imperial japanese Navy during WWII. Flagship of the Vice-Admiral Nishimura, she was sunk at the same time than her sistership HIJMS Fuso during the battle of Leyte.
1st Phase: Getting there...
July 13th, 14th and 15th 2006
Living in Thailand, the trip to the Philippines should be easy and relaxing, with only a 3-hour fly to Manilla. Unfortunately, things are never as planned. Some delays in the flight, a tropical storm nicely named “Florita” and some very bad sea conditions will make my day more interesting. Arrived in Manilla under strong rain showers, I quickly take the first taxi available to go to the ferry terminal. However it happens that the ferry going to Cebu Island has been cancelled till further notice. There will maybe one tomorrow, weather permitting. That’s a bad start. With 80 kg of diving equipment, I don’t exactly travel “light” and I genuinely rely on the advice of a taxi driver to find a hotel nearby. The only one proposed to me is a decent building in a quiet area but I suddenly realize, after having mentally fought with the exchange rate, that for the price I pay for my room, I would better have sponsored the college expenses for all the kids of ten villages in the Philippines. Too late, I already gave my credit card.
I spend the all night to re-configure my luggage, as I have a tendency to over-pack my carry-on luggage (over 32 kg, with my Meg). The worst time of my flights is when I have to smile while putting my hand luggage in the overhead compartment in front of flight attendants always surprised to see the whole plane tilting on one side.
(to be continued)
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