Diving Thoughts

There are rumours that a diver is missing on the Repulse. You can get some information here. It sounds as though it might have been a British navy diver. There is an article from 28th May at the ChinaPress dot com, but unfortunately (for me at least) it’s in Chinese. A very rough translation is as follows:

QUOTE
13 UK technical divers were exploring the wreck of a World War II UK BattleCruiser (HMS Repulse) in the South China Sea, which was sunk by Japanese, and 1 diver disappeared. Those 13 divers reached the ship wreck by 3pm and at 4pm ascended and became aware that one of them had disappeared.

They used a satellite phone to contact one local diver and request police assistance.

The British ship was hit by Japanese on Dec 12 1941 and sank to the sea bed in 60 metres, 67 nautical miles from Kuantan.

Earlier in the week the Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia had returned the ship’s bell from HMS Prince of Wales [which was sunk in the same action as the Repulse] to the commanding officer of HMS Edinburgh which was visiting.
ENDQUOTE

[The bell had been in Malaysia as part of the "Relationships" project to honour those who died on the Prince of Wales and the Repulse].

There are several SCDC divers along with a group from Sydney diving from Vidar’s boat this week and that was part of their itinerary. It doesn’t sound as though any of them are involved as the timing is off, but we should find out more in a few days when they get back to Hong Kong.

First World War Australian submarine, AE2, was scuttled on 30 May 1915 in the Sea of Marmara while supporting the Gallipoli landings. She was one of the first two submarines bought by the Australian navy and was serving with the Allied fleet off the Dardanelles. AE2 was the first Allied submarine to penetrate the Narrows and get into the Sea of Marmara where she disrupted merchant shipping attempting to resupply the Turkish defenders at Gallipoli. After 5 days she dived to avoid a torpedo boat, but suddenly headed up out of control, perhaps because of hitting denser water of a halocline (salt/fresh water boundary). They were fired on at the surface so dived again, this time going beyond the maximum permitted depth. Eventually Captain Stoker was forced to reverse engines and blow air into the main ballast tanks, bringing them back to the surface. The engine room was hit by fire from Turkish torpedo boat, Sultanhisar, and they had no choice but to abandon ship. As they left they scuttled the submarine. The crew spent the rest of the war in captivity where 4 of them died of disease.

AE2 was found in 1998 at 72 metres. Last year a survey of the wreck was performed and based on their findings an expert group advising the Turkish and Australian governments decided against raising the wreck. Efforts will be made to conserve it in place. Estimates for raising and restoring the wreck were put at $100 Million compared with preservation at the current site and setting up a shore display to commemorate the submarine and the Sultanhisar could come to $30 Million. There is an article on the decision here.

From what the survey team found, the steel on the wreck is in remarkably good condition considering its age, and this seems to be largely due to the lack of oxygen down there, as a good part of it is covered in a layer of silt.

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation made a documentary which was recently shown on Australian television. If you are in Australia you can download a copy but not if you are overseas. Fortunately one of the expedition people sent up a DVD to Hong Kong, which I watched last night. It was a very good balance between the history, the archaeology and the diving. It also covered the incident where one of the divers had problems with her rebreather and was lucky to survive. She had the good fortune to be part of a team of highly experienced divers and medical personnel and has since made a full recovery.

Anyway if you get the chance the documentary is well worth watching. South China Diving Club will be screening it some time in the near future at one of their Club Nights, as the expedition team contained one of their former members.

In case you missed it last week, DAN Asia Pacific Exectuive Director and long-time diver, John Lippmann,  made a personal statement on the situation regarding the recent incident in the Whitsunday’s where 2 divers were rescued after 19 hours in the water. They have come in for a surprising amount of criticism in the media and on some of the scuba forums since the incident. You can read Mr. Lippmann’s personal thoughts here. He is basically sympathetic towards the divers, as in fact I am. Until facts come out that demonstrate recklessness on their part, it seems strange that they have been victims of such a witch-hunt. Perhaps the newspapers are worried that by the time the facts do come out, it won’t be a story any more so they’re making the most of it while they can.

I think the main message is that shit happens, and we should all be relieved that there was a good outcome, just as there was for the 8 Taiwanese divers who were rescued last month after 48 hours.

DAN’s official statement regarding the insurance position is here.