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No Secret for Victoria!

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No Secret for Victoria! wreck rap No Secret for Victoria! What does a fish exporter from Norway, a Chief Information Officer and diving instructor living in the Netherlands, a renowned lawyer based in Cyprus, a Project Manager working in Sweden, and an expat French Technical Diving Instructor have in common? By Cedric Verdier HMS Victoria was one of Apparently nothing—except their Circuit Rebreathers and diving two Victoria-class battle- love for underwater wrecks and according to the principles set ships of the Royal Navy. their desire to explore some of forth in the DIRrebreather diving On 22 June 1893 she collid- the most famous ones all over the standards. By: Cedric Verdier ed with HMS Camperdown world. Spyrou and Verdier had been near Tripoli, Lebanon A few months ago, Per Bjorn discussing diving the HMS Victoria during manoeuvres and quickly sank, taking 358 Rakvag, Pim van der Horst, Spyros since the summer of 2007. The crew with her, including Spyrou, Henrik Enckell and Cedric impressive wreck is quite unusual the commander of the Verdier decided to go on a wreck in the sense that it stands up verti- British Mediterranean Fleet, expedition to Lebanon. The pur- cally rising up from 140m to 77m Vice-Admiral Sir George pose was to explore the HMS with her bow deeply embedded Tryon. She was the first Victoria, a British battleship that in the thick layer of sediment. battleship to be propelled went down in 1893 and now lies Spyrou contacted ambassadors by triple expansion steam a few miles off Tripoli, between and officials from Cyprus and engines and also the first Beirut and the Syrian border, rest- Lebanon to obtain all the neces- Royal Navy ship to be ing at 140m (460ft). The divers sary permissions. Soon he came equipped with a steam turbine, which was used to were equipped for the challenge in touch with Christian Francis, power a dynamo. ahead with Megalodon Closed- owner of Lebanon Divers who first 22 X-RAY MAG : 26 : 2008 EDITORIAL FEATURES TRAVEL NEWS EQUIPMENT BOOKS SCIENCE & ECOLOGY EDUCATION PROFILES PORTFOLIO CLASSIFIED Lebanon!? When you mention to someone that you are going to Lebanon, you get this same strange expres- sion back—a delicate mix of sur- prise and worry. Lebanon is any- thing but the usual, off-the shelf diving destination. After so many years of civil wars, conflicts with the neighbouring countries, and military actions against extremist groups, Lebanon is not any more the coveted and classy tourist destination that it once was. The southern border is still quite “active”, and Beirut International Airport has been closed repeat- edly in the recent years. But one has to admit that Lebanon is a beautiful country, and it is well known for its surprising nightlife, its extremely rich archaeological heritage, and the warm hospital- ity of its inhabitants. Lebanese located the wreck. During that time, thanks to the DIRrebreather forum and its members, Verdier spoke with several experienced rebreather divers who wanted to partici- pate in this interesting project, and before long, a team was formed. However, it takes a good deal more than dedication and tenacity to get a project like this off the ground. You also need experience, and above all, financing. The plan was for the team to first gather in Cyprus a few days before the trip to Beirut, but airlines sometimes work in mysterious ways, and as a con- sequence of multiple delays, some of the participants had to go directly to Lebanon. Some of them even used a Rolls- Royce as a taxi to the airport! 23 X-RAY MAG : 26 : 2008 EDITORIAL FEATURES TRAVEL NEWS EQUIPMENT BOOKS SCIENCE & ECOLOGY EDUCATION PROFILES PORTFOLIO CLASSIFIED In 2004 the wreck of the Victoria was discov- wreck ered by diver Christian Francis. She was found rap in 140 metres of water. The most amazing aspect of the wreck is that unlike all others she sits vertically with about two thirds of her above the sea bed. people, most of whom are multi-lingual, have also learnt to live with war and enjoy peaceful moments in their stunning landscapes. Once very westernized in their tastes, reli- gion and manners, Lebanese people enjoyed close ties to France and the UK. That is also the reason why a fleet from the Royal Navy went to anchor off Tripoli, a couple of hours north of Beirut. According to the Naval Historical Collectors and Research Association (Review Autumn 2007): “The tragic sinking of the 10,470-ton HMS Victoria remains the Royal ted by the nearby Tower of Lions. rear gun he looked Navy’s biggest peacetime Why was the wreck so difficult at for a few minutes. disaster ... On 22 June 1893, to find? Simply because the wreck Verdier couldn’t 22 officers and 334 of her of HMS Victoria stands up verti- help but explaining crew were drowned after the cally, which her bow deeply bur- how a wreck of this HMS Camperdown accidently ied in a thick layer of mud, making kind could accom- rammed the Mediterranean flag- searches with a depth sounder modate any level of ship in an elaborate and ill-judged very difficult. Trimix Divers, ranging gle equipment failure during their fleet manoeuvre ordered by Vice- from the comfortable tour of the expedition in Lebanon. All the Admiral Sir George Tryon KCB.” Diving Victoria stern at 77m/250ft to the extreme dives were done according to Within only 13 minutes, during If you ask the five DIRrebreather exploration of the wreckage at strict DIRrebreather team proce- which most of the crew managed members who explored this wreck 140m/460ft. In other words, it looks dures, using standards mixes, set- to abandon ship, the proud battle- in April what impressed them most like Victoria’s got something for points and decompression sched- ship was pulled downward by the about this wreck, you’ll get five dif- everyone! ules. weight of 111 tons of her two for- ferent answers. None of the participants suf- ward-mounted main guns in their Spyrou will tell you that “this These five rebreather divers were fered from any sign of decompres- huge turret, while still being driven wreck is clearly like no other, as so fortunate to arrive during per- sion sickness, which is an absolute forward by her churning propellers. it’s so weird and disturbing to go fect weather conditions to explore requirement bearing in mind the After reading about a very epic down along what you are used to the whole wreck. They shot pic- remoteness of the location and court martial of the main offic- see horizontal”. Van der Horst and tures and videos, paying their price the relative lack of state-of-the-art ers involved at that time, and the Rakvag will speak about the pic- at the end of the end with long recompression chamber. many documented attempts to tures they took of the two impres- decompression stops in 18° C (64F) Apart from the trouble eat- find the wreck, Christian Francis, sive propellers pointing toward the cold water. ing the local corned beef, eve- a local Dive Centre owner, finally surface. Enckell will maybe men- Thanks to the robustness of ryone participated in a safe Blad of one of the found her resting place, exactly tion the artefacts and portholes, their Megalodon rebreathers, and extremely enjoyable deep giant propellors where the battleship was last spot- the fishing nets, and the huge they didn’t experience any sin- rebreather diving expedition. ■ 24 X-RAY MAG : 26 : 2008 EDITORIAL FEATURES TRAVEL NEWS EQUIPMENT BOOKS SCIENCE & ECOLOGY EDUCATION PROFILES PORTFOLIO CLASSIFIED.
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