wreck rap Text and photos by Vic Verlinden The armored cruiser Friedrich Carl was constructed in the year 1902 at the well-known shipyard of Blohm & Voss in Hamburg, Germany. The armored cruis- er had a length of 126m and was equipped with an impres- sive array of guns and torpedo launchers. She was the second ship of the Prinz Adalbert class when she was commissioned by the Imperial German Navy on the 12 December 1903. SMS Friedrich Carl — Diving the Flagship of Admiral Ehler Behring In the early years, she served as a tor- ship of Rear Admiral Ehler Behring. At this At the start of the war, Behring was eral light cruisers and four destroyers. The pedo training ship. Because of her three time, she was converted to carry two ordered to actively monitor the activities squadron was operating from the port engines, she could reach a top speed seaplanes. She was the first ship of the and movements of the Russian fleet in of Danzig but was not able to sail due to of 20 knots. During the outbreak of the Imperial Navy able to carry and launch the Baltic Sea. To execute this mission, the the bad weather. First World War, she served as the flag- seaplanes. Friedrich Carl was accompanied by sev- Historical photo of SMS Friedrich Carl 15 X-RAY MAG : 90 : 2019 EDITORIAL FEATURES TRAVEL NEWS WRECKS EQUIPMENT BOOKS SCIENCE & ECOLOGY TECH EDUCATION PROFILES PHOTO & VIDEO PORTFOLIO Canon (left and bottom right) on the wreck of the Friedrich wreck Carl; Discaarded fishing nets rap cover parts of the wreck (below) What are you waiting for? Visit Grand Cayman for it’s spectacular drop offs An unexpected explosion the beautiful warship was a heavy Despite the bad weather, the blow to the German navy, as Russian minelayers had not been the vessel could not be replaced idle and had laid various mine- immediately. fields in the operating area of the Friedrich Carl. On 17 November, Dive operation in Lithuania Behring ordered the continuation As early as 2017, I had decided to Home of Sunset Divers & of the mission and the vessels left dive the wreck of the SMS Friedrich world class shore diving the port. Carl, but due to circumstances, When the vessel was 30 miles this trip was postponed. However, away from the port of Memel a new date was set for June 2018. (Klaipėda), it was struck by a On 23 June 2018, I was with my heavy explosion. Immediately, dive buddy, Karl Van Der Auwera, the admiral gave the order to try on the way to the port of Kiel in all means to save the ship. Every Germany. From Belgium, this was possible measure to keep the ship only a good 650km drive. afloat was taken; however, in the We embarked on a DFDS Contact us for discounted end, the abandon-ship order was Seaways ferry that would deliver room & dive packages given, and all sailors and officers us the next day to the port city of left the ship. There were only eight Klaipėda in Lithuania. From there, 1 800 854 4767 deaths among the 557 crew mem- it was only a 10-minute drive to our USA & Canada bers and officers, most of whom expedition ship, NZ 55. The owner [email protected] were taken on board the light of the ship is Linus Duoblys, and www.sunsethouse.com/x-ray cruiser Augsburg. A while later, the our dive team consisted of five Mention X-Ray Mag for FREE reservation gift Friedrich Carl disappeared under divers from three different coun- the waves and sank to the bot- tries. My dive buddy and I would 1 345 949 7111 tom of the Baltic Sea. The loss of dive with closed-circuit rebreath- Direct 16 X-RAY MAG : 90 : 2019 EDITORIAL FEATURES TRAVEL NEWS WRECKS EQUIPMENT BOOKS SCIENCE & ECOLOGY TECH EDUCATION PROFILES PHOTO & VIDEO PORTFOLIO Diver at one of the canons of the Friedrich Carl (left); The expedition wreck ship, NZ55 , docked at the port city of Klaipeda in Lithuania (below); rap Lamp on the wreck of the Friedrich Carl (bottom right) Expeditions On the Wild Side The Best Diving on the Coral Sea & Great Barrier Reef! Dive with giant potato cod, explore deep walls, witness shark action at Osprey Reef. Minke Whale Season! June-July ers, but there were also team wave to be seen on the sea. Unique Opportunity on the Great Barrier Reef. members who would make the This wreck upon which we dives with open-circuit systems. would do our test dive was dis- The maximum depth we would covered two years ago and was reach on the wreck would be located at a depth of 51m. The New Special Expeditions! 82m. However, the water tem- Edith Bosselmann was a cargo Check out our website for details. perature at that depth was only ship loaded with coal that sank 3°C. The good news was that the on 9 December 1942 after a col- temperature at the stage depth lision with a mine, which was laid was 15°C. The plan was to dive by the Russian submarine L3. the next day on another wreck, When I started the dive on the which was 40m away, so that we Edith Bosselmann with my buddy, were able to test our equipment. the visibility was not so good in The weather reports looked the first 15m. But down on the good for the next few days. wreck, visibility was about 12m. This was important because the However, at 3°C, it was freezing Friedrich Carl was 40 miles from cold at the bottom. the harbor. The wreck itself was positioned on its port side and partially Test dive covered by fishing gear. At The wreck of the SS Edith the bottom, the lower part of Bosselmann could be reached the ship’s compass was clearly after two hours’ sailing from the recognizable. After a short Phone: +61 7 4053 0500 port of Klaipėda. Luckily, the reconnoitre of the cargo holds, www.mikeball.com weather was as predicted— we swam towards the stern #spoilsportlive #mikeballdive calm—and there was hardly a and noticed the propellers and Please email: [email protected] 17 X-RAY MAG : 90 : 2019 EDITORIAL FEATURES TRAVEL NEWS WRECKS EQUIPMENT BOOKS SCIENCE & ECOLOGY TECH EDUCATION PROFILES PHOTO & VIDEO PORTFOLIO wreck rap The 3°C water at 82m depth of the Friedrich Carl keeps pile worms away, so the wood on the deck looks like new. rudder. The dive on the Edith and jumped into the water to that were turned outwards. It was Bosselmann was a good warm-up start our descent. At a depth of a beautiful sight in the light of for our dive on the SMS Friedrich 15m, I started to feel the cold the camera lights, because the Carl the next day. temperature of the water. But wreck was almost clear of marine because it was our second dive, growth. Underwater museum we were already a bit adapted to Even pile worms cannot tolerate After our dive on the Edith the cold, so it was not so bad. this cold water, and that was the Bosselman, we prepared the The wreck was at a maximum reason why the wood, which was rebreathers again, as we had to depth of 82m, but when we still on the deck, appeared like leave early the next day. The boat landed on the bottom, we could new. All the details, such as the trip to the wreck took more than not distinguish the wreck in the ship’s lights, were clearly visible on five hours for the one-way journey. dark. We swam around to try and this wreck, which made it unique Including the diving, we would find it, because the downline for a ship from the First World War. certainly be on the move for 13 to could not be far from the wreck. We had a maximum bottom 15 hours. However, we were lucky After swimming around for 10 time of 25 minutes, and these were again with the weather, and the minutes, we decided to ascend. now used up, so we had to start trip went smoothly. When we had risen about 15m, our ascent. For the next two days, The dive plan was such that we suddenly saw the wreck and we went back to the wreck. Auwera and I would be the first swam across the port side to Our second dive was the best team to launch. We did a final the midship section. Here, we of all the dives because we inspection of the equipment immediately saw the large guns managed to swim towards the 18 X-RAY MAG : 90 : 2019 EDITORIAL FEATURES TRAVEL NEWS WRECKS EQUIPMENT BOOKS SCIENCE & ECOLOGY TECH EDUCATION PROFILES PHOTO & VIDEO PORTFOLIO wreck rap Someone who is defined by the standards of education and training they receive in order to gain the expert knowledge and skill necessary to perform a certain role. The highlight of the expedition was finding the bronze German Imperial Eagle coat of arms on the Friedrich Carl. bow of the wreck where we at the big guns, but a few meters Having dived over 400 found a bronze plate with an farther on, we could see one wrecks, Vic Verlinden is an eagle on it. On our way towards of the smaller guns that was avid, pioneering wreck diver, the bow, we filmed the bollards placed on the side of the ship. award-winning underwater and various other parts; however, We swam away from the sea photographer and dive guide the view of the beautiful bronze bottom as there was a big silt from Belgium.