January 17 lunchtime presentation: Diving the HMHS BRITANNIC

[aue-mike]

Hi-
If anyone in the St. Petersburg area wants a little educational entertainment during lunch on January 17, I will be offering a presentation on the September 2006 expedition to the HMHS BRITANNIC.

Sponsored by The History Channel, an international team of divers and scientists traveled to the Greek island of Kea in the Aegean Sea to document the wreck of the BRITANNIC. The lesser known sister of the fabled HMS TITANIC, the BRITANNIC was lost far from her intended trans-Atlantic route in 1916.
Although she was modified with a double hull and extensive water-proof bulkheads, the BRITANNIC plunged to the bottom in under an hour -- nearly three times faster than the "nearly unsinkable" TITANIC.
Unlike her more famous sibling, the nearly 1,000-foot long BRITANNIC is almost completely intact and resting in 400 feet of clear blue water.
If you are interested in learning about what it takes to dive to 400 feet or just want to see some phenomenal images of a majestic shipwreck, come on over to the Dolphin Conference Room at the NMFS Southeast Regional Office (263 13th Avenue South, St. Petersburg, FL 33701) at noon on January 17.
Also, The History Channel has been kind enough to produce an approximately 15-minute sneak preview, behind-the-scenes video on the expedition, which I will be showing after a short presentation.
Two separate documentaries will air on The History Channel in April 2007.
Hope to see you there!

 

[Missdirected]

Hey Mike. I would love to go to this. I will see you there.

I am going to see if GulfCoastDiver and his wife can go as well, they are just down the street from here.

 

[truck1]

See you there missd.I am planning on going also.

 

[Missdirected]

Truck did you make it? Wondering how it went. I didn't get out of court in time today.

 

[truck1]

Truck did you make it? Wondering how it went. I didn't get out of court in time today.

Yes I did make it there.It was very interesting and informative.Mike did a great job in presenting the information about the Britannic,and I cant wiat for the special to come out in April.What I never realized before,and he did a great job explaining was that in the area the Britannic went down,(and a lot of similar expeditions)is the amount of logistics that goes in to a trip of this magnitde.For example,as rec divers we take for granted, that if we have a cylinder or reg with an issue,we can always get it fixed on the boat or rent one at the shop before leaving.Where they were,there was no shop.No spare.No dive.It was that simple.Anything that you could possibly need,you had to bring with you.They were in an area that there were no dive boats.They had to set up a fishing boat to work off of.Mike mentioned that they needed a certain amount of aluminum 80s for safety reasons.(The average dive time was 3-4 hours if I remember correctly.The expedition was all rebreather)The ones that were supplied actually were probably never inspected let alone hydoed.Some had oil and dirt in them and one actually leaked air through the sides,while filling.Some one knew someone and were able to get all of the spares they needed before the expedition left.
This was only one of the challenges.I really dont want to pick apart a certain goverment and how they tried to harass the expedtion at almost every step.

After talking about the challenges and how the Britannic actually sank,he talked about the state of the wreck and showed us some pictures.The wreck is almost pristine.With the exception of the bow being twisted from the mine,and probably the impact with the sea floor,there is almost no visible damage.Just the usual rusticles and growth.

After that,we saw a 15 minute video with excerts from the actual documentary.Richie Kohler and John Chatterton were with the expedition,(I want to say they were leading)and Ritcie explained some of the trials and tribulations of the expedition and also diving the wreck itself.The wreck is on its starboard side and intact.When you penetrate the wreck,not only do you have to think where you are horizontally in the ship but also vertically.When you travel form port to starboard,you are actually diving deeper or coming shallower.When climbing higher or lower in the ship,you are staying at the same depth.As Ritchie put it,"If you lost your sense of direction,or your orientation,you were going to be on the Britannic a very long time."

Like I said,Mike did a great job with the presentation and I cant wait for the documentary to come out.
I am actually jealous of him in that he not only dived with 2 legends,he also dived the relative twin to one of the greatest disasters of maritime history,that only a select few will ever see.

 

[Missdirected]

Seriously sorry I missed out. Did you get the date for airing?? Really appreciate your synopsis as well. You will get an extra cookie on next week's dive

 

[truck1]

Seriously sorry I missed out. Did you get the date for airing?? Really appreciate your synopsis as well. You will get an extra cookie on next week's dive

Unfortunately No.All that was mentioned was coming in April to the History Channel.Mike may know as the date gets closer

 

[Missdirected]

Unfortunately No.All that was mentioned was coming in April to the History Channel.Mike may know as the date gets closer

That's okay. Mike does some really cool stuff, eh? Did a lot of people come to the presentation?

 

[truck1]

Yes.There was about 50 people in the room,In some way shape or form part of NMFS.