DrMike
Contributor
South China Seas Wreck Trip Report
(HMS Repulse and HMS Prince of Wales)
There were eight divers on the expedition including two English two Americans and four Australians. Two safety divers on board were on permanent standby as well as a lookout in case we needed anything. Two of the team were using inspiration rebreathers the rest on open circuit we also had four silent submersion scooters. Due to the depths of the wrecks everyone dived trimix most of the OC divers using twin 14L tanks although the Grace also has twin 17Ls available. Despite having surface supplied O2 on the deco station all divers were requested to carry all gasses needed in case of free-floating deco.
MV Grace is a big ship far bigger than any other live aboard boat I have been on and has a cavernous dive platform able to easily handle twice as many divers as they allow on tech trips. Her size makes her very stable and the engine noise does not cause you to miss any sleep. We each had our own private and comfortable clean cabins and air conditioning made it more like a floating hotel than a dive boat. The beer like the helium and oxygen is free.
Our first dive was on the intact and upright wreck of the 98,000 ton Swedish super tanker the impressive wreck 'the seven skies' Arriving around lunch time we were soon geared up and making our way down to the wreck. Differing reports had placed the bottom of the ship at anything from 55m to 70m in depth so we were all diving trimix. MV Grace offers free gas on their trips, and we had plenty of helium and oxygen on board as well as a booster pump. for rebreather divers sorb is free and they get a 20% discount on the trip price. We were tied into the upright wreck on the top of the wheelhouse and soon found ourselves dropping down in 20m visibility over the port side towards the sand and hopefully the prop. As we reached the seabed my VR3 showed a depth of 67m and it quickly became apparent that the prop had long since been salvaged. Below 30m the visibility dropped off to 10-15m - we could see that the huge rudder that towered above us and had carved a large trench in the sand as it is still swinging on its pivot during the occasional strong currents that visit this area. Lying besides the rudder on the seabed was a large marble ray some 4 feet in diameter. It didnt move despite me being practically within touching distance, however another similar sized ray quickly appeared and swam around us in close proximity in what certainly felt like an unfriendly manner. We ascended up the rudder following an old anchor and line that someone had long ago snagged on the wreck and lost. We came up on the starboard side of the stern and fought a nasty current over the top of the stern and around the starboard side of the superstructure. Dropping down to the front of the superstructure I tied off a line at the entrance to the kitchen on the 47m-deck level and penetrated. I swam slowly along through the kitchen passing the open doors to the freezer rooms large stoves and kitchen cupboards before turning into a narrow corridor. In this corridor I turned and swam up through what used to be the food-serving hatch into the dining room. The narrow confines of the corridor and small size of the serving hatch made it very difficult not to stir up some silt. At this point my OC buddy was reaching his gas turning point so he left me to carry on solo. With the rebreather and carrying an 11L of bailout gas as well as a 5L of deco gas I had plenty of gas but it did made things a bit of a tight squeeze in places. I could see the remains of old tables and chairs lying around. Some light was coming in through the line of beautiful intact brass portholes complete with brass storm covers along the wall but the floor was covered in heaps of ceiling linning material that had dropped down along with lots of hanging cables waiting to catch the unwary diver. The portholes would make a nice memento but the large number of big bolts that hold them on would take numerous dives to remove a single porthole - which is why they are all still there. Reaching the end of the dinning room I turned into and explored the showers and storeroom before finally finding my way through a small door into the cavernous engine room. I had planned on a bottom time of 40mins and my VR3 was showing 30 so I began to retrace me tracks clearing my line as I went. Once I exited the wreck I ascended up to the top of the superstructure at 30m where the line was tied in. Arriving at 6m on the line I was glad to see the crew had installed a jump line leading across to a deco platform nicely set up under the stern of the MV GRACE. We had a rigid deco bar at 6m depth and surface supplied oxygen for those that wanted to use it. With their chase boat in the water ad standby safety divers it was obvious hat they took diver safety seriously. With 45mins on 10/50 and max depth of 67m I had a fairly large deco obligation and a long hang at 6m - but found the deco platform made a comfortable seat. I sat and watched the recreational dive boat White manta arrive, dozens of divers jump in - do their dives to the top of the ships superstructure max depth 30m - do their safety stops - exit the water - and then watched the 'White manta' leave whilst still doing my last stop.
After completing my deco I ascended and found crew waiting for me to hand them my two stages tanks and fins before I climbed up the ladder. Crew were quick and efficient at assisting me with my gear and helping me out the water and to the bench. I was soon passed a warm fluffy towel, fruit and water. I left my tanks to be filled and sat at the table in the lounge and almost immediately the chef appeared and placed my lunch in front of me. Im going to enjoy this trip I said to myself. Other divers explored the engine room of the wreck down to 54m and brought back some interesting video of the ships workshop complete with milling machines and lathes. After some divers did a night dive on the Seven Skies we set sail for the wreck of the historic ship the British battle cruiser HMS Prince of Wales.
I awoke early in anticipation and vaguely remembered the ships engines slowing at around 4:30am. When I finally stirred out of bed at 7am I was happy to hear the news that the crew had already hooked and tied in to the wreck of the HMS Prince of Wales.
(HMS Repulse and HMS Prince of Wales)
There were eight divers on the expedition including two English two Americans and four Australians. Two safety divers on board were on permanent standby as well as a lookout in case we needed anything. Two of the team were using inspiration rebreathers the rest on open circuit we also had four silent submersion scooters. Due to the depths of the wrecks everyone dived trimix most of the OC divers using twin 14L tanks although the Grace also has twin 17Ls available. Despite having surface supplied O2 on the deco station all divers were requested to carry all gasses needed in case of free-floating deco.
MV Grace is a big ship far bigger than any other live aboard boat I have been on and has a cavernous dive platform able to easily handle twice as many divers as they allow on tech trips. Her size makes her very stable and the engine noise does not cause you to miss any sleep. We each had our own private and comfortable clean cabins and air conditioning made it more like a floating hotel than a dive boat. The beer like the helium and oxygen is free.
Our first dive was on the intact and upright wreck of the 98,000 ton Swedish super tanker the impressive wreck 'the seven skies' Arriving around lunch time we were soon geared up and making our way down to the wreck. Differing reports had placed the bottom of the ship at anything from 55m to 70m in depth so we were all diving trimix. MV Grace offers free gas on their trips, and we had plenty of helium and oxygen on board as well as a booster pump. for rebreather divers sorb is free and they get a 20% discount on the trip price. We were tied into the upright wreck on the top of the wheelhouse and soon found ourselves dropping down in 20m visibility over the port side towards the sand and hopefully the prop. As we reached the seabed my VR3 showed a depth of 67m and it quickly became apparent that the prop had long since been salvaged. Below 30m the visibility dropped off to 10-15m - we could see that the huge rudder that towered above us and had carved a large trench in the sand as it is still swinging on its pivot during the occasional strong currents that visit this area. Lying besides the rudder on the seabed was a large marble ray some 4 feet in diameter. It didnt move despite me being practically within touching distance, however another similar sized ray quickly appeared and swam around us in close proximity in what certainly felt like an unfriendly manner. We ascended up the rudder following an old anchor and line that someone had long ago snagged on the wreck and lost. We came up on the starboard side of the stern and fought a nasty current over the top of the stern and around the starboard side of the superstructure. Dropping down to the front of the superstructure I tied off a line at the entrance to the kitchen on the 47m-deck level and penetrated. I swam slowly along through the kitchen passing the open doors to the freezer rooms large stoves and kitchen cupboards before turning into a narrow corridor. In this corridor I turned and swam up through what used to be the food-serving hatch into the dining room. The narrow confines of the corridor and small size of the serving hatch made it very difficult not to stir up some silt. At this point my OC buddy was reaching his gas turning point so he left me to carry on solo. With the rebreather and carrying an 11L of bailout gas as well as a 5L of deco gas I had plenty of gas but it did made things a bit of a tight squeeze in places. I could see the remains of old tables and chairs lying around. Some light was coming in through the line of beautiful intact brass portholes complete with brass storm covers along the wall but the floor was covered in heaps of ceiling linning material that had dropped down along with lots of hanging cables waiting to catch the unwary diver. The portholes would make a nice memento but the large number of big bolts that hold them on would take numerous dives to remove a single porthole - which is why they are all still there. Reaching the end of the dinning room I turned into and explored the showers and storeroom before finally finding my way through a small door into the cavernous engine room. I had planned on a bottom time of 40mins and my VR3 was showing 30 so I began to retrace me tracks clearing my line as I went. Once I exited the wreck I ascended up to the top of the superstructure at 30m where the line was tied in. Arriving at 6m on the line I was glad to see the crew had installed a jump line leading across to a deco platform nicely set up under the stern of the MV GRACE. We had a rigid deco bar at 6m depth and surface supplied oxygen for those that wanted to use it. With their chase boat in the water ad standby safety divers it was obvious hat they took diver safety seriously. With 45mins on 10/50 and max depth of 67m I had a fairly large deco obligation and a long hang at 6m - but found the deco platform made a comfortable seat. I sat and watched the recreational dive boat White manta arrive, dozens of divers jump in - do their dives to the top of the ships superstructure max depth 30m - do their safety stops - exit the water - and then watched the 'White manta' leave whilst still doing my last stop.
After completing my deco I ascended and found crew waiting for me to hand them my two stages tanks and fins before I climbed up the ladder. Crew were quick and efficient at assisting me with my gear and helping me out the water and to the bench. I was soon passed a warm fluffy towel, fruit and water. I left my tanks to be filled and sat at the table in the lounge and almost immediately the chef appeared and placed my lunch in front of me. Im going to enjoy this trip I said to myself. Other divers explored the engine room of the wreck down to 54m and brought back some interesting video of the ships workshop complete with milling machines and lathes. After some divers did a night dive on the Seven Skies we set sail for the wreck of the historic ship the British battle cruiser HMS Prince of Wales.
I awoke early in anticipation and vaguely remembered the ships engines slowing at around 4:30am. When I finally stirred out of bed at 7am I was happy to hear the news that the crew had already hooked and tied in to the wreck of the HMS Prince of Wales.