HMS Victoria was the lead ship in her
class of two battleships of the Royal Navy. On 22 June 1893, she
collided with Camperdown near Tripoli, Lebanon during manoeuvres and
quickly sank, taking 358 crew with her, including the commander of the
British Mediterranean Fleet, Vice-Admiral Sir George Tryon. One of the
survivors was second-in-command, John Jellicoe, later commander-in-chief
of the British Grand Fleet at the Battle of Jutland.
John Womack Snr was lucky enough to dive what remains of the HMS Victoria in 2005.
The sinking of HMS Victoria was more
than a loss of a flagship with her admiral, it was closing of a chapter of
changing maritime doctrine that would likely have shaped the future of battle
afloat everywhere. Since the birth of the aqualung, divers have wondered where
the Victoria lay and if she could be visited by underwater explorers in the hope
of solving HMS Victoria's secrets.
Christian Francis
has been running Lebanon Divers for over 10 years. He has been looking for HMS
Victoria for even longer after hearing the fisherman stories and visiting the
cemetery in Tripoli, dedicated to the sailors that perished that day. Creating a
virtual shrine to HMS Victoria, Christian visited the Maritime museum in London
and newspaper archives, gleaning information of the sinking that might one day
lead to the ships discovery. Accounts passed down through the generations of
local fisherman gave the ships position roughly 10 miles from the coast.
Landmarks from shore taken by crews of sister ships on the tragic day, gave
transit marks that could be translated to modern global positioning
co-ordinates. Indeed some fisherman have actually unknowingly fished the ships
resting position, but modern depth sounding equipment has failed to reveal any
visual clues to confirm the presence of the 400 foot long warship. The depth of
the sea bed in the rough proximity of the HMS Victoria is 500 feet deep, and as
such, has excluded scuba divers from scouring the area searching for the ship by
sight.
In
March 2004 Christian contacted Mark Ellyatt to see if his technical diving
experience and deep wreck finding skills could help in the search for HMS
Victoria. Two months later the two divers met at Beirut Airport and during the
drive to the diving centre at Enfeh, Lebanon, worked out a plan of attack that
would allow a dive team to find, dive and confirm the identity of HMS Victoria.
As Christian wanted to obtain video footage, many practice dives were carried
out to improve confidence and mobility in deep water. After approximately 22
dives to a maximum depth of 122m, the divers and support team were working
smoothly and it was time to complete a fly past of some possible wreck
positions.
The initial plan was to make a series of exploration dives to 120m and drop
magnesium flares to illuminate the sea bed below. The electronics on board the
dive boat did reveal a small possible debris field but the height above the sea
bed was so low that it suggested the 10,000 ton vessel had submerged into a soft
mud or sediment. The depth sounder revealed a highly unusual image that showed a
large object seemingly floating in mid water, the fisherman on board suggested
this was a large trawl net that was tangled around wreckage at 500 feet depth.
Hours were spent searching for the highest point of the debris field in an
attempt to bear fruit during the projects exploratory dives.
The
trip was joined by Major Paul Pitchfork who flew over to assist the team
at
Mark's promise of some deep wreck finding and a project that was steeped
in
intrigue as Mark and Christian were not forthcoming with the wreck's
possible
identity. The first dive of the series saw the three divers drop down a
line to
120m in very pleasant Mediterranean conditions. Visibility was easily
30-40m and
the water temperature a positively balmy 28'c. Reaching four hundred
feet down
the ambient light was starting to turn into a deep blue twilight. We
dropped
down the descent line and looked into the darkness scanning the
limits of the visibility, straining to see anything that looked to
contrast with
the void below. Stopping to turn on the dive lights, we noticed in the
twilight a
huge shadow looming in the distance to our left. It looked like a stain
in the water but
extended above us and beyond the length of the visibility. I had a
double check
of my breathing regulator I recall, to double check I was breathing from
the
correct tank! I checked the hose all the way from from the tank to the
second
stage and noted the contents marked on my second stage tag, It confirmed
I
wasn't madly intoxicated. In the Mediterranean there is seldom much
tidal
movement and at this depth the sea was still like a swimming pool. We
let go of the down line and went for a careful swim both upwards and
towards this strange sight. I was
mindful
that it could be a large fishing trawl net and did not relish the idea of
cutting myself or anybody free while wearing four tanks in deep water. As we got nearer
we realised what the shadow really was standing in front of us.
It was
the most unbelievable sight!
We
had found a very large steel hulled ship that could not have really been
anything other than HMS Victoria and it was standing completely vertical, its
bows surely buried into the sea bed below. The original photographs we obtained,
showed the Victoria as it slipped below the waves 111 years before, just after
the collision and it was indeed sinking bows first with the propellers still
turning at near maximum revolutions. The bow of the Victoria was fitted with an
enormous metal ram that would have pushed deep into the soft clay of the sea bed
and combined with the sheer weight of the vessel and continued downward thrust
of the propellers ensured the Victoria took a good purchase of the seabed and
stood like a tombstone all this time waiting for discovery.
We all smiled
realising that we had discovered the greatest wreck find
imaginable, the 10,000 ton HMS Victoria was standing in front of us oriented
completely vertically and looked in excellent condition. As we neared the wreck
we ascended towards the enormous bronze propellers and rudder. Parts of the hull
were still showing the original red paint as was the rudder, the twin screws,
each some 5 metres across completely clean of marine life.
The
sight of the enormous rear facing gun confirmed that this was the right vessel,
but not as convincingly as reading the ships name VICTORIA as it clearly stood
out in 12inch raised letters. The name was emblazoned across the hull just under
Admiral Tryon's private balcony atop the rear facing torpedo tube opening.
Ornate decoration and floral metalwork stood out around the name, the whole
scene was electrifying. It was important not let the scene impact the dive plan,
I was mindful of the time we had spent at depth already approaching 15 minutes
between 120m and 90m. We could spend just 5 more minutes at 77m before the
original decompression plan was compromised. Now that the descent line was out
of reach, I used my primary reel (Kent) with its 120m of yellow line to tie a
temporary up line to ease the ascent and mark HMS Victoria's exact location.
I would describe
being involved in the finding of HMS Victoria as one of the most rewarding
projects I have been part of. To see the majestic flagship at all, was an
amazing achievement. Christian had hoped to find the Victoria sitting on the
seabed perhaps partially submerged in soft clay in depths approaching 500
feet. I had agreed to dive it with Christian to this depth a maximum of 3 times
to obtain enough video footage to enable a video documentary. The feeling during
the decompression stops and upon surfacing was of total elation, we could not
have been more fortunate, and this was celebrated the same evening with
champagne for all the team. Finding HMS Victoria standing vertically and
with the shallowest parts in "only" 77m was utterly fantastic and allowed 17
more dives in the following two weeks. Over three hours of video was recorded
for use in a documentary to be produced early 2005.
Because of the
protected status of HMS Victoria, limited guided excursions by technical divers
from around the world are available. Contact Christian or Mark at Inspired-Training.com for details.