A short description of some of the dives we did to find HMS Pheasant.
On the 12th May we aimed to dive to find whatever was on the bottom. Tony and I were dropped off on the buoy as it surfaced. Our job was to assess the current and see if the rest could follow. At 30m we called the dive; the current was just getting stronger. We had shotted it the previous day – and the drum had just bobbed up and then back down within 30 seconds (if I remember correctly).
On the 13th we tried again. This time the current was not quite as bad, and we pushed through to the bottom. There she was! The anchor of the buoy was hooked on the wreckage. This part of the ship appeared to be only about 1m from the sea bed – the mid ships were truly flat. But there – right there was the deck mounted torpedoes! We had studied the wreck’s drawings beforehand and knew it could be nothing else but the Pheasant. It was pitch black; illuminated only by my cave light. We did not have much time to look around as we had a 17 minute bottom runtime and were running on dive timers. Those days there was not the luxury of mixed gas computers. I can’t remember exactly – there was a lot of superstructure debris, but really a “flat wreck” at that point. I did not write a story in the log book, just the run table.
Extract from my dive log:
17th May – Pheasant 11:17
Last of the wave to go in followed line down. Changes in drills went well. Major excitement not present on this dive, mainly as the others were already on the wreck. Very dark again, no current. Shot in Midships no more than 1m above the seabed. Many battery plates. Brass and large turbine. Distribution panels in English. No Major structure.
We took a plate up. Afterwards, Tony and I went to Woolwich Arsenal and literally looked at the plans for HMS Pheasant – the actual blueprints, all faded. We pinpointed a place where the panel that we had – it matched the circuitry on the ship – It was a very basic electrics, but hey, it was 1916.
I will do a more detailed article as soon as I can.
Shexit 