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E-Mail:
Norman Woods
Web Page:
http://www.norglen.freeserve.co.uk
Historic News: Tuscania
Bell
<Click Here>
Tuscania Expedition:
September 8th, 1996
Diving Team: Oliver McIlroy, Norman Woods, Nigel Martin, and
James McCready.
"I first searched that
site using Decca. The site was fixed with Decca on 24th August 1996.
A dive was attempted at that time, but due to the strong tide we
abandoned after reaching a depth of 80 meters. We returned that year
on 8th Sept. We dropped a grappel on the site which caught the sea
bed on the port side. Oliver McIlroy was the first down and I
followed. We discovered we had past the side of the wreck. Oliver
was at 105 meters I was at 101meters when we noticed the Hull to our
side. We came up the hull past 2 rows of portholes. Came level with
the top of the wreck about mid-ships @ 90 meters. Dive was a total
of 113mins." Norman Woods
Tuscania Expedition:
August 17, 1997
Diving Team: Nigel Martin, Mr. & Mrs. Norman Woods.
Items Recovered: Bridge Bell
"This was one of the
most memorable dives I have ever had. I was only on the wreck for
10mins visibility was excellent. I did not need a torch. I was on
the bow forward of the hold right next to the gangway of the forward
crew quarters. The Bridge Bell was sitting on the deck, must have
fallen from the bracket above the gangway. It was not until I
surfaced 89 minutes later that Nigel and my wife were able to tell
me the wreck
was indeed the Tuscania. I immediately phoned Tommy Cecil, and
drove the boat to Rathlin to have photos taken with Tommy myself and
Bell. Unfortunately Nigel is camera shy and would not have his photo
taken at that time.
Tommy Cecil always said,
unless you had an item to positively ID the wreck, you are never
sure of its name.
The wreck is lying west
to east with the bow pointing west, about 280 deg. She is upright
but from the bridge back she is listing a good bit to starboard.
This would suggest damage to the starboard side. I have not dived
the stern yet or the bridge."
Norman Woods
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Contact:
Mario Weidner
<Click Here>
Web Page:
http://www.grid-tech.de/
Historic News: Expedition
<Click Here>
Tuscania Expedition: April
16th, 1997
Diving Team: Tommy Cecil, Mario Weidner
Tuscania Expedition Published: April 1997
Publisher: Taucher News
(German Diving Magazine)
Article Entitled: "Deep Mission"
Items Recovered: Clock, Barometer, a variety of Plates,
bowls, cups, and a Door Plate.
"We where using
Tri-mix 12/42/40 (a mixture from Oxygen, Helium and Nitrogen) as our
bottom mix for the dive along with Air, Eanx 40 and Eanx 80 as
travel- and deco-mix. We hooked a grapple in into the wreck and went
down the shot-line. We had planned a maximum depth of 116 meters,
because the echo sounder was showing between 108-112 meters to the
seabed. Going down the shot-line it took about 8 minutes to reach
the depth of 105 meters, when we saw the seabed, but no wreck.
As I looked around
with my strong torch, I suddenly realized a massive dark shadow
about three meters away from me. When I swam towards this dark wall,
I understood, that I was next to the massive side of the wreck, as
the shot was about four-five meters away from the wreck, probably
dragged away by the current. We went along the side of the wreck,
passing countless rows of portholes and dived to a depth of 92
meters where we reached the railing and a deck. Next thing I
noticed, was the big anchor winch an the collapsed forward mast. We
had reached the bow area, right in front of the forward cargo hold.
The wreck is
sitting upright and lists slightly to the starboard-side. Depth to
the wreck 90-95m, average depth to seabed is 108-112m. The upper
works of the wreck has started to collapse into the middle of the
wreck. Bridge section and upper decks are still mostly intact, but
partly collapsed. We spend 16 minutes at the wreck, working our way
towards the bridge and mid-section, where we recovered a few plates
and two gauges along with a small brass door plate. After a total
dive time of 22 minutes, we left the wreck and dissented to our
first decompression depth at 45m. The total dive time was 149
minutes."
Mario Weidner |
