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.
All full
account of the HMS Victoria project will be available soon.

 
For in depth
accounts of the sinking of HMS Victoria, please obtain a copies of the following
excellent publications:
THE RULES OF THE
GAME by
Andrew Gordon
ADMIRALS IN
COLLISION by
Richard Hough
Including pre dive training and dives to HMS Victoria, the dive team conducted
47 dives between 70m and 150m, all without mishap. Decompression plans were
generated using the
DECOCHEK
software program
Dive Safe, Dive Educated |