'CHARYBDIS' By Leigh Bishop Jump to >> The Loss of HMS Charybdis & HMS Limbourne

During the summer of 2001 I had the job of photographing a British warship sunk in deep water off the northern French coast. If I thought the wreck was deep little was I aware of how deep the historical tragedy was that was about to unfold. If successful I would bring back the first images of the battle cruiser HMS Charybdis lost in 83m of water during WW2. For once the channel was our friend not unlike a millpond the bright June sunshine forcing ambient light deep into the water below. As I swam peacefully alone along this huge wreck my eyes would quickly adjust to the dark emerald green water. Using the spotting lights within each sub strobe I would now carefully choose photographic subjects that would best describe the condition of this once proud ship. War ships appear significantly difficult to photograph in that much of their machinery and features seem rather dull compared to say liners that is. Having said that I'm soon confronted by a twin 4½ " gun turret still within her mounting as if ready for action. The barrels point west and towards the sand/gravel seabed, behind course and fine elevation wheels that once accurately manoeuvred them into position. Taking into consideration her loss circumstances the wreck remains in remarkable condition with navigation made simple in respect. Charybdis lies completely over on her port side across the tide as such with her bow at the far northern end of the site. My dive on this June afternoon is comparatively long for a depth of 83m and while 30 mins is soon over I have however managed to cover the distance aft of the bridge to the very stern and back. Hopefully I would have 36 exposures covering subjects such as spotting lights, structural sections of wreck, ready ammunition not to mention those guns.

'Keith Morris' is a name synonymous in UK wreck diving circles, he is a TDI trimix instructor not to mention a pioneering mixed gas diver he is also the leader of this expedition. Each member of his team has something to offer while my job is photography others lie in location, gas logistics and simply the ability to communicate with the French authorities. Morris has employed renowned wreck hunter Graham Knott to locate and fix a line into Charybdis, not a difficult task for a skipper who has an incredible CV of wreck location. At 7,500-tons displacement Grahams job of locating Charybdis seems logistically simpler than his past history of U-boats that lie quote 'with the tide'. The 2001 team would not however be the first to dive the wreck something our French counter parts would have the privilege of some eight years previous. During August of 1993 two divers 'Michel Cloatre' and 'Joel Guizien' would descend to the wreck using conventional compressed air. The Frenchmen would recover a large empty artillery casing from close to one of the turrets, which in turn would identify the wreck in question. The wreck of Charybdis was originally located by Alain Launay friend to Cloatre & Guizien however more recently jersey based wreck researcher John Ovenden has examined the site using modern technology. Ovenden was able to produce a significant side scan impression of the wreck which in turn would aid the efforts of the 2001 team. With Ovenden's help skipper Graham knott would have a smaller 'box' as such in which to search. The 2001 team are all British technical divers and will be the first to give the wreck a thorough investigation and determine her true condition. The events that would lead to the loss of both HMS Charybdis and HMS Limbourne would remain in British Naval history as one of absolute tragedy. A break down in communication while intercepting a heavily armed German convoy would end in the loss of 500 service men. While political issues ever rise over diving such sites the 2001 team would have to tread lightly over what pressure groups could build as the 'Mount Everest' of war-graves'! As the majority are aware over the past decade technical divers have brought to the surface stories and images of maritime tragedy that would have been lost forever. As these stories once again come to light in turn they open the eyes of a new generation, a generation willing to learn from and respect their predecessors. With these thoughts in mind Morris through respect contacted the Charybdis & Limbourne survivors association with regards to his proposed expedition. The association was founded to preserve the memory of those lost and each year survivors return to Guernsey to pay their respects to colleagues lost during that night of action back in Oct 1943. As well as Guernsey, even more of their shipmates were washed ashore in France and some in Jersey, where they are now buried. On the 23rd Oct 1943 Neil Wood was radar operator aboard HMS Limbourne today he is the associations secretary. Like myself Morris would become friend to Neil Wood and the association would look forward to seeing the first images of their lost ship in 58 years.

As the 2001 team arrive back on site the evening is beginning to set in due to the late afternoon slack. After the team is briefed the decision is made to run a less intense bottom time, cutting the time back to 25mins on the wreck would after decompression time see myself and Ian Taylor out of the water at sunset. Taylor is also a Weymouth skipper although today he will dive to the wreck with myself; together we will explore and photograph the forward section of the wreck. The very bow of Charybdis remains very much intact however a short distance aft on the starboard side hull significant damage appears! As the diver drops off the tip of the bow to seabed level they will see as they swim along the wreck numerous portholes all with heavy-duty deadlights and securely fixed shut at that. They are then soon confronted by both forward twin gun turrets all intact. In fact again taking into consideration her circumstances of loss the wreck is largely intact and fairly shipshape. A little aft of midships the wreck has broken her back, with the bulkhead here quite literally broken, the two sections of wreck now lying at an acute angle to one another. The bridge section is of the most impressive site, with its solid reinforced construction can be seen largely in one section and lying on its side across the seabed. Again large portholes have fallen free and one can view within all manor of instruments and electrical fittings and cables etc. Swimming over the site the familiar sight of ready ammunition appears in bulk lots with little if any marine growth a striking reminder of her once anti aircraft strength.

As I have previously said an area of unknown damage appears aft of her bow on the starboard side perhaps only a few meters past her housed anchor. The area of damage covers some 15-18 meters and makes for confusing navigation amongst twisted and broken down wreckage. Originally I belived this to perhaps be an area of where at least one of two torpedo's struck Charybdis. How wrong I was as Neil Wood convinced me that his fellow associates and survivors of Charybdis claim that both torpedo's struck aft of 'B' boiler room both on the port side? In theory we as divers would not see her damaged areas as she lies over to port. With her starboard hull intact elsewhere what could have caused this mysterious damage in her forward section? Both Ian Taylor and myself were now blessed with confusion opening a 'tin of worms' as such for the survivors! Ian mention's the possibility of some unknown salvage attempt could well be responsible or quite possibly the bulkheads and framework below this area have become weakened causing the above sections to collapse over the years? While the remaining survivors alive seem quite convinced both torpedo's struck the after portside could another have struck during the after confusion? The only remaining theory is put down to depth charging during the last years of the war? Certainly this was the topic of conversation amongst the association during their resent annual get together and almost surely one that requires further investigation.

One of the wonderful aspects of the ever-developing knowledge of technical diving is decompression theory. Where as at one time tech divers aspired to the same unproven tables 'the limited market of the time' today is quite the opposite. The divers that make up the 'Charybdis 2001 team' have a wide range of custom designed tables to suit their very own personal physiological requirements. Tables that have been proven time again. As our short and successful stay in the Sept Isles comes to a close the team openly admit that Charybdis has to stand as one of the finest examples of a War ship in home waters they will ever see. The following day we make for the 80-mile journey back to Weymouth before the weather turns for the worst. On route we would finish off a most memorable expedition with a visit to the Texaco WW1 tanker Illinois widely regarded in the tech community as one of the best deep wreck dives the channel has to offer! Fabulous.

Keith Morris's 2001 expedition comprised of divers Andy Heatherton, Tim Bach, Toby Herbert, Roy Smith, Ian Taylor and myself. During the summer of 2002 with the backing of the association they intend to search for and image Limbourne, if only to complete the final picture.
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HMS Charybdis was a cruiser that saw a great deal of action during her two years of existence. Cruisers were the heirs to the frigates of Nelson's day. They were expected to be able to operate independently, and in conjunction with the fleet in needed. In 1939 the Royal Navy had 57 cruisers. After 29 were lost during WW11 26 remained. Today the Royal Navy has none. Like most Royal Navy ships cruisers were commissioned in series. HMS Charybdis was a Dido class cruiser; a series of 11 cruiser built in 4 programs during 1930s rearmament. Charybdis was built as part of the last programme being the 1939 Emergency war program. After working in Scapa Flow she then went on to cover mine-laying operations in the northern approaches before leaving for the Mediterranean in the spring of 1942. The following June she took part in 'Operation Harpoon' a convoy run through to Malta with a strong escort, then later joined the force of two battleships 5 aircraft carriers 7 cruisers and 28 destroyers code named 'Operation Pedestal'. After three days of intense fighting against German and Italian forces 3 of 14 merchant ships reached Malta along with important supplies that would save the Island.
'Operation Tunnel' was a set piece operation controlled from Plymouth activated on the 23rd Oct 1943 once intelligence indicated that the Germans would be running an important convoy along the French coast. The operation was invariably activated with a mixed bag of ships with widely different capabilities few of whom had worked together before. The Germans had an excellent radar chain along the coast and liaison between their ships was good. They also had a strong force of Elbing Class destroyers working as a team to protect the convoy. Their tactics if opposed would be to draw any attacking force away from the convoy while the convoy in turn withdrew to a heavily protected coastline. If faced with a close quarter situation they would fire a full salvo of torpedoes before withdrawing a high speed. As the British force stayed in a rigid column of 7 ships 3 cables apart at 17 knots they passed through established points to sweep westward along the likely route of the convoy before heading back north and thus Plymouth. Charybdis was unaware that the German convoy was on route, she was not fitted with equipment to detect German communications and although the intercepts were received by her fellow ships they were not passed on as such. Picked up enemy shore based radar the British force headed into a venerable position and would be silhouetted by the rising moon to the east. Charybdis obtained radar contact ahead 14,000 yards while at the same time Limbourne picked up German radio transmissions indicating that at least 6 naval units were close by. Limbourne's radar was masked on ahead bearings by Charybdis. These two vital pieces of information were not exchanged so that Charybdis knew there was enemy 7 miles ahead but did not know the composition while Limbourne and the other destroyers knew there were 5 or 6 enemy destroyers close by, but not where. Basically the complete picture was available however not seen. At 0135 Charybdis made radar contact to the west 3 minutes later the German Elbing T23 sighted Charybdis a few miles north of the Sept Isles. Charybdis altered course 60º to port before being hit by a full salvo of six enemy torpedos. As the following British destroyers also came into sight they two were immediately fired upon Limbourne being struck before yet another torpedo hit the port aft of Charybdis. As the German force then proceeded east confusion reigned over the British ships both senior officers ships were sinking and incommunicado, the remaining charging around at high speed. The first torpedo struck Charybdis on her port side flooding boiler room 'B' and assumed a 20-degree list to port. The second struck aft causing all electrical power to fail before she quickly took a list of some 50 º. Charybdis took an angle by the stern until almost vertical staying like that for about half an hour before the bulkheads gave way leaving her to sink at 0230. The Torpedo that had struck the forward magazine of Limbourne had destroyed the entire forward section of the ship; she still however, remained afloat while the bulkhead held. Efforts to remove Limbourne to safety resulted in failure and it was later decided to sink her as not to fall into German hands. Her survivors were taken off seacocks opened and she was sunk by British torpedos. A modern cruiser and destroyer and 500 lives had been lost. A well-trained and drilled enemy force had reduced a superior British force to equality in a few minutes, thrown into confusion and achieved their object- the safety of the convoy - without firing a gun and no loss to themselves. The British had made so many errors both ashore and afloat that the incident was an illustration to the Royal Navy tactical school for many years to follow as an example of how to get almost everything wrong.
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