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HMS Limbourne Underwater Photographs
By Leigh Bishop
HMS Charybdis
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| 2001 Charybdis expedition
Images taken at a depth of 280ft/83m during the
2002 expedition led by Keith Morris English Channel North France.
Click each image to see a larger version.
All images ©Leigh Bishop 2002 All rights reserved.
Left; Central to the wreck amidships the divers located a twin
rotating torpedo turret, during
WW2 when HMS Limbourne was in service the the guns would be housed
facing the bow
then during combat could be rotated to either port of starboard where
the torpedo's would
be fired off the deck level into the sea. The manned tower above could
be seen into at depth
where various artifacts including small portholes and voice pipes
could be seen. Mark Bullen
here is seen on-looking the actual torpedoes and breach.
Right; A clearer a more obvious view of the turret and torpedo
covers.
Left & Right; HMS Limbournes main bridge bell discovered
during the 2002 project by
photographer and wreck diver Leigh
Bishop. A close examination of the bell at depth
reviled the words HMS Limbourne 1942, the first time she had been
seen for 59 years.
Left & Right: The stern section of HMS Limbourne lies some
distance from the main amidships
and it is here that these depth charge racks can be seen still intact
on the very stern tail.
The depth charges themselves still remain loaded in the racks as if
ready for deployment since
the day she was lost in Oct 1943.
Left; On the main bulk amidships section to the port side
is a lone sanitary area.
Right; A diver looks on at a bridge telegraph now lying on
the seabed at 285ft.
Left & Center; Quadruple 2pdr antiaircraft guns as found
by the divers amidships section
of HMS Limbourne. Diver Mark Bullen examines a stack of ready ammunition
under
the guns. All the guns of HMS Limbourne were found to be in good
condition.
Right; Four inch shells in stacks over to the bow starboard
side. Much live ammunition was found.
Left; Another view of the 'pom pom' Quadruple 2pdr antiaircraft
guns, here a clear view of
the rotation system and mechanism can be seen.
Right; On the engine room I located these voice pipes on the
ceiling, both these speaking
tubes were open as can be seen here.
Left; The port prop on the very broken off stern section of
the wreck, a video system can
be seen in the background. Limbournes Starboard prop was not located.
Right; One of the main diesel engines exposed to the diver.
Left; Here a clear view of the forward bulkhead can be seen,
this bulkhead may have saved
many of the lives of Limbourne as it held tight after the entire bow
section was blown off.
Right; A fully stowed cable drum on the starboard deck.
Left; Mark Bullen is seen here studying a wing compass,
the card could still be made
out inside the gimble section. We found this compass loose close
to a helm.
Right; The fisheye lens closes in at a collection of four
inch shell cases amongst lost fishing gear.
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