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'Gold
in an Emerald World' The
story of the Laurentic Con t.....
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After my initial dive, which was largely taken
up photographing the bow my VR3 in conjunction with the rebreather
gave a measly 12 minutes of decompression, I was beginning to
get a feel for these shallow depths, which brought memories
back of life before deep wrecks. Boarding the dive charter Loyal
Watcher was particularly comforting as within half an hour we
would be back on land not to mention copious amounts of hot
chocolate and freshly made flapjacks. |
Local slipways used by Irish divers provide Ribs a short distance
out to the wreck, which is practically less than a mile from
the mouth of Lough Swilly. It must be said that permission has
to be sort to dive Laurentic by the local Cossum family that
today own the wreck however if you visit the site via one of
the commercial charters such as Deep Blue diving or Salutay
your permits are covered. Port Salon is almost in sight of the
wrecks location and it is here that the charter vessels drop
customers to sample local Guinness after a dive. Alternatively
you could take a short walk to the local Protestant Church where
Laurentic's bell now resides for all to see and hear in the
high tower above.
Laurentic makes for a great second dive for those heading home
from one of the many offshore deeper wrecks although coastal
charters easily squeeze in a second dive of the day on the wreck
as well. It wasn't long after my rebreather electronics had
dried through & the camera was re prepped that we were under
steam back out to the wreck. Understanding photographic models
are far and few between but once again Metropolitan policeman
Tim Bradley would accompany me on the dive for the task in hand.
This time together we planned to work our way from around amidships
south towards the stern and as tempting as it was avoid a repeated
dive around the bow. Each hull of the wreck has fallen across
the stone & gravel reef and hole from explosions and salvage
can be seen, many of the portholes have long since gone by souvenir
hunters although several rows securely fixed indicate that the
wreck is not quite ready to give everything away. The boilers
silhouette against the emerald green waters & ambient light
and remain in position other than one which has rolled out to
the east, the remaining wreckage collapsed significantly down
to seabed level all around.
The ships ribbed construction is fairly obvious although there
is a huge amount of steelwork, flanges and pipes present now
home to several resident conger. Laurentic's engines are of
particular historic interest, built during a time when turbine
technology was still very much in its infancy at Harland &
Wolf. |
| The ship incorporated an experimental combination
of two triple expansion engines as well as an additional low-pressure
turbine. Her sister ship Megantic was driven by two quadruple
-expansion reciprocating engines both entering service in 1909
it was clearly obvious that Laurentic was soon outperforming
Megantic in both speed & economy. Today these examples of
fine engineering dwarf visiting divers and rest tilted to port,
even today tidy little oil boxes can be seen attached to there
sides. The prop shafts leading from these huge engines appear
broken in strategic sections and exposed which in turn aids
way to the very stern. Disappointingly the props themselves
have long since disappeared through salvage although the rudder
quadrant and pin assembly gear becomes an obvious landmark if
you begin your dive at this end of the wreck. |
Percelian with the white star line emblem.
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The wreck diving off Donegal was good I decided to extend
my trip, I could enjoy another week with my good friend Antonello
Paone one of Italy's leading underwater photographers. Antonello
had flown in to dive the deep untouched wrecks Donegal has
to offer but like me he also found enough on his plate photographing
Laurentic.
Laurentic is a memorable dive even today and truly holds
its place in history as that of the largest haul of gold ever
recovered from any shipwreck. Estimated at over £250
million at today's current value the amazing story of its
recovery is documented in almost every treasure book written
on the subject. As I did when I first read of her story be
sure to make this wreck at the top of your list should your
club book a holiday along this stretch of Irish coastline.
© Leigh Bishop 2002
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CDNN
news site EXPOSED as thieves
click here
TITANIC
Two and a half miles below the Atlantic Ocean lies the most
famous of shipwrecks RMS Titanic. DeepImage now brings you the
2003 scientific expedition to the site.
Read
the full story here
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