Hottest day of the year so far, and five of 1620’s hardiest souls set out for a trip to the South Coast.
Its May 2nd, its 6.30am and its absolutely ratcheting down as we leave Billericay. Half way down the M3, god turns off the sprinklers and we are greeted with shorts-weather as we drive into Brighton.
The trip is aboard old Channel Diver. Reacquainting ourselves with a boat we have not been on for some time does not take long. We remember the choking fumes as she starts up, and the lack of space, and complaints about the lack of a lift (god we are getting picky!).
A cup of char soon perks us up and we set off on the three hour trek, 26 miles to the south of Brighton to dive HMS Moldavia.
She was built in 1903 on the Clyde. Weighing 9500 tons, she was first used on the Britain to Australia run before being requisitioned by the admiralty in 1915 and commissioned as HMS Moldavia. On 23 May 1918, whilst being used as a troop carrier, she was torpedoed by UB-57. 57 men died as she sank, all American servicemen.
She is a huge wreck, and it takes many dives to get to know her. There are still portholes and other items of interest to be found, and her 4.7in gun is still intact, pointing at the surface from the stern.
After a glassily flat 3 hours we arrive on the site having followed Channel Diver’s replacement, Nauticat out to the site. Voyager from Littlehampton is there as well, so we are not short of divers!
After jumping in we descend against virtually no current. Now, this is May, so most are expecting the plankton bloom to have drastically cut visibility. Landing on the starboard rail of the Moldavia at 35 metres, there is so much ambient light there is no need for a torch, and we are greeted by 8-9 metres vis, excellent! We’ve been dropped just behind the bridge area. With the wreck lying heeled over on her port side, its easy to get orientated. We turn to head towards the bow, dropping over the side of the wreck we drop down to the seabed below us at fifty metres. A large cargo hatch in front of the bridge permits us to drop down two decks into the ship. What from the outside looks like a sealed compartment, opens out into a clearing on to the top of the wreckage where the side of the ship has collapsed. A huge shoal of pouting hang around, unperturbed by the torch beam which lights them up.
We head on forrard towards the bow, passing through the remains of the mast, which lies heeled over at the same angle as the ship. We reach the bow and feel a gentle current curving round it, just time to examine the large anchor mounted under the bow, before we turn back. As our 30 minutes bottom time is up, we head up to the top rail, deploy a DSMB and commence our ascent, arriving back on the surface some 68 minutes after we left. That’s about all you can stand when the water temp is still only 10 degrees.
Back on the boat we de-kit, enjoy the sun, lunch and soup and some grab a couple of hours shut-eye as we make the long trip back to Brighton.
And so ends a very memorable day, with the best weather you could ask for, on one of the best wrecks the south coast, and England has to offer.
Jamie Bassett
This article first appeared in the June 2005 edition of Billericay Diver
