Plymouth dive-sites

Plymouth

plymouth

"Good weekend?" asked a new office colleague one Monday morning. The others in the office dived for cover as they knew what was coming. "Yes, spent the weekend on a hardboat live-a-aboard out of Plymouth". As the gang in my office dived for cover, I went into free-flow about my weekends mis-adventures.......needless to say, my new colleague probably won't ask again! Anyway, heres what my cronnies and I got up to.

	We stayed on and dived off the Loyal Watcher based at Mountbatten marina in Plymouth. She's owned by Richie Stephenson who runs Deep Blue Diving and is skippered by Steve Wright.

Heres the background to some of the wrecks we dived that weekend.

James Eagan Layne

This 441 ft American Liberty Ship of 7,476 tons gross. 10,414 tonnes dead weight was one of two leading vessels in a two column convoy. She was torpedoed by U-11195 (Oberleutnant Cordes) between No.4 hold and No. 5 hold on the starboard side on 21 March, 1945. The attack took place some 12 miles oft Plymouth, the James Eagan Layne being on passage from Barry to Ghent, carrying 4.500 tons of US Army stores, plus a deck cargo of military motor boats and timber. With her steering gear out of action, shaft broken, the damaged holds and engine room flooded. her stern sank until awash, but she was taken in tow by HMS Flaunt and a minesweeper to Whitsand Bay where she sank in the shallows. Until the late 1970s the wreck was easy to find. since her No 2 mast stuck up above the surface but this eventually collapsed leaving only her wreck buoy to indicate the approximate area. The stern portion of the wreck lies a short distance to the south separate from the main hull in 24m depth. The hull is covered in plumose anemones and makes an attractive and interesting dive The site is exposed to any winds from East through South to West but sheltered from the northerly winds, and is about three quarters of a mile offshore.

See the Divernet article on the James Egan Layne

SS Rosehill

This British-owned armed merchant ship of 2,788 tons (formerly the Minster) was torpedoed by the German submarine U-4O on 23 September 1917. 5 miles south-west by south of Fowey. No lives were lost in the explosion that followed, and she steamed a distance of some 15 miles towards Plymouth before sinking with her cargo of coal in 26m. For many years the Rosehill was thought to lie nearer to Gribbin Head until John Shaw of Padstow, now the legal owner positively identified the wreck from the maker's name and number on her emergency steering standard taken off her poop. Her stern gun has been removed, but shells are still found around the stern. She sits upright on a sand and shale bottom and is still pretty much broken up.

Two further wrecks we dived - more about these later.

Poulmic
poulmic

Persier
persier