Ten club members enjoyed a weekend of glorious weather and fantastic wreck diving from ‘Scimitar’. On Saturday we dived the wrecks of the Black Hawk bow and then the Aeloian Sky. Two completely different dives both ending in a gentle drift. 
The Black Hawk was an American Liberty Ship built in New Orleans in 1944 in just ten days from prefabricated parts. She made two successful Atlantic crossings and had almost completed a third when, in the evening of 29th December 1944, off Portland, she took a torpedo in the aft hold. The ensuing explosion blew her stern section clean off, killing one member of the crew. This part now rests off Portland in 48 metres. The forward three quarters of the ship was taken in tow with the intention of docking her in Poole or beaching at Studland. However a gale blew up, the tow broke and the damaged Black Hawk finally sank in 20 metres of water in the middle of Worbarrow Bay, about 1½ miles east of Lulworth Cove. A fantastic first dive with lots of life on it.
After lunch we dived the Aeolian Sky. With holds full of general cargo, the 16,000 tonne ship sunk in 1979 after colliding with the German Coaster, Anna Knuepell 20 miles off Guernsey. She was trying to to make safe harbour in Portland at the time of her sinking. She lies on her port side and due to the area she rests in, the visibility is generally very good. There are however very strong currents running through this area and she should be dived at slack water only. She has been cleared to a depth of 18m with the sea bed at about 31m. Another brilliant dive to finish off the first day’s diving – dark and eerie but that just added to the atmosphere!
On Sunday we were all looking forward to our dive on the M2 submarine and she certainly didn’t disappoint. The wreck itself is fantastic and it was teeming with life. We got bored of counting conger eels after the first 9 or 10!
In 1927 HMS M2 became the worlds first undersea aircraft carrier – a submarine carrying a small two-seater seaplane in a watertight hangar. The seaplane, which had folding wings, was launched by catapult off a runway on the deck. When it landed near the sub, it was hoisted on board and into the hangar by a specially designed small crane. The M2s crew was proud of the speed with which it could launch the little floating plane. Rising to periscope depth, the submariners would check around for enemy ships, surface, open the hangar door and catapult the plane off on its flight. They were constantly trying to beat their own speed record. It was this speed which was to kill all the crew. The M2 dived at 10.11am during exercises off Portland on 26 January, 1932, and disappeared. On 29 January all hope was officially abandoned for the 60 crew aboard. It took eight days to find her. The first divers discovered that the hangar door was open with the plane still inside. The hangar had apparently been opened while she was still underwater. A salvage operation retrieved the plane, but after 11 months and a total of 1500 dives involving 26 Royal Navy divers, the Admiralty had to admit defeat over the submarine. On 8 December, 1932, the M2 was left to rest forever on the seabed off Portland.
This was the first time some of our club members had dived the M2 after our trip had been cancelled twice previously due to weather and Covid restrictions. It was amazing to finally get on it and for them to see that it really was as fantastic as we had been telling them it was for the last three years since first booking the trip! Here’s a link to a little video we took on the dive: M2 Submarine Dive
Our last dive of the weekend was on the wreck of the James Fennel. She is a steam trawler built in 1918 by Fullerton & Co, Paisley. She is a Strath class auxilliary patrol vessel weighing 215 tons and 123x22ft. She has a triple-expansion engine and was armed with a 12 pounder gun. During thick fog on the 16th January 1920, she drove straight onto the rocks, north of Blacknor Point, Portland. All crew were rescued by means of a long rope strung from the stem of the ship to a large rock by local fishermen. A few days later, an attempt was made to tow her off the rocks but she sank immediately. She is a very interesting dive as her massive boiler and engine are clear to see and once again there was lots of life on the wreck.
Our group stayed at The Bunker in Portland, which is a few minutes drive from the Marina where the boat was moored. It is set up for divers, cheap and cheerful and they knock out a great breakfast. The Little Ship pub is conveniently situated across the road so was handy for a few après dive beers. We dived with Scimitar Diving with Nick as our brilliant skipper for the weekend. We did not think it was possible for one person to place and recover shotlines so accurately, drive the boat, get divers safely in and out out of the water, have hot cups of tea on hand and even take on the role of club photographer pretty much all at the same time! We have already booked our return trip next September.
