Random Jottings
More news from Orkney
Just a couple of links before they disappear into the ether.....
Firstly an article about HMS Vanguard, she exploded at anchor in the flow with the loss of 843 crew-members in 1917. The reason for her loss is usually given as an explosion in a magazine, with divergent theories about the inherent instability of cordite versus cordite stored against a 'hot' bulkhead, whatever the reason she remains on the sea-bed with the remains of her crew with diving restricted.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-north-east-orkney-shetland-38677071
A secondly have they found one of Priens missing torpedos from his remarkable mission to Scapa Flow which resulted in the loss of HMS Royal Oak and 833 of her crew. Parts of the torpedo which caused the sinking have been recovered but any scholar of the event knows that Prien fired two salvos of torpedos as the first didn't have the necessary outcome!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-north-east-orkney-shetland-35707243
I find it a little strange that diving on these two vessels, one lost in enemy action and one by tragic accident is restricted whilst divers regularly dive with a 'look don't touch' code on HMS Pathfinder and more worryingly HMS Aboukir, HMS Crecy and HMS Hogue which were sunk in a single action in 1914 at the loss of in the region of 1,450 lives were sold for salvage by the government.........
We do have a strange and inconsistent way of dealing with war graves!
Dive safe
RichW
Latest Photographs


The seal eventually lay on the bottom and wanted to have its photo taken.....again....
A brass RN sailors button, I would have thought that there would be a story behind this, was it from a dead body washed ashore during the wars?
Having extracted this common lobster (Hommarus gammarus) I found it was berried, grrrrh!
An egg cluster from Common Whelk (Buccinum undatum) a common find on the sea-shore, though this cluster was firmly attached.
A Common Octopus (Octopus vulgaris), there are loads about this year (2016) you just have to get your eye in to spot 'em.
Ahhhhh a danforth anchor, all alone and loitering, probably just under a metric tonne here!
Sea Hare (aplysia punctata) you get loads and loads of them on the south side of the point feeding and breeding!
The rocks, which are a soft 'holey' shale are coated in a pretty pink coralline growth
You do need sharp eyes as frequently all that is visible, poking through tiny pockets of sand, are the stainless steel grip leads.
A Long Clawed Squat Lobster (Munida rugosa), this one was eating a still pulsing Lions Mane Jellyfish (Cyanea capillata)
Spot the seal!
Another partially cleaned brass breech block.......
A common hermit crab (Pagurus bernhardus), I just couldn't get it to stay still to get a shot of it's back end!
A very large, well the largest that I have ever seen Common Octopus (Octopus vulgaris), she was sitting on-top of a rock pretending to be weed but had the 'wrong' colouration, the skin texture was right though!
and closer.....
This is the keel I reckon, only 'obvious' as the weeds have dropped away.
A typical north east wreck dive, plates, boilers n bits. In this case probably Jan Van Ryswyck although a few vessels have foundered so the bits are somehwhat mixed!
A Tompot blenny (Parablennius gattorugine), this one was hiding in his hole and almost attached to my camera by a piece of string.....as the camera got close he retreated into his hole!
Another breech assembly, you can see where someone has cleaned the 'crud' from the brass section
One of the observation slits on the conning tower, like 'Knights visors' these were designed to minimise the chance of shrapnel and metal splinters being blasted into the tower
A scenic of the bow, due to the previous salvage operation it has 'snapped' and fallen away from centre to left of the photograph
Doesn't look much but this is the tip of a propellor, a close up shot!
A Green shore crab (Carcinus maenas) this one was busy digging a hole, there must have been something down there.