Primarily focused on UK scuba diving, I feature articles and personal dive logs from home and abroad.
Plan the Dive – Dive the Wreck – Wreck the Plan.
Featured Articles
The SS Dovre Collides with the SS Cuvier
The Dovre rammed the Cuvier in the starboard quarter around 5.00am that dark morning. Flooding quickly, she trapped sleeping crew in their bunks.
![The Fate of P&O SS Maloja and the SS Empress of Fort William [+1916]](https://scuba.to/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/PO-Maloja.jpg.webp)
The Fate of P&O SS Maloja and the SS Empress of Fort William [+1916]
The Maloja was about 2 nautical miles off Dover when her starboard quarter struck one of the mines laid by U-Boat SM UC-6.
The Khersonese & The Mindora - A Fearful Collision In The Channel
Each carrying valuable cargoes, the sailing ship Khersonese and the barque Mindora fatefully collided on 27th November 1864 off Folkestone.
Black Thursday - Colliers Sunk In English Channel Air Raid
The air battle was watched by people from Abbott's Cliff, Dover, where British coal convoy CW8 took heavy losses from German dive bombers.
![HMT Othello II [1907-1915] – The Deck Boy Legacy](https://scuba.to/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/HMS-Othello-II.jpg.webp)
HMT Othello II [1907-1915] - The Deck Boy Legacy
The second hand and helmsman managed to squeeze the deck-boy out through a window, but they could not follow and went down with the ship.
English Channel Shipwrecks - Dover - Folkestone - Kent
There are over 360 English Channel shipwrecks and other diveable marks to explore around the Kent coast including Dover and Folkestone.
![HMS Flirt [1897-1916] and the Battle of the Dover Strait](https://scuba.to/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/HMS-Flirt.jpg.webp)
HMS Flirt [1897-1916] and the Battle of the Dover Strait
Christened to the band playing Rule Britannia in 1897, HMS Flirt sunk bravely firing her guns on the enemy for the honour of her country in 1916.
Oberleutnant Z Ralph Wenninger - The Fate Of UB-55
Shortly after leaving the surface, an explosion occurred on her starboard side between the engine room and stern. Two compartments flooded immediately.
Dive Logs UK
First Salty Dives of 2022 - HMT Peridot - SS Nunima - SS Pommerania
For our first salty dives of 2022, it was a welcome text from Chris that announced three sites for the coming Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
![The Mindora [+1864] – Our Last Dive Of 2021](https://scuba.to/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/The-Mindora-Our-Last-Dive-Of-2021-2048x1152.jpg.webp)
The Mindora [+1864] - Our Last Dive Of 2021
With 2.6m significant wave height with Beaufort 4 to 7, six steadfast divers loaded up Maverick for what will be the last dive of the year.
![A Dark But Pleasant HMS Brazen [+1940]](https://scuba.to/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/IMG_5264.jpeg.webp)
A Dark But Pleasant HMS Brazen [+1940]
The torch lights of all five divers in the vicinity made for a spectacular light show between the skeletal remains of the wreck.
![HMS Flirt [+1916] and a Close Container Ship](https://scuba.to/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/HMS-Flirt-14-768x432.jpg.webp)
HMS Flirt [+1916] and a Close Container Ship
Gesticulating hand signals between ourselves, was that an ascent to 9m and hold for six minutes or an ascent to 6m and hold for nine minutes?
Blenny in the Barrel of a U-Boat Deck Gun - UB-78
Along the port side, the submarine seemed encrusted with mussels. I recall taking a GoPro still, looking down the barrel of the deck gun.
![The Douro [+1843] – The Slave Trade Manillas](https://scuba.to/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Slave-Trade-Manillas-300x169.jpg)
The Douro [+1843] - The Slave Trade Manillas
Conspiracy surrounds the Douro's 1843 sinking. She is suspected of carrying slave trading Manillas, the UK slave trade abolished in 1807.
![The SS Latona [+1876] – Dover, Kent](https://scuba.to/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/What-We-Think-Is-A-Pipe-Cap-300x169.jpg)
The SS Latona [+1876] - Dover, Kent
Chris had shot the wreck perfect! Right on the stern and with a hazy 5 metres visibility, navigation back to the shot would be easily achieved.
![MV Aeolian Sky [+1979] – A Threesome Bimble](https://scuba.to/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Mark-Becks-and-Piers.jpg.webp)
MV Aeolian Sky [+1979] - A Threesome Bimble
The ensemble bimbled around the shot and then off into the darkness, ever mindful that “darkness” could interpret as “inside of”.
Dive Logs Abroad
![SS Rosalie Moller [+1941] – A Valuable Lesson Learned](https://scuba.to/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/SS-Rosalie-Moller-Coal-300x169.jpg)
SS Rosalie Moller [+1941] - A Valuable Lesson Learned
On many divers’ Red Sea Bucket Lists, the Rosalie Moller lays upright, around 51 metres to the sandy sea bed with Welsh coal in the holds.
![SS Aïda [+1957] – Deep, Sharks and Visibility](https://scuba.to/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/The-Aida--768x432.jpg.webp)
SS Aïda [+1957] - Deep, Sharks and Visibility
We were straight down to the stern, to slowly ascend through the wreck. Those who have dived the Ronda at Mull, this is a similar profile.
![MV Dandfjord [+1948] – And A Little Treasure](https://scuba.to/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Danish-CLOC-Whisky.jpg.webp)
MV Dandfjord [+1948] - And A Little Treasure
During a month holiday on the island of Sal, Cabo Verde, I was able to make to dives on the relatively undived MV Danfjord as lost in 1948.
![The San Francisco Maru [+1944] – My Deepest Dive](https://scuba.to/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/IMG_0979.jpg.webp)
The San Francisco Maru [+1944] - My Deepest Dive
This San Francisco Maru was my deepest dive to date at 50m. Obviously narked, I felt I had to take a photo of the spherical mines on deck.
![Heian Maru [+1944] – Chuuk Lagoon](https://scuba.to/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/IMG_4620.jpg.webp)
Heian Maru [+1944] - Chuuk Lagoon
The Heian Maru is the largest diveable wreck in Chuuk Lagoon, lost during Operation Hailstone being bombed and torpedoed by US Naval aircraft.
USAT Liberty Shipwreck, Tulamben, Bali
Just some 30 metres from the shore was the stern of the wreck, which slid into the waters back in March 1963 subsequent to the eruption of volcano Gunung Agung.
Tanjung Jepun and Blue Lagoon, Padangbai, Bali
The two sites we dived were Tanjung Jepun and Blue Lagoon at Padang Bai. Both…
![MV Zenobia [+1980] – Cheeky Deco](https://scuba.to/wp-content/uploads/1919/05/Zenobia-Lion-Fish.jpg.webp)
MV Zenobia [+1980] - Cheeky Deco
Descended from the propellers to the seabed at the stern, then through the kissing lorries via the eggs to smorgasbord of Lion Fish.