Highball Bouncing Bomb Loch Striven

Loch Striven and the “Highball” Bouncing Bombs

Due to a successful expedition in August 2021, we’re back to Dunoon and Loch Striven for a long weekend of diving the River Clyde and the Loch Striven Highball Bouncing Bombs.

While the ‘Upkeep’ bouncing bombs were used during RAF Operation Chastise against German hydroelectric dams in WWII, his sibling, the ‘Highball’ bouncing bombs were prototypes tested as solutions to destroy German naval shipping, including the German battleship Tirpitz.

As the Upkeep bombs needed to be carried in the larger and modified Lancaster Bombers, the Highballs could be deployed using the smaller Mosquitos. From November 1942, development and testing for Highball continued alongside Upkeep.

Alongside Reculver near Herne Bay in Kent and Chesil Beach in Dorset, further testing of the Highball was carried out by three modified Mosquitoes flying from RAF Turnberry on the west coast of Scotland. Testing was against a target ship, the former French battleship Courbet, which had been moored for the purpose in Loch Striven.

Recovery

In 2010, a diving project in Loch Striven successfully located several Highball prototypes in around 35m of water. In July 2017, two Highballs were successfully recovered from Loch Striven in a joint operation by teams from East Cheshire Sub-Aqua Club and the Royal Navy. One is now displayed at the de Havilland Aircraft Museum and the other arrived at Brooklands Museum in late 2019 after undergoing conservation at the Mary Rose Trust.

Diving The Highballs

And yes, you’ve guessed it. We’re back to dive these prototype Highball bombs beneath the waters in Loch Striven with local Dunoon based dive charter, Wreckspeditions.

Outline plan is to travel to Dunoon on Friday 22nd April 2022, Dive Saturday, Sunday and Monday, returning home on Tuesday 26th May 2022. We will be staying in Dunoon for four nights.

Requirements​

Together with the bouncing bombs in Loch Striven, we will be diving other wrecks in Troon, the Holy Loch and the Clyde. Details of these dive sites are on the Wreckspeditions website. Note that many of these are within the 25m to 40m depth range.

Minimum Qualifiactions

Although not a technical weekend, you’ll need to be comfortable in diving to around 40 metres with a minimum PADI Deep Speciality (or equivalent) qualification. Ideally Nitrox certified, you will need to be comfortable diving to these depths with backup, bailout, pony or other alternative air source. You will need a primary and ideally backup light source and be comfortable with deploying a DSMB. Buddies will be allocated accordingly and it will be recommended that deeper dives are practised before this trip.

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Date

23 - 25 Apr 2022
Expired!

Time

All Day

Cost

£150.00

Location

Wreckspeditions
Holy Loch Marina, Sandbank, Dunoon PA23 8FE
Website
https://www.wreckspeditions.com

Organizer

Mark Lewis
Mark Lewis
Website
https://scuba.to/contact