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Liverpool Bay - 22/23 April 2006

Saturday 22 April

Transport

Club RIB Dive limited to six divers

Qualification

Experienced Sports Divers and above.

Cost

The Montreal is approximately 20 miles out making it a return journey of 40 miles. Therefore boat fuel, boat day charges and towing fees only.

The dive: MONTREAL

The "Montreal" was a 6,870 gross ton ship, length 469.5ft x beam 56.2ft, one funnel, four masts, twin screw and a speed of 13 knots. She was launched on 28/4/1900 for Elder Dempster's Beaver Line and sailed from the Tyne on her maiden voyage to Montreal and London on 4/7/1900. On 1/4/1915 she was requisitioned as a troopship, and on 29/1/1918 was in collision with the White Star Liner "Cedric". She was taken in tow, but on 30/1/1918 she sank 14 miles from the Bar Lightship, Liverpool with no loss of life. [North Atlantic Seaway by N.R.P.Bonsor, vol.3, p.1306-7] [Canadian Pacific-100 Years by George Musk]

Sunday 23 April

Transport

Hardboat charter for a day

Cost

Expect £50 per diver

Qualification

Experienced Sports Divers and above.

Diving around this area is not for the inexperienced because of strong currents, high swells and low visibility. The best time to dive this site is on slack water at about low tide. If you plan to complete two dives you'll have to dive in a slight current on one of the dives. For a two-tank dive, a charter boat would normally leave in the morning, stay out during low tide and come back in the evening. Check out tide information local to Liverpool for dive planning. Visibility in this area at low tide has been known to reach up to 10 metres, however, it's still worth carrying a torch to fully appreciate what lies there.

The dive: LELIA

The 30-metre deep Lelia is considered one of the best. The large structure sits upright, half buried in the silty seabed. Both boilers and both paddle wheels are still visible. The sheer size of her wheels is stunning – divers can even swim through the spokes comfortably. The wreck is entirely wrapped in plumose anemones and is patrolled by shoals of fish.

Records say that she sailed from the River Mersey, bound for America, on 5 January 1865, heavily laden with a 700-ton cargo of coal, iron and general merchandise. The winter weather turned, however, as the ship headed towards the Welsh coast and she encountered heavy seas. Already lying low in the water because of her heavy cargo, the Lelia was soon in difficulty. Captain Thomas Buxton Skinner, her skipper, decided to slow the ship and hoist her anchors inboard in case they were lost in the storm. But as they carried out the task, a huge wave caused one of the anchors to smash through the deck. She sank 16 miles out to sea.

The dive: Munster

Passenger motor ship 4302 tons gross, 353 ft long, 50 ft beam, 14 ft draught. Built: 1938 Harland and Wolff, Belfast. Engines: 20 cylinder oil engines, 1347 hp, 2 screws. Owners: Coast Lines, registered Dublin.

Date of wreck: 7 Feb 1940

Location: 53° 35.96' N 3° 26.75' W (Decca)

Depth at low water: 23m seabed, 24m scour, 18m to top of wreck.

This wreck site is an excellent dive with more of a scrap yard than an identifiable ship to see. There is an extensive area of tangled wreckage, some portholes, and two small cylindrical objects some 4 metres long. There were large lobsters walking around everywhere - and one of them was sitting in an intact loose porthole. Such is the stuff of diver's dreams! Some large portholes have been found on this site. This wreck always has a good variety of fish life, particularly large pollack and ling - and it is still home to more than its fair share of lobsters. The area and amount of wreckage is much less than one would expect from a ship as big as the Munster. However, the Munster is recorded as being cleared by the Admiralty Wreck Disposal Vessel HMS Annet in 1947. Presumably most of her wreckage lies under the sea bed in the trench created by explosive charges in the clearance. The part of the wreck above the sand seems to be from the forward superstructure. The force of these explosions would explain why only tangled wreckage survives to be seen today.