Wreck diving is a type of
recreational divingRecreational diving or sport diving is a type of diving that uses SCUBA equipment for the purpose of leisure and enjoyment. In some diving circles, the term "recreational diving" is used in contradistinction to "technical diving", a more demanding aspect of the sport which requires greater levels...
where
shipwreckA shipwreck is the remains of a ship that has wrecked, it having either been sunk or beached. A shipwreck can refer to a wrecked ship or to the event that caused the wreck, such as the striking of something that causes the ship to sink, the stranding of the ship on rocks, land or shoal, or the...
s are explored. Although most wreck dive sites are at shipwrecks, there is an increasing trend to
scuttle retired ships to create artificial reef sitesSinking ships for wreck diving sites is the practice ofscuttling old ships to produce artificial reefs suitable for wreck diving, to benefit from commercial revenues from recreational diving of the shipwreck, or to produce a diver training site.-Preparation:...
.
Reasons for diving wrecks
A shipwreck is attractive to divers for several reasons:
- it is an artificial reef
In nautical terminology, a reef is a rock, sandbar, or other feature lying beneath the surface of the water ....
, which creates a habitat for many types of marine lifeMarine biology is the scientific study of living organisms in the ocean or other marine or brackish bodies of water. Given that in biology many phyla, families and genera have some species that live in the sea and others that live on land, marine biology classifies species based on the environment...
- it often is a large structure with many interesting parts and machinery, which is not normally closely observable on working, floating vessels
- it often has an exciting or tragic history
History is the study of the human past, with special attention to the written record. Scholars who write about history are called historians. It is a field of research which uses a narrative to examine and analyse the sequence of events, and it often attempts to investigate objectively the patterns...
- it presents new skill challenges for scuba divers
Scuba diving is a form of underwater diving in which a diver uses a scuba set to breathe underwater for recreation, commercial or industrial reasons.Unlike early diving, which relied exclusively on air pumped from the surface, scuba...
- it is part of the underwater cultural heritage and may be an important archaeological resource
The archaeology of shipwrecks is the field of archaeology specialised in the study and exploration of shipwrecks. Its techniques combine those of archaeology with those of diving....
- it provides a first-hand insight into context for the loss, such as causal connections, geographical associations, trade patterns and many other areas, providing a microcosm of our maritime heritage and maritime history
Maritime history is a broad thematic element of history that often uses a global approach, although national and regional histories remain predominant. As an academic subject, it often crosses the boundaries of standard disciplines, focusing on understanding mankind's various relationships to the...
.
Types of wreck diving
In his seminal work on the subject,
The Advanced Wreck Diving Handbook,
Gary GentileGary Gentile is an American author and pioneering technical diver.-Diving:Gary Gentile is a wreck diver. It has been suggested that Gary Gentile may be the most experienced wreck diver in the world...
sub-divides wreck diving into three categories:
- Non-penetration diving (ie. swimming over the wreck)
- Limited penetration diving, within the "light zone"
- Full penetration diving, beyond the "light zone"
Each succeeding level involves greater risk, and therefore will normally require greater levels of training, experience and equipment.
Non-penetration wreck diving is the least hazardous form of wreck diving, although divers still need to be aware of the entanglement risks presented by fishing nets and fishing lines which may be snagged to the wreck (wrecks are often popular fishing sites), and the underlying terrain may present greater risk of sharp edges.
Penetration within the light zone presents greater hazards due to overhead and greater proximity of the wreck's structure, but because of the proximity of a visible exit point, and some amount of external light, those hazards are more manageable. However, there is clearly a much greater risk of entanglement and siltout inside of the structure, as well as the requirement to move laterally to a defined exit point before one can surface in the event of an emergency.
Full penetration insolves the greatest level of risks, including the risk of getting lost within the structure, the risk of complete darkness in the event of multiple light failures, and the inability to escape unassisted in the event of a disruption to air supply.
These categorisations broadly coincides with the traditional division between "
recreationalRecreational diving or sport diving is a type of diving that uses SCUBA equipment for the purpose of leisure and enjoyment. In some diving circles, the term "recreational diving" is used in contradistinction to "technical diving", a more demanding aspect of the sport which requires greater levels...
" wreck diving (taught as a speciality course by recreational diver training agency which is normally expressed to be limited to the "light zone" and/or 100 cumulative feet of depth plus penetration) and "
technicalTechnical diving is a form of scuba diving that exceeds the scope of recreational diving...
" wreck diving (taught as a stand alone course by technical diver training agencies).
Wreck diver training and safety
Wrecks may pose a variety of unique hazards to divers. Wrecks are often snagged by fishing lines or nets and the structure may be fragile and break without notice.
Penetration divingPenetration diving or no clear surface diving is a type of diving where the scuba diver enters a space from which there is no direct, purely vertical ascent to the safety of breathable air of the atmosphere at the surface...
, where the diver enters a shipwreck is an advanced skill requiring special training and equipment. Many attractive or well preserved wrecks are in deeper water requiring
deep divingThe meaning of the term deep diving is a form of technical diving. It is defined by the level of the diver's diver training, diving equipment, breathing gas, and surface support:* in recreational diving, 30 metres / 100 feet may be a "deep dive"...
precautions. It is essential that at least one cutting device be carried in the event that the diver is entangled with fishing lines or ropes and to have a spare light source in case the primary light fails. If penetrating a wreck, a guideline tied off before entering a wreck and run out inside the wreck is advisable. A guideline helps a wreck diver in finding the way out easier in case of low visibility due to stirred up sediments. For penetration diving, a greater reserve of breathing gas should be allowed for, to ensure there is sufficient to get out of the wreck. Most wreck divers use a minimum of the
rule-of-thirdsIn scuba diving, the rule of thirds is a rule of thumb that divers use to plan dives so they do not consume all the breathing gas from the diving cylinder before the end of the dive....
for gas management. This allows for 1/3 of the gas down and into the wreck, 1/3 for exit and ascent and 1/3 reserve. In addition, because of the potential fragility of the wreck, the likelihood of disturbing sediments or disturbing the many marine animals that take advantage of the artificial habitat offered by the wreck, extra care is required when moving and finning. Many divers are taught to use alternative finning methods such as
frog kickThe frog kick is a swimming action sometimes used by scuba divers when they are swimming near a soft silty seabed or lakebed which they do not want to stir up damaging the visibility. It is like the swimming action of a frog or the leg part of the breaststroke...
when inside a wreck. Perfect buoyancy control is a must for diving in the environment of a wreck.
Many
diver training organizations provide specialist wreck
diver trainingDiver training is the process of developing skills and building experience in the use of diving equipment and techniques so that the diver is able to dive safely and have fun....
courses, such as
SDIScuba Diving International is a SCUBA training and certification agency. It is the recreational arm of Technical Diving International, the world’s largest technical diver training organization...
, and
PADIPadi or PADI can refer to:* Professional Association of Diving Instructors, diver training organization* Paddy field * Padi, Chennai, satellite township of Chennai, India* Padi , Indonesian band...
Wreck Diver, which divers are advised to take before wreck diving. Such courses typically teach skills such as air management and the proper use of guidelines and reels. Most recreational diving organizations teach divers only to penetrate to limit of the "light zone" or a maximum aggregate surface distance (depth + penetration) of 100 feet (whichever is the lesser). Other
technical divingTechnical diving is a form of scuba diving that exceeds the scope of recreational diving...
organizations, such as IANTD,
TDITechnical Diving International is the largest technical diving certification agency in the world. TDI specializes in more advanced Scuba diving techniques, such as diving with rebreathers and mixed breathing gases, such as Heliox....
, and
ANDIAmerican Nitrox Divers International was founded by Ed Betts and Dick Rutkowski in 1988 as a Scuba diving training agency. As a former dive supervisor of NOAA, and the original founder of IANTD, Dick Rutkowski is responsible for many of the developments in the recreational diving industry.ANDI has...
teach advanced wreck courses, that emphasize a higher level of training, experience and equipment and prepare divers for deeper levels of wreck penetration. The
Nautical Archaeology SocietyThe Nautical Archaeology Society is a charity registered in England and Wales and in Scotland and is a company limited by guarantee.The charitable aims and object of the company are to further research in Nautical Archaeology and publish the results of such research and to advance education and...
in the UK, teaches awareness of underwater
cultural heritageCultural heritage is the legacy of physical and intangible attributes of the past of a group or society that are selected from the past, and inherited, maintained in the present and bestowed for the benefit of future generations...
issues as well as practical diver and
archaeologicalUnderwater archaeology is the study of past human life, behaviours and cultures using the physical remains found in salt or fresh water or buried beneath water-logged sediment. It is most often considered as a branch of maritime archaeology...
skills. Other organizations, such as the Artificial Reef Society of British Columbia (ARSBC) deliberately create artificial reefs to provide features for divers to explore, as well as substrates for marine life to thrive upon.
Penetration diving
In technical penetration diving, there are broadly two approaches. The conventional approach involves the use of continuous guidelines laid from a wreck reel, tied just outside of the entrance point, just inside the entrance point, and at regular intervals inside (to mitigate the risk of a cut line, or a "line trap"). In deeper penetrations, two reels are used, so that in the event of a total loss of visibility where the diver loses contact with the primary line or the primary line gets cut, the secondary line can be anchored and then used as a reference point to sweep for the primary line.
An alternative approach, popularised by deep wreck divers in the American Northeast, is referred to as "progressive penetration". Progressive penetration eschews the use of reels, but the diver makes several successive penetrations, each successively deeper than the last, memorising the layout for both the inward and outward journeys. As a diving technique, progressive penetration is not taught by any of the mainstream diver training agencies.
Divers engaging in penetration diving are conventionally taught to carry three lights - a primary light and two backup lights - thereby virtually eliminating the risk of completely losing light inside the wreck. Nonetheless, total loss of visibility due to a silt-out remains a risk.
Deep diving and wreck diving
Wrecks in shallower waters tend to deteriorate faster than wrecks in deeper water due to higher biological activity. Accordingly, many of the older and larger shipwrecks that tend to offer full penetration dives tend to be deeper dives. This can present additional complications; if a wreck dive is intended to be a
decompression diveA decompression stop is a period of time a diver must spend at a constant depth in shallow water at the end of a dive to safely eliminate absorbed inert gases from the diver's body to avoid decompression sickness...
, then the diver will normally carry decompression gases in
sidemountSidemount is a scuba diving configuration which has tanks mounted alongside the diver, below the shoulders and along the hips, instead of on the back of the diver. It is a popular configuration with advanced cave divers, as smaller sections of cave can be penetrated and tanks can be changed with...
cylinders. However, it is difficult to penetrate many wrecks with sidemount cylinders, requiring divers to either use a different configuration, or leave their decompression gases outside the wreck prior to penetration. This creates the possibility of a diver being unable to relocate their decompression gases if they exit the wreck at a different point from which they enter it.
Protection of wrecks
In many countries, wrecks are legally protected from unauthorized
salvageMarine salvage is the process of rescuing a ship, its cargo, or other property from peril. Salvage encompasses rescue towing, refloating a sunken or grounded vessel, or patching or repairing a ship...
or desecration.
In the
United KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
, three Acts protect wrecks:
- Protection of Wrecks Act 1973
The Protection of Wrecks Act 1973 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which provides protection for designated shipwrecks. Section 1 of the act provides for wrecks to be designated because of historical, archaeological or artistic value. Section 2 provides for designation of...
: certain designated, charted, historic or dangerous sites may not be dived without a license
- Protection of Military Remains Act 1986
The Protection of Military Remains Act 1986 is an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom which provides protection for the wreckage of military aircraft and designated military vessels. The Act provides for two types of protection: protected places and controlled sites. Military aircraft are...
: all military aircraft and 16 designated ships are considered war graveA war grave is a burial place for soldiers or civilians who died during military campaigns or operations. The term does not only apply to graves: ships sunk during wartime are often considered to be war graves, as are military aircraft that crash into water...
s that can only be dived with a license. Other non-designated ships may be dived providing the divers do not enter, disturb or remove artifacts
- Merchant Shipping Act 1995
The Receiver of Wreck, a post defined under the Merchant Shipping Act 1995 is an official of the British government whose main task is to process incoming reports of shipwrecks in order to give legitimate owners the opportunity to retrieve their property and ensure that law-abiding finders of wreck...
: all wrecks and cargoes are owned: each artifact removed must be reported to the Receiver of WreckThe Receiver of Wreck, a post defined under the Merchant Shipping Act 1995 is an official of the British government whose main task is to process incoming reports of shipwrecks in order to give legitimate owners the opportunity to retrieve their property and ensure that law-abiding finders of wreck...
Wrecks that are protected are denoted as such on
nautical chartA nautical chart is a graphic representation of a maritime area and adjacent coastal regions. Depending on the scale of the chart, it may show depths of water and heights of land , natural features of the seabed, details of the coastline, navigational hazards, locations of natural and man-made aids...
s (such as
admiralty chartAdmiralty charts are nautical charts issued by the United Kingdom Hydrographic Office and subject to Crown Copyright. Over 3,000 charts are available and cover virtually the entire world in various levels of detail depending on the density of traffic and hazards...
s); any diving restrictions should be adhered to.
In
GreeceGreece , officially the Hellenic Republic , is a country in southeastern Europe, situated on the southern end of the Balkan Peninsula....
, during the year 2003 the Greek Government (ministry of culture), issued a Ministerial Order classifying "any wreck of ship or aeroplane, sunk for longer than 50 years from the present" as Cultural Assets / Monuments, setting also a protection zone of 300 meters around them. Terms and conditions for visiting any monument in Greece are set by the Ministry of Culture in Greece.
Wreck diving sites
There are thousands of popular wreck diving sites throughout the world. Some of these are artificial wrecks,
sunk deliberately to attract diversSinking ships for wreck diving sites is the practice ofscuttling old ships to produce artificial reefs suitable for wreck diving, to benefit from commercial revenues from recreational diving of the shipwreck, or to produce a diver training site.-Preparation:...
(such as the
USS Spiegel Grove and the
USS Oriskany in
FloridaFlorida is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States, bordering Alabama to the northwest and Georgia to the north. It was the 27th state admitted to the United States...
, and the
Bianca C in
GrenadaGrenada is an island country and sovereign state consisting of the island of Grenada and six smaller islands at the southern end of the Grenadines in the southeastern Caribbean Sea. Grenada is located northwest of Trinidad and Tobago, northeast of Venezuela, and southwest of Saint Vincent and the...
), and others are natural shipwrecks (such as the
RMS RhoneThe RMS Rhone was a British packet ship owned by the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company. She was wrecked off the coast of Salt Island in the British Virgin Islands on 29 October 1867 during a hurricane.It is now a leading Caribbean wreck dive site....
in the
British Virgin IslandsThe British Virgin Islands is a British overseas territory, located in the Caribbean to the east of Puerto Rico. The islands make up part of the Virgin Islands archipelago, the remaining islands constituting the U.S. Virgin Islands...
, and the
ZenobiaThe Zenobia was a Swedish RO-RO ferry which sank close to Larnaca Cyprus in July 1980. On her maiden voyage, a computer problem caused her to develop a list. Unable to enter the Larnaca harbor, she was forced to anchor some 3 miles to the south east. The list continued, and eventually the vessel...
in
CyprusCyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country situated in the eastern Mediterranean, south of Turkey and west of Syria and Lebanon....
). A number of the most enigmatic wreck diving sites relate to ships lost to wartime hostilities, such as the
SS ThistlegormThe SS Thistlegorm was a British armed Merchant Navy ship built in 1940 by Joseph Thompson & Son in Sunderland, England. She was sunk on 6 October 1941 near Ras Muhammad in the Red Sea and is now a well known dive site.-Construction:...
in the Red Sea, and the
SS President CoolidgeThe SS President Coolidge was a luxury ocean liner that measured 654 ft in length and was originally built, along with her sister ship the SS President Hoover, for Dollar Steamship Lines. They were the largest merchant ships the US had built up to that time. In 1938, when the Dollar...
in
VanuatuVanuatu , officially the Republic of Vanuatu , is an island nation located in the South Pacific Ocean...
.
In the
Encyclopedia of Recreational Diving, four "
MeccaMecca , sometimes spelled Makkah is the holiest meeting site of the Islamic religion. The city is modern, cosmopolitan and whilst being closed to non-Muslims is nonetheless ethnically diverse.Islamic tradition attributes the beginning of Mecca to Ishmael's descendants...
s" of wreck diving are identified: (1)
Truk LagoonTruk Lagoon, also known as Chuuk, is a sheltered body of water in the central Pacific.North of New Guinea, it is located mid-ocean at 7 degrees North latitude....
in
MicronesiaThe Federated States of Micronesia is an island nation located in the Pacific Ocean, north of New Guinea. It is a sovereign state in free association with the United States. The Federated States of Micronesia were formerly part of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, a United Nations Trust...
, (2) Scapa Flow in Orkney Islands,
ScotlandScotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, (3) the
Outer BanksThe Outer Banks is a 200-mile long string of narrow barrier islands off the coast of North Carolina, beginning in southeastern corner of Virginia Beach on the east coast of the United States....
of
North CarolinaNorth Carolina is a state located on the Atlantic Seaboard in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties...
(known as the "
Graveyard of the AtlanticGraveyard of the Atlantic is a nickname given to the treacherous waters in the Atlantic Ocean along the Outer Banks of North Carolina and the Virginia coastline south of the entrance to the Chesapeake Bay at Cape Henry...
"), and (4) the
Great LakesThe Great Lakes are a collection of freshwater lakes located in eastern North America, on the Canada – United States border. Consisting of Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario, they form the largest group of freshwater lakes on Earth. They are sometimes referred to as the "Third...
.
For technical divers there are fewer wrecks that have attracted widespread popularity, although for years the
SS Andrea Doria was regared as the "
Mount EverestMount Everest – also called Sagarmāthā , Chomolungma or Qomolangma or Zhumulangma – is the highest mountain on Earth, and the highest point on the Earth's crust, as measured by the height above sea level of its summit,...
" of wrecks to challenge the diver. However, since the popularisation of using trimix as a breathing gas, technical divers now routinely dive much deeper and more challenging wrecks, and the
Andrea Doria is argued by some to now be a good training wreck for trimix divers.
External links
See also
- Shipwrecks
- Zenobia wreck
- Archaeology of shipwrecks
The archaeology of shipwrecks is the field of archaeology specialised in the study and exploration of shipwrecks. Its techniques combine those of archaeology with those of diving....
- Aviation archaeology
Aviation archaeology, also known as aerospace archaeology, aircraft archaeology, crash hunting, wreck chasing, or wreckology, is an activity practiced by both outdoor recreationists and academics in pursuit of finding, documenting, recovering, and preserving sites important in aviation history...
- Nautical Archaeology Society
The Nautical Archaeology Society is a charity registered in England and Wales and in Scotland and is a company limited by guarantee.The charitable aims and object of the company are to further research in Nautical Archaeology and publish the results of such research and to advance education and...
- Marine salvage
Marine salvage is the process of rescuing a ship, its cargo, or other property from peril. Salvage encompasses rescue towing, refloating a sunken or grounded vessel, or patching or repairing a ship...
- Diver training
Diver training is the process of developing skills and building experience in the use of diving equipment and techniques so that the diver is able to dive safely and have fun....
- List of shipwrecks
- Sinking ships for wreck diving sites
Sinking ships for wreck diving sites is the practice ofscuttling old ships to produce artificial reefs suitable for wreck diving, to benefit from commercial revenues from recreational diving of the shipwreck, or to produce a diver training site.-Preparation:...
- Michigan Underwater Preserves
Michigan Underwater Preserves or Michigan Bottomland Preserves are protected areas of the Great Lakes on Michigan's coast. The eleven designated areas, comprising a surface area of over 2,400 square miles, are considered to be "Underwater museums" and serve to protect concentrations of shipwrecks,...