Carl Spencer dead after dive on Britannic

>>Please excuse the sharpness of my earlier post. This has been a long week.<<

No problem. Under the circumstances, it's understandable.

>>I get really angry when I see outright lies posted as truth,...<<

And rightly so. Doing things like that causes nothing but trouble, for no good reason, and which causes a lot of harm.

>>I am not saying you have done any of these things Michael. My only point is that all of us should be considerate before we post. <<

Mmmmmmm...I regret that I'm not immune to the temptation to shoot from the hip, although I try to acknowladge or at least avoid repeating the mistake once it becomes obvious. I would hope and encourage everybody else to do the same.
 
I met Carl Spencer a few years ago and was shocked when I read these bad news on Monday, 25.05.2009 in the Greek newspaper.

I feel sorry about what happened and of course to his family. It is a lost for us but a much heavier one for his wife and children! I think David Concannon is still right about what he writes!
 
The following tribute was prepared by Kevin Gurr and Leigh Bishop, Carl Spencer's good friends and comrades on the Titanic 2003 expedition. This is posted with their permission.

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Carl always introduced himself as ‘Just a Plumber from Dudley’ to anyone he met in the diving world. Carl, Leigh and I laughed at our ‘handles’, the Plumber, the Fireman and the Diving Instructor. My memory blurs trying to recall the amount of times the three of us were together on some boat or in some bar laughing at the day’s events.

Who was Carl Spencer? My first real meeting with Carl was in 1997 ironically after my Britannic expedition. He explained his ambition was to dive the wreck. That ambition became a reality very quickly.

Carl seemed to have boundless energy. What ever he dreamed up just happened. One dream turned into a lasting contact with James Cameron and the three of us chatting in a bar in a London Hotel — very surreal! The contact with James led to the Carl, Leigh and I making a trip to Titanic. Carl and I spending 12 hours locked together in a MIR submarine, a life-changing experience that wouldn’t have happened to us without Carl. In fact, as I think about it, Leigh and I agree, there so many ‘that wouldn’t have happened without Carls’. From freezing our back sides off 400 miles above the Arctic Circle, playing with 2 Navy mine sweepers, looking for the midget submarine X5, to an amazing 2 weeks spent sailing around Vanuatu with Carl, Vikki and Ben watching volcanoes erupt in the fading evening light.

Carl always had a plan. There was always a next event and you just knew it would happen at sometime.

His generosity to others was just natural. He was never gregarious or overt he just quietly helped where he could.

Carl was a unique individual in the diving industry. There was no take, it was all give. This was possible because there was no ego to fuel. He always doubted his abilities which made him a very humble individual deep down, which in hind-site was always ridiculous. He was constantly genuinely amazed when the next contact became a reality ‘Kev I can’t believe it. I am talking to the European Space Agency and I’m just a bloody Plumber’.

Outwardly, for someone that didn’t drink you would swear he did. Dive trips were a constant round of laughter and humorous ridicule for anyone present. Often pointed inwards, Carl would make as much fun of himself.

As a diver he was among the best. Like so few he listened and learned. His projects were meticulously organised with safety being paramount. Diving was more than a passion for him. He was one of the few modern Explorers in an unforgiving environment akin only to space exploration. Eventually, sadly, like so many explorers he paid the price for his endeavours.

As family men we often discussed the risks involved in what we did. While there was always a healthy respect in the background, Carl was always confident in his ability and would have stopped in a heart beat if he doubted anything or thought he was putting his family at risk.

I was always impressed with Carls’ love of his family. Where ever we were he would find a way to contact home. We even discussed trying to do a Sat phone uplink from 2 ½ miles underwater on Titanic via the MIR’s comms system ‘how cool would it be if I could phone Vikki and Ben?’

Obviously Carl's loss will affect may people. His family will bear the brunt of this but the diving industry whether they know it or not will also suffer, Carl would have gone on to do many extraordinary things.

As for the rest of us his friends and dive buddies, I am sure we all feel the same - at a loss is an understatement. There will be many long discussions into the night, many drinks passing hands, in some cases tears but in many cases laughter.

And this is how Carl should be remembered, with as many good memories as possible, with as much laughter as possible.

The last time I saw Carl the flash bugger landed his helicopter in a field near my house. As he was about to take off several hours later and after discussions about the impending Britannic expedition, film work and space flight he again reminded me he was ‘just a Plumber from Dudley’.

I didn’t believe it then and I am sure Leigh and I never will.
 
From the Telegraph:

Carl Spencer

Carl Spencer, who has died aged 39, was one of the world's most accomplished deep-wreck divers and led several high-profile explorations of famous wrecks, including that of Titanic; he was killed in a diving accident during an underwater filming mission exploring Titanic's sister ship, Britannic.
Click to expand...

For the rest, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/5401913/Carl-Spencer.html
 
Thank you for posting that, David.

Although only a recreational diver, I'd known of Carl for years through following his explorations of deep wrecks. I was well aware of his reputation as a superlative technical diver, but it wasn't until I joined the Britannic expedition and my brief interaction with him that I became aware of what a truly gracious and kind person he was.

We communicated via email and he mentioned his familiarity with the National Maritime Museum and some Australian wrecks such as the M24 Japanese minisub. As busy as he was when I came aboard on Saturday, he still took the time to give me a warm welcome. The following day, the morning of his final dive, we chatted some more about the museum and some specific projects such as the Bluebird. He was very busy and eagerly anticipating that day's dive objectives, but I have the impression he took time to talk with me to put me at my ease as it was the first time I'd met most of the dive team in person.

Hearing more about him during the remainder of the expedition from his friends and colleagues made me regret even more that my acquaintance with him was so brief. It is difficult to really comprehend the magnitude of his loss for his family, friends and colleagues - and also for all who value exploration and discovery.
 
Thank you Inger. Here is more information about an additional tribute.

I was proud to sponsor Carl for membership in The Explorers Club, and even more proud when he was awarded the privilege of carrying a very special and historic Flag on the Britannic expedition. That he was entrusted with such a special Flag was a testament to the high regard with which he was held by the Club. Moreover, these flags are almost never retired, and it is even more rare for a Flag to be retired and dedicated to an individual explorer. Carl now joins the ranks of Thor Heyerdahl and a select few astronauts and mountaineers.

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Carl Spencer to be honoured by New York based Explorers Club.

In a statement issued yesterday, The Explorers Club, of which Mr Spencer was a respected and enthusiastic member, confirmed that he is to be formally recognised for his lifetime achievements.

It reads: Carl Spencer was a highly regarded member of The Explorers Club, an international society of professional explorers founded in 1904 and based in New York City. The Club's members have been responsible for an illustrious series of famous firsts — first to the North Pole, first to the South Pole, first to the summit of Mount Everest, first to the deepest point in the ocean, first to the surface of the Moon — often carrying one of 202 specially numbered Club flags, each with its own unique history.

As recognition for his significant accomplishments as an explorer and the extreme difficulty of his expedition, Carl had been awarded the privilege of carrying The Explorers Club Flag to the HMHS Britannic. Now the Club is considering an appropriate way to permanently pay tribute to Carl’s outstanding achievements and his substantial contributions to exploration.

In a later statement it was confirmed that flag number #68, which began its career in 1937 and has twice voyaged into space aboard the Space Shuttle, traveled with Carl and his team to HMHS Britannic and will now be retired permanently and enshrined in his name at The Explorers Club headquarters in New York.

A fitting tribute to a genuinely world-class explorer.
 
Saturation diving seems like a much safer method of diving. Less mobility, I can see that. But how much mobility do you really have with 15 tanks hanging off you anyway?

It’s just an observation. I don’t have a dog in the hunt. I don’t know the particulars.

A malfunction that was so bad that emergency ascent was the only option? No in-water bell?

Just seems like there may have been
A safer way to conduct this exploratory mission. Just because you can do something a certain way, doesn’t necessarily mean you should (technical diving).
 
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