Diving Carpathia

[Teresa Telus]

I'm part of a group of experienced amateur divers who want to dive the Carpathia to document the state of this historical wreck using film before it is salvaged, which has been on the cards over the past few years. We're just a regular bunch of guys with normal day jobs and we're looking for people who could help support this dive financially. We're concerned that it will be salvaged by grabs in the next few years and there will be little chance of ever locating the Marconi set and other historical artifacts and documenting them. I would be greatful to hear from anyone who could help us achieve this.

 

[Dave Gittins]

You'll need to be more than "experienced amateur divers". The ship lies in more than 500 feet of water. I believe some divers in the oil industry do such things with special oxygen mixtures and decompression equipment but it's a bit beyond amateurs.

Where's James Carlisle? He knows a thing or two.

 

[Michael H. Standart]

>>I believe some divers in the oil industry do such things with special oxygen mixtures and decompression equipment but it's a bit beyond amateurs.<<

A helium-oxygen mix if I recall correctly, and hard suits of one kind or another as well. Inger Sheil knows quite a bit about this subject and perhaps she can offer her insights on this. Since the wreck is as deep as it is, I think that it would take a lot more in the way of equipment, to say nothing of the required training and certifications, for anyone to attempt this.

Anything less then that is just a pricy way to commit suicide.

 

[Teresa Telus]

Hi Guys. Thanks for finding the time to reply. I should have put a bit more detail into my last mail but I was wary of bogging down this fine list with diving details.
The Carpathia is owned by Titanic Inc and they plan to salvage with grabs next year. The wreck was dived by four of our team in 2001 to positively identify it.
We tried to dive Carpathia last year and got a great deal of media interest but unfortunately we spent two weeks holed up in the Scillies due to bad weather. Very frustrating!! This year, after a lot of hard work, the expedition had to be called off due to our backers not coming up with the readies in time.
Our aim is to carry out a video survey of the wreck before it is reduced to a pile of scrap. We would particularly like to find and film the Marconi radio due to it's historical significance (Titanic was the first to transmit an SOS, Carpathia was the first to receive an SOS).
We have a great deal of experience in operating in these conditions (Carpathia is 150m to the seabed) and fully understand the risks involved. It was our team who filmed HMHS Britannic (120m) in 2003, you may have seen the Nat Geo and channel 5 documentaries. On one of the dives during that expedition I spent nearly an hour on the wreck videoing and spent a further 5 hours decompressing. The Marconi radio was located and filmed during this trip. Have a look at HMS Russell and HMHS Britannic at www.shipwreckfilms.co.uk to see what we do and the safety procedures we set up. I am an amateur (amateur = one who cultivates a particular activity for the love of it and not for professional gain)as this is my hobby and I want to use my experience to record this historic shipwreck before it's too late. Many thanks. Teresa

 

[Brian J. Ticehurst]

Teresa - Sorry but the Titanic was NOT the first to send an SOS and the Carpathia was NOT the first ship to receive one.
The first time the 'SOS' signal was used in an emergency was on 10 June 1909, when the Cunard liner SS Slavonia was wrecked off the Azores. Two steamers received her signals and went to the rescue.
This was nearly three years before the Titanic made her famous signal!
The first radio distress signal was used in 1899.


Cheers Brian

 

[Michael H. Standart]

>>We have a great deal of experience in operating in these conditions (Carpathia is 150m to the seabed) and fully understand the risks involved.<<

Okay...I'm reassured to hear that. I just didn't want anyone to get the wrong impression that one can just strap on some air tanks and go down for a look. I think we boh know it's way too easy to get dead that way, but I gaurantee you that there are people out there foolish enough to try it.

That's an interesting website you guys have by the way. I'll look forward to it's completion.

 

[Ernie Luck]

Hi Teresa,

Telus(joke), any news or update on your dives to the Carpathia. Too cold at the moment, perhaps?

 

[Randel Hodkinson]

Hi,Teresa You may be interested to know about an item i bought at a car boot sale last year. It is a set of headphones mounted in a box with a small typed label underneath which says "Souvenir from the marconi room RMS Carpathia".It all appears to be quite old and genuine, but trying to find a provenance is proving very difficult.Could these headphones have been removed at some stage from the ship between the time of the titanic disaster and the sinking of the carpathia.

 

[Kevin Pickering]

Hi.

Sorry it has taken so long to reply. As far as diving the Carpathia is concerned, it has been another frustrating year. As we didn't want a repeat of the 2004 Carpathia expedition (we were stuck in the Scillies for two weeks due to fog and strong winds)we have decided to look for a bigger boat that could handle rough seas and loiter on site waiting for a weather window.

Teresa and a couple of others from the dive team flew to Holland to check out a dive boat earlier on in the year. Although big enough (ex scientific ice breaker) the crew wasn't experienced with deep technical diving and then there was the added cost of sailing to and from Holland. Unfortunately this has dragged on and another year has passed.

Teresa and I and a reduced team had the opportunity of diving from a smaller boat earlier this month if the weather had been near perfect. Unfortunately that wasn't the case.

There is some good news though. We have recently found a suitable vessel based in southern England. We are just about to sign on the dotted line to commit for another attempt next summer. The down side is that it's going to cost each of the dive team 2500 - 3000 UK Pounds!! We are determined that this expedition will not fail due to sponsors pulling out (as has happened in the past) so we are going to self fund. If we find some sponsorship along the way then that'll be great but the expedition will not rely on it.

The only other concern is that Titanic Inc will salvage the vessel (with grabs?) before we get a chance to film her. According to their website
www rmstitanic.net/pdf/carpathia.pdf
they are starting operations "later in 2006". Does anybody know if this is going ahead?

It's not just Carpathia that's proving difficult. We have spent a lot of time planning to dive the gold ship SS Egypt which was involved in a collision 40 miles west of Brest, France. After a summer of near drought conditions, here in the UK, we spent a week sitting in France getting thrashed by gales!! At least we managed one dive on the wreck, which sits in 128 metres/420 feet. I managed to get 17 minutes of good footage. About three minutes of the footage is on www.shipwreckfilms.co.uk if you are interested.

As soon as I know more about the Carpathia Expedition I'll let you know.

Hi Randel. Interesting to hear about the Carpathia headphones as the Marconi radio is one of the objects we want to find and film. Have you got any pictures?

All the best

Kevin and Teresa