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HMS Victoria – Diving In Lebanon Part 5

Published February 25, 2009 Filed under General By Phil
       

HMS Victoria is a pre-dreadnought battle ship, lauched in 1887.  She was accidently sunk in June 1893, after a collision with HMS Camperdown during manoeuvres.  Most of the blame for the incedent was places on Vice-Admiral Sir George Tryon, commander of the British Mediterranean Fleet, who was on board and ordered the manoeuvre.

The wreck today lies offshore tripoli in Lebanon, and is unique in that it stands vertically, completely unsuported.  Her bows are firmily inplanted in the seabed at 146m, while here props stand free in the water at 77m.  

Eventually, after our initial problems, we were able to get 2 dives on HMS Victoria.  The footage below is from our first dive, and is from approximately 100m upwards.  Unfortantely, a nice crack appeared in the viewfinder of my camera housing, so I decided to leave it in the hotel than risk it on the deeper second dive.

Despite the risk of fishing line, and the constant distance dynamite explosions from fishing and wreck breaking, HMS Victoria is a truely stunning dive.  The orientation of the wrecks, as well as provided a perfect shot line and place to store additional bailout gases, makes it quite atmospheric and remarkable, and leaves you wondering how long will her armour belt keep her upright and vertical.

Unfortunately, it is also evident that the wreck has been heavily looted, particulally in the shallow areas where whole cabins have been systematiclly cleaned.


Unknown Torpedo Carrier – Diving In Lebanon Part 4

Published January 11, 2009 Filed under General,news By Phil
       

This wreck is located approximately 4km outside the main port of Tripoli, and its identity remains unknown.

Used by the Vichy to supply submarines with torpedoes, she was sunk by either aircraft or sea vessel.  She now lies in about 60m of water, upright, and usually with very good visibility.

Torpedos lie all over the decks, and while the main bridge superstructure is missing, the wheel and steering mechanism are still intact.


Le Souffleur – Diving In Lebanon Part 3

Published January 7, 2009 Filed under General,news By Phil
       

Le Souffleur is a French Vichy submarine, sunk by the British approximately 10km south of Beirut in June 1941.  She now sits in two reasonably intack halves in just under 40m of water, making in a relatively easy dive.  Fifty Two men were lost during the sinking.

SS Lesbian – Diving In Lebanon Part 2

Published November 26, 2008 Filed under General,news By Phil
       

The Lesbian is a British Freighter sunk by the French Vichy Navy during WWII.  Just outside the main commercial port of Beirut, it is only a short boat journey out, yet is hardly visited by divers.


Sitting upright and fairly intact at approx. 60m. The Lesbian is a relatively interesting wreck and ideal (as we had original planned it to be) as a warm up dive for HMS Victoria.

Diving in Lebanon – Part 1

Published Filed under General,news By Phil
       

NISD Center in the Marina

Our Lady of Lebanon

Our Lady of Lebanon

This October I was lucky enough to be invited by Mike Rowley to join his trip to Lebanon to dive HMS Victoria. After many days of lessons in both local and international politics, we finally managed two dives on the wreck. In the days before hand, we also had a chance to dive some of the other wrecks in the area, as well as visit some of the sites.

Even for those of you not quite up for diving a wreck like HMS Victoria, Lebanon and Beirut is still and excellent place to visit.
All our diving was done through NISD, The National Institute For Scuba Diving in Lebanon.