WITTERING DIVERS DIVE SITES
BOAT CHARTER
Some of the dive sites we regularly visit include:

Fossil Beds: A seam of clay runs off the South Downs
and swirls into the waters around the Isle of Wight. A
large part lies inside Bracklesham Bay and is known as
the Fossil Beds. The clay was once the sediment held
by a tropical sea full of sharks and manta-like rays.
Something catastrophic must have happened, like the
sea drying up, leaving a large concentration of these
predators. This dive site earned its name from the number of sharks' teeth and manta
mandibles found there. The teeth are brilliantly preserved examples of a number of
species, including raggedtooth, requiem and even mackerel shark.

Bracklesham Landing Craft: WWII casualty lying in 8mtr.,
stern and bow are fairly intact. Abundant marine life shelters
inside. The vessel lies upside down and stands 4m clear of the
seabed. This is a small wreck but there is plenty of life on it
and good visibility generally. The bow is relatively intact and
it's possible to swim inside the open hull. Small conger can be
found occasionally and there are normally large numbers of
pouting, whiting and wrasse to be seen.

Hounds Reef: Limestone strata reef at 12m best dived on a slight drift. Lobsters and crabs
can always be found among the rocks, along with sponges and anemones.

Valentine Tank: Another
WWII casualty (8m): Small but
complete with tracks, gun
turret and flame thrower!
These Valentine tanks were
prototype versions of the DD
Sherman Tanks used during
D-Day. These had canvas
screens which displaced
enough water to allow the
tanks to float. These tanks were fitted with a propeller (Duplex Drive) that allowed the tanks
some method of propulsion. During experiments a number were lost and seven are known
about.

The Barge: Wreck of unknown origin ( 15m): lying on its side, across the tide teeming with
Bib and Bream


Mulberry Harbour: Artificial war time harbour unit 11m. Sat on a rather bland, flat seabed
under 9-10m of water, this structure never fulfilled its intended role. These large, floating,
concrete pontoons were designed to be linked together to form a huge floating harbour off
the Normandy coast after D-Day, so that the
Allied forces would not have to rely on
securing a decent port for resupply. When complete, the Mulberry Harbours could handle
as much cargo as Dover. This one, however, drifted on its mooring, hit the seabed and
sank while waiting for Dutch tugs to move it across the Channel. It was a loss for the war
effort, but, as it turned out, rather good for the diving community. Marine life loves this
smashed lump of reinforced concrete, which provides a protective reef on an otherwise
fairly featureless flat seabed. Over some 60 years it has become part of the ecosystem and
supports a plethora of life, from shellfish to crustaceans, cephalopods and fish. And being
in a sheltered and shallow spot, it's an ideal location.

Cuckoo/ Landing Craft: WWII casualty lying 60 meters from the Mulberry – A guideline
has been laid between these near-by wrecks.
T-pot: The ’’Brigitta’’ a 2,084grt, defensively-armed merchant vessel. Mined on the 4th
December 1917. Positioned very close to a Cardinal buoy. Remarkably she was hit a
couple of years ago by a freighter. The wreck spreads over a large area and is known for
its conger eels and intact stern with propeller in place.

HMS Boxer: Located in Sandown Bay at a maximum depth of 20
meters, this wreck is extremely broken up although
there is a lot of wreckage to be explored. Once a
British destroyer, all that is recognizable now are the
three large boilers which stand 3 meter proud of the
seabed in a row. The wreckage provides home to
crab, lobsters, bib and the occasional conger. This is
a popular dive
and a safe wreck.



HMS P12: The P12 was a WW1 Patrol Boat that was sunk
after a collision on 4 Nov 1918. They were
designed as submarine hunters and escort
vessels. The ship was broken in two in the
collision and the two parts are resting about 1/2
a mile apart. The stern section is more often
dived, sitting upright in about 20m of water. The
prop and rudder are clearly visible. This wreck
is an excellent dive, with plenty of life, good
visibility usually and no significant hazards.

Camswan: The Camswan is an excellent wreck that sits 4 meters proud of the seabed in 18m of
water. This 105 meter long steam ship had a short life. Built in 1917 it was sunk in the
same year in a collision with the SS Polbrae. The Camswan lies on a sand and gravel
bottom and visibility is generally good. Although very broken up the wreck has plenty to
explore. Making your way to the rear of the vessel, the large rudder gives you some idea of
its size. There is plenty of marine life on the wreck including conger, pollack and wrasse
and some big shoals of bib.
The above dives are suitable for all levels of diver


More Advanced Dive Sites


Nab Tower: Originally intended to form part of Britain’s war time
submarine protection,to prevent U-boats running in undetected
on the approaches to the south coast, it was decided to construct
watchtowers and string metal cables between them. Building
work started in 1918, which the historically astute will recognise
as the year in which the Germans threw in the towel.
A couple of towers were finished, but only one ever made it to
the water. The rest were eventually dismantled, a shame
considering that 21 years later the U-boat threat returned.

The remaining floater was towed out to Nab Reef and sunk close
to Nab Rock, with a light attached to warn ships of the obstruction
close by. The light was manned by three men, joined for a short
time during World War Two by a gun crew which shot down three
and a half (the other half was assigned to a boat crew) enemy aircraft.
There is still a light on top, operated by Trinity House, and it
looks like a shiny new bonnet on an abandoned car.
The Nab Tower has been at sea for 84 years, been shot at by aircraft
and boats and even struck by a freighter which failed to see
the light in 1998, so you have to feel a little sorry for it. Below the waterline, the tower sits
on a hollow circular pedestal of concrete that steps down to the sea floor at 24m. Because
of its location east of the Isle of Wight, tidal currents make diving tricky. It is best done on
slack water during a neap tide; the smaller the tidal range, the better. Slack during a spring
is virtually non-existent, and you wouldn't want to be swept off the structure, as it could be a
while before anyone found you. The first ledge is in 6-8m, depending on tide, the next at
11-13m. The last is in around 16m and then the sea floor is reached at 24-27m.


Mixon Hole: The area around Selsey Bill was dry land 2000 years
ago and the site was thought to have once been the mouth of a
river. Archaeologists have traced the remains of a Roman road
which connects with the existing Chichester road as well as an old
quarry. The Mixon Hole, as the dive is called, is more like a basin
now and is geologically fairly odd. The seabed around the Mixon is 6-8m deep and much of
it dries out on a low-water spring, but the hole
descends steeply to about 26m. The top of the reef is covered in
algae and fish life, but once over the lip the rock face is barren.
Archaeologists believe that the Mixon had a Roman fort on top,
because stones in the wall appear to have been cut by human
hand. The sides are straight and the corners at right angles. And
on the bare, almost flat seabed sit several huge, rounded stones, thought by some to have
come from a catapult inside the fort - a Roman artillery piece.

Boulder Banks: Fast Drift Dive over broken ground. The undulating seabed on the east
side of the bank often has resident rays and flatfish.
Bridsum Drift: A very dispersed wreck on a gravel slope. (17 to 7 mtr.) The ridge has kelp
and boulders with wrasse and pollack frequently seen.

HMS Sapper.
Armed trawler. Sank in 1917 (32 mtr): Wreck is broken: The wreck's back is broken. The
stern is lying on the starboard at 90deg, complete with iron propeller. Moving forward the

stern has a whale back design and this
section is upright with 10 deg list to starboard. The
bow section is complete. Forward you will find congers and shoals of bib.

Zaanstrom: Cargo freighter. Dutch coaster sank on 21st december 1911 en-route from
Fowley to Amsterdam with a cargo of chalk and bricks. She started to take on water from
the stern and sunk in about 32 mtr. She is lying upright, her superstructure has collapsed
but the engine room is quite intact with resident conger eels

Gascogny: WWI Liberty ship sunk in 1918 ( 30 mtr.): Bow almost upright; stern is keel up
and in the cargo holds you may see the carriages The Gascony was torpedoed in January 1918.
The largest high point of the wreck is just aft of the boilers. With the Gascony virtually
upside-down, then collapsed to starboard to leave the port side more exposed. The port
side is marked by intact bits of railing and other deck fittings. Heading aft, the jumble of
metal hull plates and railings is broken by the remains of a mast. Continuing aft, the next
section of upright railing marks the point where the stern is slightly more intact and rises
above the seabed. Rounding the stern, the last scrap of metal lying just behind the main
body of the wreck is the rudder. The stern is reasonably intact and almost completely
upside-down. The prop shaft protrudes from the keel, but the propeller has been salvaged
and, as already noted, the rudder lies on the seabed below. A few plates have rotted
through and fallen clear to provide some holes to look inside. Just forward of these that the
most interesting part of the wreck can be found, the remains of a cargo of gun carriages.
The heavy-duty spoked wheels are getting on for 1m across, some broken, but many intact
and some even still attached to their axles. From here to the area of the engine room
consists of a fairly featureless mass of collapsed metal, though you might spot a lobster or
conger eel hiding among the wreckage. The engine-room area is quite interesting. Tucked
back beneath the plates is the remains of the prop shaft tunnel and the crankshaft from the
engine, together with the usual scraps of grated decking. Before you get to the boilers, a
broken cylindrical tube with coiled pipes inside is the remains of a condenser. The four
boilers are clear of hull plates and two are tilted at unusual angles there are some large
shoals of fish milling about the wreck; the usual mixture of bib and poor cod and a few
pollack. A little way into the wreckage from the base of the mast lies the broken remains of
a cargo winch. Continuing forward along the port side of the wreckage, the bow has broken
clear and twisted to the starboard side of the rest of the wreck. It has also twisted almost
180¡ on the axis of the ship, because it is actually resting on its port side and you are
suddenly on the starboard side of the keel!

HMS Prince Leopold: A 2938-ton, Belgian steamer, built 1930, converted to infantry
landing ship in 1941. 347ft Casualty of the 2nd world war. Torpedoed on the 27th of July
1944. Often mistaken as a German destroyer; teak decking can still be seen. Despite
capsizing on sinking, wreck is now upright, but twisted with starboard list on gravel seabed.
Highest point is Bofors gun, 10m proud. Large hole on port side is torpedo damage. Bow
lists more than stern, which has 30* lean. Superstructure swept away. Beware depth
charges on racks at stern. Take care on any entry into wreck, metal deteriorating fast.

U-1195: This U-boat was sunk on 7 April 1945 in a counter attack by HMS Watchman shortly after
she claimed the Cuba as one of her victims. The U-1195 lies in 30m of water upright with a
slight lean to one side. The conning tower and propeller are still clearly visible and although
she is broken either side of the conning tower, is still very much intact. An excellent dive.

French Barque: Fantastic Dive! (30 mtr.) A 150 mtr, Four Masted sailing ship from around
the end of the 19th century- one of our best dives.

Camberwell: The Camberwell was a merchant ship which struck a mine placed by German
submarine UC-36 whilst en-route from London to Colombo, Ceylon in May 1917. Sadly,
seven of the crew perished when the lifeboat rescuing them capsized, the rest of the crew
were more fortunate. Broken amidships with an intact bow and stern this WW1 cargo
steamer still retains much of her cargo of wine, champagne, perfume and blocks of prepaid
postcards intended for the British troops stationed in India. Many portholes can still be seen.

Hedwig Lunsted: West German Freighter. Sunk in 1974 (36 mtr). The vessel is intact as
far as can be seen. Laying on her starboard side – advanced dive.

Cuba: The Cuba was a huge liner, some 150m
long and weighing in at over 11K tons. When
she was torpedoed in 1945, she was the
largest U boat victim of 1945 and Berlin had
already been conquered and this was one of
the last losses of the war. Inspite of her size
this two funnelled ship is unrecognizable
where she lies in 32m of water. It is almost
as if someone has taken all the rivets out of
the ship and it has collapsed like a pack of cards. In spite of that it is a good
dive and due to shifting sands it is never the same dive twice. There is plenty
of marine life as well as artefacts, crockery and other items you would expect
to find on a liner.


The Kurland: Lying on a stone and gravel seabed about 13 miles out of Portsmouth you will find the
Kurland. The Kurland was rammed by the British steamer Deventia on 13 December
1917 and sank within minutes. Also known as the Rifle Wreck, she was carrying a
cargo of boxed rifles when she sank so there is plenty to see. Visibility is usually good
on this wreck and although the central section is well broken up, the bow and stern
sections sit around 7 proud of the sea floor. There are areas where penetration is
possible without knowing, so care should be taken.

UB81: A WWI submarine that was sunk in December 1917. When she struck a mine 10
miles off Dunnose Head, she remained afloat for a while but then flooded when a
patrol boat came alongside and now rests at 30m. The UB 81 is a great dive and the
image of the deck gun is unforgettable the first time you see it. Plenty of life and good
visibility makes this a great wreck for the photographer.







The Highland Brigade: was a WWI steamship lying in about 30m of water on the East side of
the Isle of wight. The bow is upright and stands 6m above the sandy seabed. The middle
section is well broken up and strewn with artefacts so makes a good rummage. The stern has
twisted onto its side and gun can still be seen although it is sometimes well covered by sand.
One of the main cargoes was candlestick telephones and these can be found everywhere.

Basil: Sank in 1917 (40 mtr). She is upright and her engine is exposed. The decks have
collapsed and her cargo of shells is visible.
British Expeditionary Force Transport No 0608, the peacetime
name of which was Basil, could get a steady 10 knots out of
her 334hp triple-expansion engine, three boilers and single
prop. Captain Edward Whitehouse used that top speed to
dodge the German U-boats as he made regular runs across
the Channel. Built in Belfast in 1895, the 3225 ton, 338ft-long
ship was originally named Mourne,
but when sold in 1898 to
the Booth Steamship Co of Liverpool was
renamed Basil, the second ship in its fleet to bear
that name. When she was requisitioned late in
World War One to carry troops, horses and
feed, and munitions across the Channel to France,
the Royal Navy mounted a 4.7in gun on her.

The Hazardous: The mighty English warship HMS Warspite (or
Warspight, as it was sometimes spelt), along with HMS Orford and
several other vessels, sighted the French privateer Hazardeaux.
The Warspite, constructed in 1666, had been rebuilt in Rotherham
the year before and was in top-flight condition. It brought its 64 guns
to bear on the lone Frenchman. The Orford, although ageing, was
also a formidable vessel.
The French captain offered stiff resistance, however, firing salvo after
salvo. The Hazardeaux's gun decks were noisy enough to blow your
eardrums out. Cannon fired, men shouted and rounds as big as
melons crashed through the timbers. Anti-personnel grapeshot sent
razor-sharp pieces of metal flying at all angles. It must have been
terrifying. Hazardeaux's 50 guns kept the British at bay for several
hours, but eventually the French ship was overpowered. She ended
up a complete wreck, but in those days of wooden sailing craft, enemy
vessels weren't sunk but captured.
Hazardeaux had been loaned by the French Navy to a nobleman to
help harass France's foes. Now she was towed into Portsmouth as a
prize of the Royal Navy.
The Warspite would be rebuilt in 1716 and renamed Edinburgh.
The Orford's first and only rebuild came in 1713 and she enjoyed a
long career, eventually sinking after strikinga reef in the Gulf of Mexico
in 1745. It took several months for shipwrights and carpenters to render
the Hazardeaux serviceable again. She was commissioned into
Queen Anne's Navy as HMS Hazardous Prize on 27 March, 1704.
Designated a 4th Rate vessel fielding 54 guns, she was big for that
A section of the wreck, coated in
marine life
Tape measuring a section of wreck
next to a cannon rating at 137ft and displacing 875 tons. But her crew had shrunk to
320 from the original 350 Frenchmen.
For two years she served without incident, mostly escorting convoys
across the Atlantic from the New World colonies. Then, in early
November 1706, she encountered a terrible storm that was causing
havoc to shipping in southern England.
HMS Hazardous Prize was approaching the English Channel after
failing to keep a convoy together on the Atlantic crossing. To make
matters worse, as the western approaches were sighted her
commander, Captain Brown, passed away in his bunk.
The vessel came under the command of Lt John Hare, who in turn
was commanded by Captain John Lowen from a smaller vessel,
HMS Advice. To get out of the ferocious south-westerly, Lowen
ordered both vessels to come about at St Helens Roads, off
Bembridge, Isle of Wight.
Lowen ordered Hare to the safe anchorage there, but conditions
proved too difficult for the crew. The vessel missed anchoring twice
before grounding on Hounds Reef in Bracklesham Bay.
Over the howling wind and crunching of the hull, Hare shouted to
his men to dump what they could to lighten the ship. Cannon and
ammunition were cast overboard, but the crew must have been overwhelmingly taskloaded.
Hazardous Prize was dashed against the shore in Bracklesham Bay, close to the
Witterings, pinned down on the sandy beach and battered by the surf. Hare requested
lighters and men from Portsmouth, but in the end the order was given to abandon ship.
When the storm subsided, efforts were made at salvage, but the Channel doesn't stay calm
for long in November and the vessel was soon abandoned. Waves smashed the wooden
hull into the sand, and before long the Hazardous Prize story was forgotten.
Ordinarily, such a site would be off-limits to divers like you and me, yet thanks to a
collaboration between the Hazardous Prize team and Wittering Divers, ordinary Joes
and Jos can see an ancient wreck site for themselves.
However, it's not a case of turning up and doing the dive. A group has to be granted a
visitor's licence by English Heritage, and to qualify you must book onto one of the
special courses run by Wittering Divers in summer.
These are infrequent because of the weather and tides, and places are sought after,
so booking ahead is essential.
The day-long course starts with a lecture by the wreck licensee, Iain Grant, who
details the vessel's history and discovery. His animated talk is laced with ripe facts
that get your interest-saliva running.
Wittering Divers' Tony Dobinson then details the marine life to be seen on and around
the site. He brings all those unobtrusive, slightly drab little organisms to life. It gives
you a whole new perspective on English Channel wreck-diving when you can name all
the growths that colonise the structures.
With a grasp of what you'll see, and armed with a waterproof guide-book, you are
the end of an encrusted
cannon
a dimly seen archaeologist at work
on the Hazardous Prize site
taken out to the wreck site, where an underwater trail has been set up.
Each of the 10 numbered stations along the trail corresponds with a page in the book.
It may be a pile of cannon (Station 1), the bow (4) or perhaps the southern,
deteriorating end of the vessel (7), but each one gives you the wreck and marine-life
details you need. You are not allowed to swim inside the perimeter, which is a little
disappointing, but then, a careless fin-kick could obliterate work that has taken weeks
to uncover.
After 300 years in this exposed location, the Hazardous Prize is not in the best of
health. Don't expect to see shining cannon, jutting timbers or neatly stacked piles of
cannonballs. The area is silty and prone to bad weather, so the artefacts are covered
in a fine layer of sediment, and fused and covered with encrusting growth.
Anything standing upright is colonised and coated with the lifeless-looking growth that
in fact forms a vital part of the UK's marine ecosystem. It is as much part of the wreck
as the piles of fused cannonballs.
To the untrained eye this site is a pile of drab rocks sticking out of a featureless
seabed. But the guide-book helps to bring the wreck and the project surrounding it to
life.
John Hare was not blamed for losing his ship. John Lowen of HMS Advice, the senior
ship, was found guilty of negligence and not living up to his ship's name.
An inquiry found that Lowen gave poor orders to Hazardous Prize, resulting in the loss
of the vessel. He was stripped of his command and hounded out of the Navy.
I would like to thank him for leaving me a goldmine of experiences that few others will
get to share - the chance to dive a 17th century shipwreck.

Wittering Divers Today is the day!