57 replies to this topic

[PerroneFord]

There is a website that tells a little about it...

http://www.indepthco...B29/B29Lost.htm

and some pictures too.... Not sure how deep it is now, but I think the lake has probably dropped about 80 feet in the last 5 years.... Last time I asked anyone, they still weren't allowing anyone to dive on it... I know a couple of people who are far more informed than I, so I will ask a few questions and then post what I find out...

Man,

There is some DEEP stuff there if you read behind the scenes. Scary stuff. And I don't mean the diving.

[jholley309]

Man,

There is some DEEP stuff there if you read behind the scenes. Scary stuff. And I don't mean the diving.

Are you referring to the fact that the "atmospheric research" that the Sunchaser was engaged in was actually part of the R&D for heat-seeking guided missiles?

Cheers!

Jim

[peterbj7]

http://www.indepthco...B29/B29Lost.htm

Supposedly there are some Sunderland flying boats in Lake Windermere in the English Lake District, scuttled there after the war to avoid decommissioning costs. I heard of a project to find them with sidescan sonar and then (if possible) dive to them and maybe salvage one, but I never heard any more about it so guess it never happened. Windermere is very deep, very cold, with poor viz and a thick layer of soft silt all down the sides and bottom. Maybe scope for an SD tech expedition?

Edited by peterbj7, 12 October 2005 - 02:21 PM.

[PerroneFord]

Man,

There is some DEEP stuff there if you read behind the scenes.  Scary stuff.  And I don't mean the diving.

Are you referring to the fact that the "atmospheric research" that the Sunchaser was engaged in was actually part of the R&D for heat-seeking guided missiles?

Cheers!

Jim

No, I was actually talking about the gentleman who supposedly located the B29. Accusations of undercover operations, ties to hate groups, etc. Deep stuff.

[George]

Great thread. Thanks Perrone for starting it. I'm getting excited about learning to dive on wrecks after reading so much about it and seeing all the cool stuff da 'wench finds in NC.

[PerroneFord]

George, there is SO SO much stuff out there. Not only in the US, but around the world. Half the fun is learning the HISTORY of the boats and then going to see them. There are boats in 20 feet of water, and boats in 500ft. And lots of stuff inbetween. You'll never dive them all, so you just need to gather some info, and try to do some that might have meaning to you.

One of the things I hope to do this spring, is to go to visit some museum ships and just try to visualize all the passages, and spaces. Understanding what a military ship is like on the surface, will assist when you have to do it underwater.

I am so envious of the guys who can get ship plans and do land drills to simulate their penetrations. One day, I'll be there.

Oh, and if any of you have NOT seen Ghosts of the Abyss (Jame's cameron's IMAX movie about the Titanic) RUN and go see it. I saw it 2 weeks ago and it was awesome!

[jholley309]

One of the things I hope to do this spring, is to go to visit some museum ships and just try to visualize all the passages, and spaces. Understanding what a military ship is like on the surface, will assist when you have to do it underwater.

P,

the USS Alabama in Mobile is a good one to visit. As an added bonus, there's a WWII sub onshore that you can walk through. That's one of the reasons I'm in no hurry to do penetrations on wrecks: even on a battleship, upright, docked at a pier, those watertight doors seem mighty tiny. Makes me think twice about trying to go through those things underwater, at funny angles, with a scuba unit on.

Cheers!

Jim

[WreckWench]

George, there is SO SO much stuff out there. Not only in the US, but around the world. Half the fun is learning the HISTORY of the boats and then going to see them. There are boats in 20 feet of water, and boats in 500ft. And lots of stuff inbetween. You'll never dive them all, so you just need to gather some info, and try to do some that might have meaning to you.

Well said! I think the history is the REAL reason I love diving on wrecks!

Well and the chance to find treasure...even a broken chip of porcelain is a treasure to me...heck one I found had a German Swastika on it!

[casematic]

A little more info on the B-29..... Actually I talked to a few people in the last week and the general concensus is that the lake has gone down so much in the last 5 years that they are fairly sure that the plane is in less than 200' (and the lake is still dropping) .... But no permits have been issued yet for that area of the Lake.... People are hoping that they will start issuing permits (currently they don't let anyone near it), and there are no ideas of how soon that could be expected.... Something like that will probably always be off limits to the general public as a matter of safety.... But they might issue permits to qualified individuals to run guided dives to.... If anything changes, I'll post.

[PerroneFord]

P,

the USS Alabama in Mobile is a good one to visit. As an added bonus, there's a WWII sub onshore that you can walk through. That's one of the reasons I'm in no hurry to do penetrations on wrecks: even on a battleship, upright, docked at a pier, those watertight doors seem mighty tiny. Makes me think twice about trying to go through those things underwater, at funny angles, with a scuba unit on.

Cheers!

Jim

I had looked at this option. Unfortunately, the museum took a bad hit from Katrina and is closed until further notice. I'm only 3 hours from Mobile and was going to take a full day's visit. I also want to go to Hampton Roads and some of the other stuff in the Northeast.

[PerroneFord]

Well said! I think the history is the REAL reason I love diving on wrecks!

Well and the chance to find treasure...even a broken chip of porcelain is a treasure to me...heck one I found had a German Swastika on it!

I'm not really into the artifacts unless I'd be donating them to a museum. And I don't think I'd be too comfy having swastika's laying around the house!

It is interesting from a historical perspective.

[jholley309]

I had looked at this option. Unfortunately, the museum took a bad hit from Katrina and is closed until further notice. I'm only 3 hours from Mobile and was going to take a full day's visit. I also want to go to Hampton Roads and some of the other stuff in the Northeast.

Bummer!

Come to think of it, I do remember commenting to someone that the battleship looked like it was listing somewhat to port after the storm. I hope they can get it open fairly soon: it's a great trip, and definitely worth a day to go through. They've got a lot of historical artifacts from the ship's service as well as WWII in general aboard the ship, and it's a fascinating tour. The highlight is the cutaway of one of the gun turrets belowdecks: you can see inside the turret to get an idea of how the powder bags were loaded, where the shells were stored, that sort of thing. It's a remarkable piece of engineering.

Cheers!

Jim

[EdmDiver]

What put the desire in you to dive on wrecks.

History...Gear Geekdom. Something familar and yet alien under that there water.

They also has alot of life. So to me wrecks have it all.

I do like reef/walls, but they all tend to look the same to me after a while.

Do you penetrate them?

Yes/No/Maybe

Depends on the wreck (am I familar with it, are the passage ways large small...etc etc) and the conditions.

So I might penetrate one day and the next I may not.

How long have you been diving wrecks?

Only seriously for this last year.

What are your future plans

Halifax wrecks next summer. L-26, Britsh Freedom, Kolkhosnik. I will do support diver duties when the big Boys do the Athel Viking and the Kaaparen.

What was your certification path to get where you are now (especially if you are penetrating wrecks) and what advice would you give to someone just starting on that path.

I need to get my official Tri-Mix C card and I'm not sure if I'm going GUE or not.

As far as wreck penetration goes, mentoring is my way. I was thinking of doing cave 1 this October but I bought an XL hull for my X-Scooter instead.