Latest news with #DeepWreckDiver
CTV News
25-05-2025
- General
- CTV News
Diver finds warship bell after 80 years — but not everyone approves
A piece of Canadian naval history has been recovered from the bottom of the English Channel and is now destined for a museum, but not everyone is celebrating. British diver and YouTuber Dom Robinson, a 53-year-old military veteran and project manager, located the bell from HMCS Trentonian, 67 metres below the surface. The ship, a Royal Canadian Navy corvette, was sunk by a German U-boat in February 1945. Six sailors were killed in the attack, and the vessel went down in just 10 minutes. Robinson, who has been exploring shipwrecks for more than 30 years, called the discovery 'emotional' and 'unbelievably exciting.' 'I didn't really believe it was there until I actually saw it,' he said. 'I was just unbelievably pleased. It's one of those moments that divers dream of.' Dom Robinson Dom Robinson (left) holds the bell after bring it to the surface. (Deep Wreck Diver) Robinson located the bell during his third dive on the wreck. Inscribed with the ship's name, he believes the bell's recovery preserves history that would otherwise be lost. 'These are actively decaying wrecks that will eventually collapse into the seabed, and these things will be lost forever when that happens,' he said. 'I think getting it up where lots of people can see it, and lots of people can hear the story, that's a much better way to commemorate the people who died.' The bell was turned over to members of the Canadian Navy. Arrangements are underway to transport it back to Canada, where it will be restored and displayed at the Naval Museum of Halifax. But not everyone agrees with the decision to recover the bell. Naval historian Roger Litwiller, a longtime advocate for preserving Canada's naval heritage, says the Trentonian should be considered a war grave and treated with the same respect as a cemetery. 'If the staff at one of the cemeteries in Normandy came to work in the morning and found holes dug throughout the cemetery and the brass handles on the caskets removed, what would the response be?' Litwiller said. 'There would be an international uproar.' The bell from HCMS Trentonian The bell from HCMS Trentonian recovered after 80 years at the bottom of the English Channel. (Rick Ayrton) (RICK AYRTON) Litwiller says that while the shipwreck is deteriorating, items like brass bells and fittings remain relatively well preserved and should be left in place as part of the ship's legacy. 'Those shiny bits will be the last remnants of the Trentonian and the war grave of those men,' he said. 'By removing that bell, it has removed the last opportunity to physically identify that wreck.' HMCS Trentonian, one of 123 Flower-class corvettes to serve during the Second World War, was the last to be lost in action. Litwiller notes that numerous artifacts from the wreck have been removed over the years, and says the navy has been seeking to get better safeguards for shipwrecks. The United Kingdom has long enforced legal protections for Royal Navy vessels that were sunk. Still, Robinson insists his intentions were honourable, noting he promptly reported the find and expressed a desire to see the bell displayed in a museum. Studying the bell A member of the Royal Canadian Navy examines bell as it was handed over in the U.K. (Aidan Davies Webb) 'I feel like I've protected it for future generations,' he said. 'If people feel differently, I could put it back, but realistically, I don't think anyone would want that to happen.' Robinson said that members of the Royal Canadian Navy expressed their thanks when he handed over the bell. 'I said to them, are you upset that I've taken this, do you feel I should have left it down there?' he recalled. 'And they were like 'no, no. We understand what happens. We know these wrecks are decaying. We know that if this bell wasn't brought up it would be lost forever.'' The director of navy public affairs, Lt.-Col. Patricia Brunelle, said in an email that removing items from Canadian navy shipwrecks without authorization is improper and in some cases is illegal. She says the navy is grateful to have received the bell, but added that accepting it doesn't mean it approves or would encourage the removal of items from ocean war graves.
Times
23-04-2025
- Business
- Times
Diver buys First World War shipwreck on Facebook for £300
Facebook Marketplace is usually reserved for second-hand furniture, unwanted tat and the occasional scam, not monuments to history. However, Dom Robinson, 53, a diver and shipwreck fanatic, has taken the plunge on a £300 shipwreck after coming across the advertisement in January. SS Almond Branch, a steam-powered cargo ship, has rested 15m underwater off the coast of Cornwall since it was torpedoed by a German submarine on November 27, 1917. Robinson, who has a YouTube channel called Deep Wreck Diver, contacted the seller, who happened to live near by. 'I've bought bikes off Facebook Marketplace with more hassle,' he said. 'I was like: 'Bingo, this is my opportunity to own a shipwreck.' ' After he paid the seller, Robinson received a letter from a government
Telegraph
22-04-2025
- Business
- Telegraph
Diver buys First World War shipwreck on Facebook
A diver has bought a shipwreck from the First World War on Facebook Marketplace for £300. Dom Robinson, a 53-year-old shipwreck enthusiast, came across an advert for the SS Almond Branch in January 2025 and decided to buy it. The steam-powered cargo ship has been on the seabed off the coast of Cornwall since it was torpedoed by a German submarine on Nov 27 1917. Mr Robinson, who runs a diving YouTube channel called Deep Wreck Diver, contacted the seller of the wreck on Facebook, who happened to live nearby. The project manager from Portsmouth said: 'I've bought bikes off Facebook Marketplace with more hassle. 'It's a relatively well known wreck in the local area so I've dived it before, so I knew what I was getting when I bought it.' After the purchase, Mr Robinson received a letter from a government official known as the Receiver of Wreck, stating that he is the legal owner of the SS Almond Branch. In the UK, every shipwreck has an official owner – whether it is the state or an individual. A large number of shipwrecks are privately owned after the government sold a number of them to be salvaged after the end of the Second World War. Mr Robinson now owns the wreck, although anyone is free to dive down to see it. He said: 'The government stopped selling shipwrecks 20-odd years ago, but I always quite fancied owning one ... I was like 'bingo, this is my opportunity to own a shipwreck!' 'It's still a pile of rusting iron, but you're swimming around a pile of rusting iron and going 'yeah, this is my pile of rusting iron!'' Mr Robinson has identified 20 to 25 shipwrecks and has been diving since he was a child. He has discovered many lost ships, including three Royal Navy ships. 'It's really nice because each shipwreck has got a story associated with it. That's something I find particularly rewarding,' he said Mr Robinson recovers the shipwrecks by scanning the seabeds around the UK and investigating the anomalies he finds. Referring to the SS Almond Branch, he said: 'This one is said to have general cargo, which means that they put all sorts of bits and pieces in it. 'There's a gun mount, but the gun isn't there, so I'd love to know what happened to that.' Diving to the ship, which sits approximately 50 metres under the sea, brings many risks, including decompression illness from returning to the surface too quickly. He said: 'You have to come up very slowly. If you were to come up immediately you would almost certainly get decompression illness, which is where the bubbles of gas in your bloodstream can get lodged in your brain and other parts of your body.' SS Almond Branch was a defensively-armed British Merchant ship, meaning that it would have been equipped with some weaponry for protection, though it mainly transported cargo. Before it was torpedoed, it would have travelled all over the world. There are also records of it crashing into a bridge in Portland, Oregon.
