A deep stretch of water, some 25 miles long and
between one and two miles wide, the Sound of
Mull separates Mull from mainland Scotland. This
narrow stretch of water offers some fascinating
dives, with the added benefit of good visibility
and protection from rougher waters further out.
Many ships have sought out this sheltered
passage for refuge from the fiercest Atlantic
storms, only to fall prey to the many islets and
shallow reefs that bespeckle this channel.
However, the appeal of the area is not solely
the number of wrecks - the fast currents that
flow here also make for a rich marine
biodiversity and set the scene for exciting
drift dives. In addition, many of the reefs drop
away vertically, with walls covered in marine
life and visibility that averages between 5 and
10m.
Mull is the second largest of the inner
Hebridean Islands (Skye is the largest), and
also one of the wettest. At first it can seem
quite forbidding, and the grey clouds that
circle the highest peak - Ben More - are hardly
welcoming. However it will not be long before
its unique atmosphere wins you over.
As you enter the Sound, it is not difficult to
imagine that you have travelled back in time
several hundred years when you see the
picturesque Duart castle, standing like a
sentinel to the waters that lie at the foot of
the hauntingly beautiful island.
The Hispania
56.34.55N 005.59.13W
Undeniably a masterpiece in the Sound's
medley of dive sites, the Hispania is often
described as one of the best shipwrecks in the
UK. A Swedish steamer, she was en route from
Liverpool to Sweden in 1954 when she encountered
atrocious weather. The captain chose the more
sheltered route between the Scottish Islands,
but in poor visibility the ship struck a reef
close to the Mull shore. The crew abandoned
ship, but Captain Ivan Dahn chose to stay with
his sinking vessel and went down with his
command, saluting as she sunk beneath the waves.
Today, his ship lies as a beautiful shrine,
covered with orange and white anemones. The
wreck remains virtually intact on the sea bed,
with a slight list to starboard. The gangways
and handrails are all still in place and the
cavernous cargo holds are ripe for exploration.
The Rondo
56.32.18N 005.54.45W
One of the most thrilling dives in the area
can be found further down the Sound. The Rondo
was lost in 1935 after breaking her anchorage in
a fierce storm. She ran aground on the islet of
Dearg Sgeir, and after a salvage attempt,
slipped down the cliff, coming to rest almost
vertically - the bows are in 50m of water while
the stern is just a few metres from the surface!
Only the hull remains, along with various
debris, but the wreckage is rich with anemones
and large schools of fish. The Rondo has to be
one of the few wrecks where you carry out a
deep, multi-level dive, starting midships or
deeper and finishing in the shallows at the
stern - it's a spectacular dive.
The Thesis
56.29.56N 005.41.28W
Without doubt one of the most atmospheric
wreck dives in the Sound of Mull, the Thesis was
a steamship that sank in 1889 carrying a cargo
of pig iron. This 50m-long wreck lies on a slope
between 20 and 30m and must be dived at slack
water, as the tides that whip between the Sound
of Mull and the Lynn of Morvern (the stretch of
water to the northwest of the island of Lismore)
can be fierce. The ship's superstructure and
decking have all but disappeared, leaving the
ribs of the hull exposed in many places - it is
possible to swim the length of the ship below
deck level. The deep emerald light beaming
through the many holes in the ship's side make
it a truly unforgettable dive.
The Shuna
55.33.26N 005.54.52W
This 73m-long steamship sank in 1913 after
running aground in a storm. The Shuna now sits
upright in 30-36m of water, with the decks at a
depth of 16-20m. The sides of the ship are
covered with thousands of brightly coloured sea
squirts, and the propeller is still attached - a
rare treat for UK wreck divers. The holds
carried coal and as the Shuna is covered in a
layer of silt (the result of lying in a
sheltered spot), careful finning is required to
keep the normally good visibility intact.
Lochaline Pier
The waters beneath the pier at Lochaline
slope steeply before dropping off vertically to
depths exceeding 70m. The cliff is covered with
kelp, giving way to gullies and overhangs
teeming with life. It's a beautiful wall dive,
and can also be shore dived - although local
advice should be sought about the tides, as
dangerous downcurrents can occur at certain
times.
Calve Island
One of the finest scenic dives can be found
on the northwest of Calve Island, just outside
Tobermory Bay at the northern entrance to the
Sound. The site drops to more than 45m, with
chimneys and gulleys covered in life dropping
off vertically in places.
SS Breda
56.28.32N 005.25.07W
The SS Breda has long been a favourite
among British divers. Requisitioned as a supply
ship during the Second World War, she met her
fate on 23 December 1940 while anchored in the
Lynn of Lorn. Damaged by the bombs dropped by a
German Heinkel 111 bomber, she limped into
Ardmucknish Bay before finally sinking. The ship
remains one of the shallowest intact wrecks in
Scottish waters, with the decks sitting 8m above
a sea bed that slopes from 24 to 30m. Standing
upright, the superstructures have largely
disappeared following the work of salvage divers
in the 1960s. However, the cargo holds are full
of artefacts and the stern is covered in dead
men's fingers and anemones. Good buoyancy
control is essential, as the wreck catches the
silt deposits from Loch Etive, and normally good
visibility can quickly deteriorate if divers are
not careful.
Port Napier
N
57º15.59'
W 005º41.12'
This twin-screw steamship sank in Loch Alsh in
November 1940, the year which also saw her
construction. The vessel was working as a mine
layer and was loaded with explosives when she
caught fire. Efforts to put out the fire proved
futile, and the crew were understandably quick
to abandon their stations. The ship was towed
into Loch Alsh where she subsequently exploded,
showing a wide area with debris. The dive Today,
the Port Napier lies where it settled on its
starboard side, 300m from the shore at Sron na
Tairbh. At low water, the port side appears
above the waterline, the wreckage resembling the
ribs of a carcass. On sunny days, the wreck
benefits from shafts of sunlight which penetrate
the shallows. Head for the stern, where you can
still see mine-laying chutes with rails running
forward into what remains of the superstructure.
Follow the rails, and you should find yourself
in the main storage area, where mines would have
sat on trolleys, ready to be deployed. The
remains of the mast can be found in the midships
area at a depth of about 20m, and are well worth
a look as they are encrusted with life. From the
main deck, it is possible to penetrate the wreck
through several hatchways. It's a relatively
easy penetration as the hull is open and there's
heaps of light. You will still find a 4in gun at
the bow; as far as anyone knows, it was never
fired in hostility. If you have time fin along
the length of the exposed keel. It's quite
featureless, but it does give you an idea of the
length of the ship. Given its explosive demise,
it is remarkable that the Port Napier is still
sufficiently interesting to rank as one of
Scotland's favourite wreck dives.
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James Egan Layne Whitsand Bay Plymouth
For more than six decades the James Eagan Layne could
claim to be the most dived wreck in the English Channel.
Sunk by a German U-boat in 1944, the ship was carrying a
mixed cargo which now lies in about 25m of water in Whitsand
Bay, Cornwall.
The James Eagan Layne is a classic wreck, sitting bolt
upright on the sea bed. In the 1950s and 60s, locating and
diving the wreck was easy as one of the masts broke the
surface. This collapsed in the 1980s, but the wreck
continued to attract divers from all over the country, drawn
by the Layne's short, tragic history but more importantly,
the ship's mixed cargo. Without divers knowing it at the
time, the James Eagan Layne was the UK's Thistlegorm.
Over the years marine growth has colonised the structure and
thin bulkheads have rotted away to make access into the
holds easy - the wreck is the perfect combination of visual
attraction and safe diving. With a maximum depth of no more
than 25m, divers have plenty of time to take in the detail
and explore the contents.
In 2004 the sinking of HMS Scylla as an artificial reef,
close to the James Eagan Layne, somewhat stole the Layne's
thunder. This new dive site became the talk of the town and
divers flocked from all over the country to make a new entry
in their logbooks. Three years on and the Scylla still
remains an attraction, but the James Eagan Layne has fully
emerged from its shadow - the Layne is a wreck bedecked with
colourful marine life, holds full of history and a structure
opening up to reveal yet more secrets.
The James Eagan Layne was one of the many Liberty ships
built by the US to replace the large number of Allied boats
that had been destroyed by German U-boats. The ship was 120m
long and weighed just over 7,000 tons. During March 1945 she
was on a voyage from Barry in Wales to Ghent in Belgium,
loaded with United States Army engineering stores. By the
afternoon of 21 March the ship was about seven miles from
the Plymouth Breakwater, just on the edge of what was one of
the most dangerous of all the U-boat hunting grounds. At
2.35 that same afternoon U-boat 1195 hit the Layne with a
torpedo, which sliced a great hole in her side. Her holds
quickly flooded, as did her engine room, but the Layne was
not going to sink without a fight. For nearly eight hours
the crew kept the vessel afloat, but the captain, realising
that she was finished, set course as best he could for the
shore, hoping to beach her. He very nearly made it. By now
the James Eagan Layne was taking in water faster than the
crew could get rid of it, and at half past ten that night
the ship went gently aground in 21m of water on the sandy
bottom of Whitsand Bay. Thankfully there were no casualties,
and eventually most of the main cargo was salvaged. In the
end, the loss to the war effort was minimal, but the gain to
the future generations of sports divers was to prove
considerable.
Today, the James Egan Layne still lies upright on the sandy
bed, but the superstructure and masts have long been swept
away by the winter storms and now lie scattered around her
on the sandy bottom. After some 62 years, the wreck is
starting to break up, but it is still possible to see what
the ship was once like. The bows are still intact and well
defined, as are the sides of the hull, which loom out of the
sand like black cliffs.
The storm damage over the past few years has actually made
the inside of the wreck more accessible. The holds are
jammed with twisted iron plates, pipes, old ladders and all
the other paraphernalia associated with a wrecked ship. Even
so, there is little danger of getting lost, as you can
easily see an exit hole either from the hold that you are
entering, or in the side of the ship itself.
While the mixed cargo might not be as exotic as that found
on the Red Sea's famous wreck the Thistlegorm, the Layne
offers plenty of variety. One of the holds contains hundreds
of pickaxe heads all neatly lined up in rows. If that
doesn't appeal, you can take your pick of various locomotive
wheels or pulley wheels. Near the stern, the ship is
virtually cut in half where the torpedo hit it, and again
there is a mountain of metal debris, with one of the masts
hanging out from the ship's deck and supported by the rest
of the wreckage. There are lots of holes and caverns to
explore, but some care should be taken as pieces of metal
frequently fall from above into the holds and could cause a
nasty accident. This whole area is littered with bollards,
winches, coils of wire hawser and many other deck fittings.
Most established wrecks have plenty of marine life, but the
Layne seems to have more than its fair share. The holds are
often full of bass, while the bows are patrolled by watchful
shoals of pollack. Pouting make up most of the bottom cover,
weaving over all the debris, and lurking almost underneath
the keel are some very large ling. There are also wrasse in
all shapes and colours, large green and pink plumose
anemones, small starfish with colourful coats… the list is
endless.
On a summer's weekend this wreck is better than a tropical
reef and almost as colourful. Unfortunately, it's almost as
popular! Storms permitting, both the bow and stern are
buoyed. The stern is in about 25m, so it is best to start
there and work your way up to the bows some 130m away where
the rails rise up to about 5m - perfect for a safety stop or
decompression.
Since the 1960s many other wrecks have been discovered all
over the British Isles. But not withstanding their
popularity, the Layne has become almost a national dive
site, and very many divers have a special regard for her. So
much so, that when the shipping corporation Trinity House
proposed to disperse the wreck with explosives, there was
such a howl of protest that the company was forced to
reconsider. Time, however, will soon do the job for Trinity
House. So if you want to dive on a piece of history, do it
now, because soon only the legend will remain.
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