It had taken us three years to find the British S Class submarine, HMS Swordfish.  But last year we found her sitting off the back of the Isle of Wight, UK in about 45 metres of water.

That first dive was not too fantastic due to the visibility being about 2 metres only.  I did take some video which I hope to upload sometime soon but the quality is not great due to the vis. I was diving with two of my dive buddies, Danny and Mark.  Both on rebreathers whilst I have yet to find the money to trade in my good old reliable open circuit kit.

More on the topic of rebreathers and open circuit diving later.

So we are planning to go back on the 15th April 2008 to try again.  I will be diving with my long suffering dive buddy, Danny, who will be using his ever so reliable rebreather (did you catch a hint of sarcasm in the tone then).

Diving off the dive vessel Wightdiver, we are hoping that the vis will allow some good photos and or video to be taken.

HMS Swordfish hit a mine on the 16th November 1940 and sank with all hands.  She is a protected wreck and as such she is a “dive but do not touch” site.  We always dive with this kind of respect anyway but there are many that o not and I am pleased that the skipper of Wightdiver ensures everyone shows respect to those who died on this submarine.

She sits upright on the seabed with just her nose off to one side where it broke off at the point where the mine struck.

A fantastic dive in terms of how pristine she is, with lots to see, including both her normal periscope and attack scope still in situ.  Torpedoes can be seen in her hull and due to the fact that the out skin as corroded away all of the workings for her ballast can be examined.

I hope to post more about this beautiful wreck dive after the 15th, weather permitting.