| Cornwall
- Falmouth |
| |
| The
Mohegan |
Location
50
03.33N, 05 02.67W |
| |
| Description:
Built 1897 as Cleopatra. 482ft
x 52ft. 6889-ton four-masted liner. 894hp triple-expansion engines. |
| |
| Cargo:
General, including 3000 slabs
of tin, fruit, spirits, beer, linoleum, matches, cheese, nutmeg, preserves,
jute, rice, books, coffee, toys, lard, pepper, tobacco, bacon, horse hair,
furniture, lace, church ornaments. 53 passengers and 103 crew. |
| |
|
| Voyage:
London for New York. |
Depth:
26m. |
| |
|
Sunk: 14
October, 1898 hit the Manacle Rocks, when steering wrong course. Impact
ripped out side on rocks and she sank in 15mins, leaving 105 dead. |
| |
| Diving:
Boilers at deepest
part. Bow shallower at 20 -23m. Hull has collapsed, leaving ribs and shallow
compartments, do not enter, there have been diver deaths here. Dive only
at slack. Beware, strong tides. Some say that this wreck is haunted! |
| |
| Launch: |
Slack:
|
| The
nearest slip is at Falmouth. Beach launching is |
Slack
water is between 2 hours and 1 hour |
| possible
over shingle beaches at Porthkerris and |
before
low water and high water at Coverack. |
| Porthoustock.
Porthkerris can be a problem and |
|
| isn't
really recommended. Porthoustock beach is
|
|
| also
treacherous, only attempt it with a 4x4. |
|
| Divers
are discouraged from launching at |
|
|
Coverack. |
|
| |
|
| Dive
Charters: |
Further
Information: |
| The
mv Patrice, 01326 313265. |
Admiralty
Chart 154, Approaches to Falmouth. |
| Porthkerris
Dive Centre, 01326 280620. |
Ordnance
Survey Map 204, Truro, Falmouth |
| Cornish
Diving Lodge, 01326 290633. |
and
surrounding area. |
| Cornish
Diving, Falmouth, 01326 311265. |
Dive
South Cornwall by Richard Larn. |
| Haven
Scuba School, Falmouth, 01326 378878 |
|
| |
Website:
|
|
|
www.cornwall-online.co.uk/swcornwall.
|
| |
| Pros: |
Cons: |
|
Sheltered from westerly bad
weather. Shallow enough for all levels of divers. Try looking under the
plates. Lots of marine life on the rocks. |
Tides
can be a problem. |
|
Qualifications: |
| |
Open
Water diver up, should be accompanied by experienced divers.
|
| |
| Getting
There: |
| Follow
the M5 to Exeter then the A30 and A3076 to Truro, and the A39 to Falmouth.
For the closest launch sites just before Falmouth follow the A394 to Helston,
then take the A3083 towards Lizard Point and turn left on to the B3293 to
St Keverne immediately after passing RNAS Culdrose. From the square in St
Keverne turn left for Porthkerris or go straight across for Porthoustock. |
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 |
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|
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|
| |
|
The
Volnay
|
Location
50
04.25N, 05 04.03W |
| |
| Description:
4609-ton
steamship, built 1910. 385ft x 52ft. Armed.
|
|
|
| Cargo:
Tinned meat, butter, jam, coffee, cigarettes, peanuts, potato crisps, anti-personnel
shells, timber. |
| |
| Voyage:
Montreal
to Plymouth via Barry. |
Depth:
18 - 22m. |
| |
| Sunk:
14
December, 1917, by striking a mine 2 miles south-east of the Manacles and
attempting to beach in Porthallow Bay. |
|
|
Diving: Very
broken, about the only part of the Volnay that stands up far enough to
show well on an echo-sounder are the boilers. The rest of the wreck is
pretty much flat, and with shallow rocky ledges towards the bow, it is
difficult to get a reliable echo anywhere else. With hardly any current
to worry about, even on a spring tide, once you have an echo it's easy
enough to drop a shot right on top of the boilers. These stand up about
5m from the seabed, depth varies by about 6m depending on the state of
the tide, in amongst bollards, steel plates, ribs and some reasonably
intact sections. The bow is marked by anchor winches and chain. The stern
is broken away and lies about 18m to north. She has been well salvaged
for brass shellcases, but some are still found in the silt. Thousands
of lead balls on site were originally packed in shells as shrapnel.
Beware
detonators.
|
| |
| Launch: |
Slack:
|
| The
nearest slip is at Falmouth. Beach launching is
|
Can
dive here at all states of
the tide. |
| possible
over shingle beaches at Porthkerris and |
|
| Porthoustock.
Porthkerris can be a problem and |
|
| isn't
really recommended. Porthoustock beach is |
|
| also
treacherous, only attempt it with a 4x4. |
|
| Divers
are discouraged from launching at |
|
| Coverack. |
|
| |
|
| Dive
Charters: |
Further
Information: |
| Cornish
Diving, Falmouth, 01326 311265. |
Admiralty
Chart 154, Approaches to Falmouth. |
 |
Ordnance
Survey Map 204, Truro, Falmouth
|
| and
surrounding area. |
| |
| Website:
|
|
www.cornwall-online.co.uk/swcornwall.
|
| |
Qualifications: |
| |
Any
level from open water up. |
| |
| Getting
There: |
| Follow
the M5 to Exeter, then the A30 and A3076 to Truro, and the A39 to Falmouth.
For the closest launch sites just before Falmouth, follow the A394 to Helston,
then take the A3083 towards Lizard Point and turn left on to the B3293 to
St Keverne immediately after passing RNAS Culdrose. From the square in St
Keverne, turn left for Porthkerris or go straight across for Porthoustock. |
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