Plymouth Subs - HMS Untiring 6-1-06

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Plymouth Subs - HMS Untiring

Friday the 6th January I got a call from a friend in Plymouth asking if I was interested in filling a space on a charter he had booked for the Saturday and Sunday, as one of his team had gone down with a cold. With the weather forecast not looking to promising I was a bit reluctant to say the least (300 miles each way and the prospect of getting blown out) still, looking on the positive side of things, I could always catch up with a few of my old pals should the weather take a turn for the worse.

Six thirty Saturday morning after a four and a half hour drive I arrived in Plymouth, our schedule due to depth was one dive a day, Saturday, HMS Untiring, Max depth 52 Metres,

Sunday, U1063, Max depth 61 Metres.

SATURDAY

On my arrival at the quayside I was met by the sight of 7 sombre faced divers (looks like that’s the end of that then). The weather forecast for the day was not looking good, do we go or don’t we go? that was the question on everyone’s lips. After some deliberation it was decided to go ahead and hope the weather would hold.

After a somewhat rough steam out and with some of the guys looking somewhat worse for ware we arrived on site.

THE DIVE

Gas Choice (Back Gas) Trimix 21/30 END 28 Metres

Deco Gas 50% Switch at 21 Metres

Deco Gas 80% Switch at 9 Metres

Bottom Time 25 Mins

Total Run Time 75 Mins

Descending the shot line I was pleasantly surprised to see we had a good 10 Metres vis (perhaps the four and a half hours drive was going to pay off after all). At about 40 Metres the Wreck came into view, she stands upright and at her highest point is some 7 to 8 Metres proud of the sea bed .The skipper doing as he said he would had dropped the shot smack bang on top of the conning tower, our plan, to head towards the stern and take a look at the rudder and hydroplanes. On our arrival at the stern it was almost impossible to make out the shape of the rudder due to the resident shoal of Bib and pouting who call her home. Heading back towards the conning tower you cant help but notice this wreck seems to have more than its fare share of sea life, during the dive I counted no less than 4 lobsters and fish abound the whole site. On reaching the conning tower it is worth looking down what is left of the periscope, as there is a very friendly conger eel that has taken up residence and with a little encouragement is more than happy to pop his head out (mind your fingers!!!!!!!).

On towards the bows and making you’re way through the swarms of Bib you will come to the hydroplanes and torpedo tubes. Dropping down to the seabed and fining out about 10 Metres you will find a Scallop bed so if you fancy some Scallops for your supper this is the place.

In no time at all, my bottom timer was showing 22 mins, time to head back towards the conning tower and up the shot line.

STOPS

34 Metres 1 min

25 Metres 1 Min

21 Metres 5 Mins Gas Switch to 50%

15 Metres 2 Mins

12 Metres 2 Mins

9 Metres 10 Mins Gas Switch 80%

6 Metres 18 Mins

6 Metres to surface 1 Metre per Min.

HMS Untiring is a Royal Navy submarine of the 'U' class. She was built by Vickers Armstrong on the Tyne, and launched on January 20th. 1943.
The Untiring is 196 feet long, 16 feet wide, with a maximum hull depth of just less than 13 feet. This was all supposed to house all the food, ammunition, machinery, and a complement of 31 officers and men. Talk about a steel coffin. The Untiring had a surface displacement of 545 tons, and underwater weighed 740 tons. The submarine was powered by two diesel electric motors, which gave her around 11 knots on the surface and up to 9 knots submerged. She had a three inch gun mounted just in front of the conning tower, three machine guns, and her four 21 inch torpedo's were all fired from the bow.	Not the Untiring but the United seen at Plymouth
After the War she was surplus to requirements, but instead of being broken up she was lent to the Royal Hellenic Navy (Greece) and during July 1945 she was renamed the 'Amfitriti'. She was returned to England in 1952 but was now completely obsolete, so the Navy decided in 1957 to scuttle her just off the East Rutts and use her as a sonar and asdic target.

SUNDAY - BLOWN OUT!

This is a Great dive and I can highly recommend it to those who have received the appropriate training in order to conduct dives to this depth. It is therefore my opinion that in order to undertake dives of this nature you will need the specialist training provided by numerous agencies, dives to these depths are for those trained in the use Trimix and rebreathers. Safe Diving.

Paul Hennessey