T.R. Thompson Shipwreck

another clip from TRT project dive showing boilers,parts of the engine and railings. I couldnt get the light to work at this point of the dive hence why its so dark

Diving on T.R.Thompson wreck

clip showing the deck gun on the stern of the T.R.Thompson

T.R.Thompson wreck clip 3

Mooring Bollards on the T.R.Thompson wreck off of Newhaven East Sussex.
The video was taken during a Meridian Divers project Dive

TRT Dive 8th September

For a report on the 8th September dive follow this link:-

http://meridiandivers.blogspot.com/2007/09/t-r-thompson-dive-8th-september.html

A video of the dive is being prepared and the comments on the above linked posting lead to some small video clips on 'YouTube'.

T R T Dive Monday 27th August

Last August Bank Holiday we saw dolphins on the TRT, but sadly not this year! But given that it was a lovely sunny it was surprising that there weren't more dive boats plying their wears upon the briney! So when MacD reached the TRT we were the only divers on it!

As soon as the shot line was in the water it looked like the viz would be good - and we were not disappointed! The shot landed directly on the wrecks middle line just forward of the stern. Excellent! The seabed was at 32m whilst the stern stands high above that. In clear view was the gun and steering quadrant. Having cleared the shot we swam towards the bow , passing a length of small chain (approx 4" links) , two winches , a folded (spare) Admiralty Pattern anchor and the remaining three bar railings to the boilers and engine. A truly huge edible crab was on the boliers , his pincers were two-thirds the size of my gloved hand. Whilst another boat may have taken this beast we left him to fight another day!

The viz was 5 to 6m and all in all we had an excellent dive. After the dive refreshements were taken in the Coral Cafe 'garden' sitting in glorious sunshine ....could be worse!

Hoping to add details of today's sighting to the gradually grown sketch of the wreck!

T.R.Thompson Project Dive ~ Sat 8th September

A TRT project dive is planned for Saturday 8/09/2007 on MacD
HW 9H54 (5.7m)
Meet time 08H00 Ropes off 09H00

Objectives for this dive will be discussed at the next group meeting on the 29th August

SEE sister blog :-
http://meridiandivers.blogspot.com/
for details of divers taking part.

Please note that it is the divers responsibility to confirm with the skipper the night before whether the dive is a go or not.

Tad

T R Thompson Dive Sunday 29th April 2007

Four Merdian Divers dived the wreck of the TRT making the best use of the unexpected April sunshine . The dive was conducted on a high tide and was courtesy of "MacD" of Newhaven Divers Limited. Water temperature was 11 Deg C and one buddy pair , who reamined on the 'deck' area near the stern reached a maximum depth of 28.7 metres with total dive time (on air) of 32minutes.

The viz was probably 2 to 3 meters , which was a little less than we expected and it was quite gloomy due to plankton filtering out much of the light. Our perfectly placed shot line lead us directly to the exposed ribs on the port side of the stern from where we quickly located the Steering Quadrant. We made our way towards the bow using the port gunwhale as a guide but veered of to the centre line of the ship before the boilers to see the large 'twin' winch and what I believe is a spare propellor blade. A hunt for the ships gun proved fruitless in the viz and we made our way back to the vicinity of the Steering Quadrant to lanch the DSMB. It was a good practice run for the videography which in better conditions should produce good results.

After the dive the usual divers refreshments were taken in the Coral Cabin whilst viewing the video 'footage'. Later in the 'garden' (huh, some garden !) it was good to meet up with some other dive buddies and catch-up on the local diving news.

TRT Dive 21st April 2007

Had to get straight to the blog after a super dive on the T R Thompson today (aboard Channel Diver with Steve Johnson) . Horribly early start , ropes off at Brighton at 7am but well worth it. Calm sea, beautifully sunny day , full boat of 12 divers, my buddy was Jim-B.The TRT dive saw us enter at 8.50am and dive to a max of 28metres for 44minutes.

The water had plenty of plankton and on the wreck it was pretty dark but viz was 3 to 4 meters (getting better!) . Jim & I made straight for the bow as neither had been there before. We saw both anchors (square profile anchors) and a third admiralty pattern anchor on the wreck. The Admiralty pattern anchor (curved style) had a broken 'spade' on the left side, (very distinctive).We then made our way amidships to see two boilers and the triple expansion engine after looking at a massive twin winch and a set of steps lying horizontal.

If it had been a little lighter this would have been an amazing dive. After surfacing we stood on the deck of the dive boat and watched the rebreather divers finish their time on their DSMBs. As we did so the last two in the water were circled for 15minutes by a dolphin. A smallish one of 3 to 4 feet in length. When the last two made it back on board they reported the dolphin was coming within arms reach of them .

Dolphins have been seen on the TRT before & fingers crossed they will be their again!