T.R. Thompson Look-a-Like ?

A previous post by Tad (9th Aptil 2008) mentions the Westburn as a T R Thompson look-a-like , and well it might be , but it's been pointed out to me by esteemed Wreck Tour author (for DIVER magazine) John Liddiard, that many ships of the era may have looked similar bit not in fact been sister ships. Fair point , worth some more research Tad!

DIVER magazine has a write-up on a dive on the Westburn by John, you can read his account on the following LINK.

You can check Tad's posting HERE.

Meridian Divers A Day and A Dive to Remember with Mr Norman Jack and The BBC

BBC Film TRT Relative on Trip out to the wrecksite

Here is the Link to a very special dive on the T.R.Thompson we were joined by Mr Norman Jack who is a relative to Lesley Francis Jack who died when the ship was sunk in 1918, Lesley was 16.

Once again we were joined by a film crew and reporter John Young from BBC South East to follow up their earlier report back in April when we did the 90th anniversary dive.

Watch the BBC Coverage of the Dive here!

Part 2 Meridian Divers Dive T.R.Thompson 16th June

Part 2 of Mondays dive on the T.R.Thompson.
Heading fowards past the engines to the Bows which we didnt get to because we ran out of time. Not so much of the wreck intact here but still very scenic.

Meridian Divers on a Great Dive to the SS T.R.Thompson

Part 1 of video Highlights showing Meridian Divers diving the wreck of the T.R.Thompson 16th June 2008 in superb conditions although the video doesnt do the dive justice Video This clip shows the Engine Prop, Rudder, Gun, spare prop blade Bulkheads

T.R.Thompson Dive 16th June 2008

I had my week planned out for me but that all changed on Sunday when the phone rang. Steve from Channel Diving calling to say that he had just taken a group out to the T.R.T and the Viz was amazing, he had 5 places going for tomorrow(Monday) and thought it may be a good idea to get my backside down to Brighton nice and early and get some Video of the T.R.T in such good conditions. (Good marketing Steve)

After quick group text to other MD'ers it transpired that most couldn't get the time off at such short notice with the exception of Andy N and as I was owed sometime a quick buzz back to Steve saw 2 places booked.

A bright and early 6.30am start got me down to Brighton Marina with time to spare and was joined shortly after by Andy. Sarah also made an appearance as she had booked her annual Channel Diving jamboree this week.

Steve had obviously had success in filling the remaining places as the boat was now full ( doesn't anybody work) Soon it was ropes off and the journey out to the T.R.T began.We arrived at the wreck exactly on slack with everybody kitted up and ready to go. It never ceases to amaze me how organised it all is when diving from Steve's boat, everything runs like clockwork nice, simple, straight forward and no fuss.

On entering the water I was a little confused about where I was diving the water was clear and very blue not the normal green English Channel we all love. Divers descending 15m below could be clearly seen and i knew this was going to be a classic TRT dive.We were not disappointed,very soon the wreck appeared below us and we were still descending.Shoals of of bib & pollack covered the TRT like a living carpet, divers could be seen all over the wreck and it was almost like dives I had done on the Thistlegorm in the Red Sea, it was that good.

With the camera rolling Andy and I got to work capturing as much footage as possible.With the visibility so good it was possible to see large areas of the wreck for the first time in context and I was shocked at how much the T.R.T had deteriorated even over the past year.The stern is now collapsing at an alarming rate with a huge section on the port side now collapsed over the prop. The Gun has moved again and is now is a slightly different position to what it was last year.

The TRT is over a 100 years old and has been lying on the seabed for over 90 years so it is to be expected that the old girl is losing her looks a bit like an aging hollywood star, but far more interesting. I still find it very sad that within a short period of time I expect the stern will collapse totally.
We continued our dive across the wreck and even though she is crumbling fast I still find her very beautiful and still a fantastic dive. With our personal connections with the wreck through the N.A.S project and the relative we are now in contact with and the conditions we were diving in today made this dive on her even more special to me.

As the motto on Steves diver lift says" time and tide wait for no man or woman " it was soon time to head back to the surface and I must say I was very reluctant to do so but we had already incurred a small deco penalty, so with the now traditional wave goodbye to our old freind we started our ascent back to a very different, less tranquil world.

Back on board Channel Diver the decks were a buzz, every diver raving about the dive, with one couple saying it was the best dive they had ever done in UK waters. I also managed to get a call in to Mr Jack the T.R.T crew relative whilst over the site and talk to him about the dive. We will be seeing him on the 22nd July and weather permitting, he will be out on the boat himself.

Our second dive was on the Palace pier and even though that is a very pretty dive I would have still preferred to have been back down on the T.R.T.

I will start to edit the video footage over the next couple of days and post it on the Blog. Skipper Steve after previewing the footage wants a copy to have on Channel Diver to show groups he takes out to the wreck on his wheel house DVD player which is a nice touch and will hopefully raise the profile of the wreck even more.

Tad

Meridian Divers and BBC at the wreck of SS.T.R.Thompson.

T.R.Thompson Tribute Video clip

T.R.Thompson Commemorative Dive 3rd March 2008

After a very early start to get to Brighton Marina for 7am to meet the other Meridian Divers and BBC crew, I wasn't hopeful that underwater conditions would make the T.R.Thompson commemorative dive a particularly good one especially after all the recent bad weather.

On leaving the Marina aboard Steve Johnson's spacious Channel Diving hard boat, the surface conditions looked perfect, although the sky was a little dark and overcast. With nearly an hours trip out to the wreck site there was plenty of time to chat to the BBC crew about the TRT project and what we are trying to achieve and also check our equipment.

The gods were smiling as we arrived at the wreck site and the sky brightened with the clouds parting it had become almost a perfect day.

Any of you who have dived with Channel Diving before know Steve is an expert when it comes to placing the shot on the wreck with perfect precision you tell him where you want it and he places it exactly there with no fuss.

Looking into the water waiting for slack tide we could see the shotline disappearing into the depths which promised, surprisingly some visibility.

After kitting up it was time to enter the water and as always with my first sea dive of the year there were a few butterflies, but on hitting the water and starting the journey down to the wreck they soon disappeared.

I was diving with Sara and Jim from East Sussex Fire Brigade who had joined us for the day.

On reaching the wreck we were surprised that although dark we had at least 2-3m viz and looking up you could see daylight which was a pleasant and unexpected surprise.The TRT couldn't show us all her glory today but we could see enough of the wreckage to make the dive worthwhile and we did pick out a massive capstan . I had taken the video camera down but wasn't expecting any success but later BBC footage clearly showed the the capstan and other bits of wreckage.

All too soon it was time to head for the surface and say goodbye to the T.R.T and the ghosts of her crew with a promise we will be back again soon to continue to tell their story.

Dive stats

Total dive time 32 minutes
Max depth 32.6m
Water temp 9.c
Viz 2-3m with torches

Divers
Jim H
Ernie
Sara
Jim (ESFB)
Tad

Safety Diver Chris P

Tad

The wreck of the T.R.Thompson

Another clip from T.R.T project dive.This one shows the spare prop blade sorry about the lighting.

T.R.Thompson wreck clip

Another clip from the Meridian divers project Dive video,showing Chris measuring the deck anchor.

These clips are dedicted to the 33 crew who lost their lives when the T.R.Thompson was sunk by uboat during the 1st World War

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!

T.R.T Anchor

T.R.T Anchor still in hawser

Bollards

T.R.T Mooring Bollards