HSK Komet came to an explosive ending - she was torpedoed on 14 October 1942 while making her
way down the English Channel on her second voyage as a raider.
Photo: Paul Webster
The structure split into two, with the bow and stern sections separating and now resting about 300m apart, both sections upside-down. There is a missing central section, which appears to have disintegrated altogether.
The Komet is an absorbing dive with a fascinating history. Initially a merchant ship, the German navy refitted her as a surface raider during the Second World War, arming her with with 12 guns in addition to torpedo tubes, mines and a seaplane. On her first voyage as a raider, she broke through to the Pacific
by sailing through the ice flows around the northern Soviet Union.
The wreck lies in the English Channel off Cap de la Hague. The tides in this area make it quite a challenging dive to plan, with only one slack water of less than an hour a day. The tides mean that the wreck is swept clean on a regular basis and there is little marine growth, though artefacts such as portholes and shell cases litter the sea bed.
