Diving HMS Stubborn

Photo: Michael Pitts

Since the early days of mixed-gas diving, the potential of Malta for deep expeditions has never been far from my mind. Think about it. Clear, deep water not far offshore, which is warm enough to make two-hour decompression schedules bearable. Malta’s turbulent history and strategic position have ensured that many ships that were casualties of conflict rest on the bottom around the island. The Second World War alone saw large numbers of Allied convoy escorts slugging it out with the Germans and Italians.

Over the years, business pressures prevented me from pursuing a mixed-gas expedition to Malta, but it was business that provided me with the opportunity to do it
in the best possible way.

Film producer Crispin Sadler came to me and said that he wanted to make a film based on deep wrecks from the Malta convoys concentrating on one particular wreck off the Tunisian coast. The cameraman was to be Michael Pitts, former oilfield diver and Emmy award-winner for his work on The Blue Planet – I was delighted to have him on board. He is a superb diver and we knew each other well – that’s important, because when you’re working at 80m, you don’t need any personality surprises.

The making of the film, Running the Gauntlet, in Tunisia was fantastic, but along the way the build-up and practice trips provided some of the most memorable diving I have ever done. We commuted to Malta for this part of the project and used trimix to dive wrecks in the 55 to 75m range. One of those wrecks was the S-class submarine HMS Stubborn.

At 55m, it is feasible to dive HMS Stubborn on air, and many people do so. But for us there were two very good reasons for using trimix. Firstly and most obviously, we were there to practice trimix diving for the main project – on which we couldn’t use air. Secondly, just because you can use air, it doesn’t mean it’s the best thing to use. For years I dived the Rota out of Brixham in Devon on air. This is at about 50m, we dived it most Thursdays during the season and I was always very comfortable. Then one day, to minimise the effects of nitrogen narcosis, I dived it on trimix. I saw more on that dive than on all the others put together. I felt in control and more efficient all-round.

When I first considered the trip to Tunisia, it was obvious that this was no ordinary film shoot. All the complications of deep mixed-gas diving were there, but in addition to that, the lack of time on the bottom meant that Mike would have to have his camera filming every second that we were down there – otherwise Crispin would not have enough footage. Mike would have little time or concentration to monitor his diving situation. He would have to have a baby-sitter, a highly experienced diver whose only task was look after Mike so that all he had to think about was getting the shots. I had arranged for Crispin and Mike to do their trimix training with my old friend Keith Morris, so he was the obvious choice for this role. This was the team that arrived in Malta for the dress rehearsal – Crispin Sadler, Mike Pitts, Keith Morris and myself.

Our first dive was a 30m equipment shake down. The rest of the day was spent tweaking equipment, cutting tables and mixing gas. It’s worth talking a little bit about our choice of gases and the priorities which lead to that choice. When you are deciding on mixes, there are many factors to consider. How clear you want your head to be (Equivalent Narcotic Depth), how quickly you want to get out of the water, gas availability and gas costs. As a result of the limited filming time throughout the whole project, it was important that Mike operated as efficiently and with as little narcotic hindrance as possible. We decided on an Equivalent Narcotic Depth in the mid-20m mark, but what were the other implications of what was to be a very large amount of helium? Extended decompression times maybe? Time in the water was not going to be a problem as far as temperature was concerned, and a bit of a drift on a trapeze in the Med in summer didn’t seem too unattractive.

There was plenty of gas available, as long as we organised ourselves. Gas costs? Well, Crispin was momentarily struck dumb when I gave him the estimate for the price of the helium. But put it in the context of the other costs associated with filming. The transport of people and equipment alone was enormous, but everything was focused on getting Mike Pitts down on a wreck for 20 minutes. The extra helium might be expensive, but if it made those 20 minutes more productive, it would be worth every penny.

Taking all this into account, we dived the wreck using an 18/40 trimix with EANx 32 and EANx 65 as deco mixes. HMS Stubborn lies at about 57m, roughly two miles off Qawra Point to the north of the island. We were diving in early July and it was hot. We sat in the boat, prematurely fully kitted, while she cruised back and forth, finding the wreck then losing it. Eventually the shot was in – unfortunately not on the wreck, but I did have a compass bearing to it. There was a certain disbelief in the boat that someone should contemplate compass navigation at 57m while adorned with four cylinders, but by this time I’d have done anything to get out of the boat and into the water. Keith showed faith, with a mumbled ‘He’ll find it’ – so I had to! What a relief when a shape loomed out the unique blue that only the Mediterranean has. I attached a buoy to the wreck and flew it to the surface as a signal to Mike and Keith to come on down, and we set off to see as much as possible in what bottom time remained.

HMS Stubborn is one of the prettiest submarines that I have dived. It is fully intact, from a very interesting conning tower to the torpedo tubes – and you can see it all! We had reached the wreck by the stern and from here the conning tower could easily be seen. Crispin and I moved towards it. It had taken some time to swim to the wreck, so by the time we reached the tower our time was up and further exploration would have to wait until the following day. A buoy was flown to the surface, but we were facing 50 minutes of stops before we too could break the waves, even with our decompression mixes. We looked back at Stubborn as we began to ascend. The wreck looked very different from this angle – even more beautiful!

The whole of the submarine could be seen and at this point I felt that there was something that set it apart from other sub dives. For me, a lot of wrecked submarines don’t look like wrecks. They are in their natural environment – underwater. You see, they’re not meant to be on the surface. There is not a mass of fussy superstructure which has decayed and broadcasts the degeneration of the wreck. And if it is upright on the bottom, it’s almost as if it’s not a wreck at all, just resting between missions.

Stubborn isn’t like that. The submarine is in one piece and the propellers are still there, but when you see the wreck in its entirety in 50m-plus visibility, there’s no doubt. The vessel is listing to one side, the superstructure on the conning tower is rusting away and the hatches are open. It’s definitely a wreck. No more spectral missions for this one! On subsequent dives I looked at Stubborn from as many different angles as I could. If you ever get to dive this wreck, try it this way: sit on the sea bed by the bows and look up at the torpedo tubes, move away from the wreck in mid water, level with the conning tower, then look back and remind yourself that you are not looking at computer-generated graphics. Swim the 66m length of the submarine. You could dive all week on HMS Stubborn and do a different dive every time.

Our first stop was at 32m, with a switch from our bottom gas of 18/40 trimix to EANx 32. You could still see the submarine! Another gas switch at 9m to EANx 65, another 37 minutes of stops, and we finally reached the surface 71 minutes after leaving it.

During our build-up programme we would go on to dive HMS Southwold off Valletta in 70m of water, and on the project itself Mike filmed HMS Manchester, off Tunisia in 82m. All spectacular stuff, but I can tell you one thing: next time I’m in Malta, HMS Stubborn will be first on my list.