The Jura

The wreck of the Jura in Switzerland’s Lake Constance is a rare example of an intact wooden shipwreck of appreciable age. But its continued preservation is very much in the hands of divers.

As the outline of the shipwreck looms from the darkness like a sleeping kraken, I switch on my torch and the beam lights up a shaft of tea-brown water. However, there is enough light to make out the rudder, still positioned in its final, desperate manoeuvre. I swim along the railing, heading for the bow, marvelling at the reflective lettering which spells out, as I fin along, J... U... R... A...

Ah yes, the Jura – the only preserved passenger paddle steamer of its kind. Wood-eating animals cannot live in the cold, murky depths of Switzerland’s Lake Constance, so the wreck has been preserved to a remarkable degree. Wreck enthusiasts will know how rare it is to dive a really old wooden wreck in any sort of state of preservation. If the paddle steamer had sunk in shallower waters or at sea, the wreck would have been slowly devoured over the years and the only remaining sign of its existence would be the metal fixtures. The Jura is a true treasure.

The ‘lady’, as local divers commonly refer to the wreck of the Jura, still sits upright after 140 years, 38m below the surface. The boat’s beautifully carved bowsprit reaches into the gloom and the paddles are still in place, gradually sinking into the mud.

I fin around the starboard side of the hull and the cause of the Jura’s demise becomes apparent – a long, jagged hole in the hull, which is now mostly covered by the all-pervading silt. I halt my progression to take in the sight. As is the case with many divers, the sensations of being underwater tend to have a calming effect on me, and as I contemplate the scene my thoughts delve back into history, to a foggy morning in February 1864.

Running 30 minutes behind schedule (possibly a capital offence in Switzerland), the Jura had left the little harbour in the Swiss village of Romanshorn at 9.30am, in order to pick up passengers and freight across the lake at Constance in Germany. At some point, sufficient sunlight must have penetrated the fog to encourage the passengers to climb up on deck to admire the lake scenery. It was a blessing that undoubtedly saved their lives, because at about 11am a large shadow loomed from a fog bank ahead of the Jura. The Swiss steamship Stadt Zurich ploughed into the paddle steamer’s starboard side, inflicting the fatal wound.

Gallon upon gallon of water invaded the lower deck, and the Jura sank in just three minutes. Fortunately, the passengers were able to escape from the deck with relative ease, though even a few minutes in the icy lake water must have been excruciating. They were rescued by the Stadt Zurich, which was virtually undamaged despite the violence of the collision. In the event, one sailor died in the icy water of the lake.

The story of the Jura does not end with its sinking. As one of the most perfectly preserved wooden paddle steamers of its age, the wreck is considered important by divers and historians alike. However, as the Jura’s popularity grew, so did the threat to its continued preservation. For 100 years, the Jura lay inviolate in the silt, but in 1964 a team of professional salvage divers came across the wreck while engaged in search for an aeroplane which had crashed during the Second World War.

As is often the case with wreck finds, the details of the Jura’s position were kept secret and it was only visited by a few divers who dived the steamer on an irregular basis. But secrets exist to be revealed, and by the late 1980s the Jura was a popular wreck site. Most weekends, the decks and companionways were once again crowded with people.

It is a dive to savour, even for those who regard fresh-water diving as being somehow inferior to the open sea. Divers make a relatively straightforward descent along the anchor chain of their support boat; but this is not regarded as a dive for the inexperienced. Even during the summer months, the water here doesn’t get much warmer than 5ºC, and precious little sunlight can penetrate the depths. As you descend along the chain, it is hard to imagine anything waiting for you at the end – then the outline of the wreck magically assembles itself.

The first impression is one of amazement at the Jura’s durability. In front of the ornately carved bowsprit you follow the rail, taking in time-defying structures such as the paddle wheels, the stairways, the boiler (although you’d obviously expect this to endure) and the rather primitive lavatory in the paddle wheel housing. While diving through the passengers’ room in the lower deck, I can’t help but feel a bit nervous. I think of the panic that must have broken out when the steamer started to sink and I try to keep as calm as possible to avoid kicking up the sediment on the plank flooring.

Despite such hazards, the Jura is a popular wreck dive today, perhaps a little too popular for its own good. I have personally observed a significant degree of damage done by careless divers, and the senseless plunderings of souvenir-hunters. Some of the lower deck structures have collapsed, as well as the once impressive funnel, which is now held in position by an air-filled container.

A fair amount of the damage has been caused by inexperienced or careless skippers dropping their anchors onto the wreck. The Jura enjoys no legal protection, but divers have it in their power to oversee the preservation of a monument to a bygone age – or they could stand by and watch as it is systematically trashed. I only hope we choose the former..