REAL GUIDE - The wrecks of Normandy and Brittany

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Kate Quarry finds out what the wrecks of Normandy and Brittany have to offer

The Atlantic coast of northern France is rich in shipwrecks, especially those from the two World Wars, the greatest concentration being off the coast of Normandy. Diving conditions are similar to those off the southern British coast. The water is usually 2°C warmer than the UK, and the visibility a little better. Officially protected sites such as the Ile d’Ouessant near Brest in the west and the areas close to them, offer the greatest concentrations of fish life.

Atlantic France

Normandy & Brittany
There are more than 60 wrecks in the Baie de la Seine near Le Havre which are popular with both French and British divers, and some interesting, but less well known, wrecks in the west Brittany area. While it’s possible to stay on the Normandy or Brittany coast and dive from day boats, there are also UK liveaboards that depart from Britain’s south coast to explore the wrecks.

A war-torn coast
The northern coast of France was the focus of many fierce battles during the Second World War and its waters granted little mercy to wartime seafarers. Perhaps the most prominent of these battles was the D-Day landings of 6 June 1944, during which thousands of Allied troops were transported to the shores of France from the UK in order to bring the German occupation of France to an end.
The historic sea battles are the main reason why British divers are drawn to the area. The waters are sprinkled with war wrecks and on land the area is filled with a wealth of battlefield sites and museums dedicated to the Allied war campaigns.

Sea and air temperatures
Conditions in the French Atlantic are similar to those in southern Britain, but a little warmer. January air temperatures are around 8°C, rising to 20–25°C in August, although they can reach 30°C on occasion. The sea is 10°C in January and about 19°C in August.


Getting there
Ferries and hovercraft: These are useful if you are doing land-based diving in Normandy or Brittany.

Hoverspeed (Dover/Newhaven to Calais/Dieppe, tel: 0870 2408070, website: www.hoverspeed.co.uk

Brittany Ferries (Plymth/Poole/Portsmth to Caen/St Malo/Roscoff/ Santander) tel: 08703 665333, website: www.brittany-ferries.com

P&O Ferries (Portsmouth to Le Havre/Cherbourg), tel: 08705 202020; website: www.poportsmouth.com


UK dive boats
Dawn Louise tel: 07976 252248
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MV Maureen, tel: 01803 835449
website: www.deepsea.co.uk/
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White Horse Charters, tel: 01305 766458
website: www.whitehorsecharters.co.uk
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Dive centres Brittany
Centre de Plongée ISA, Crozon-Morgat. tel: 00 33 298 270500 website:  http://perso.club-internet.fr/centrisa/indexie.ht

Atlantide, St Malo: 00 33 299 567673

Club Léo Lagrange, Camaret, tel: 0033 298 279049

Kerguelen Plongée, Lorient email:  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Audierne Plongée, Audierne, tel: 0033 298 700390 website: http://perso.wanadoo.fr/plongee.audierne

Dive centres – Normandy
ASCL Paul Eluard, Le Havre, tel: 00 33 235 539572

Centre Federal de Plongée de Normandie, Cherbourg, tel: 00 33 233 447470

Club D’Exploration Sousmarine, Le Havre, tel: 00 33 235481521

ASPTT, Le Havre: 00 33 235 456481

Top dives...

Susan B Anthony (Normandy)
A liner that was converted to become a troop carrier in the Second World War, she struck a mine and now lies at 29m. Parts of the wreck are as shallow as 19m, and it is easy to swim inside other sections. The bow and stern are separated, and gun platforms and guns can still be seen on the bow.

The USSA (Normandy)
This 2000-ton steamship was struck by a mine in the approaches to Cherbourg in 1917, while transporting railway wagons and hay. The wreck is broken into three sections at 27m and is exposed to strong currents, which demands an accurate placement of the shot.

Strathalbyn (Normandy)
The 4331-ton British merchant ship was carrying military supplies during the First World War when a mine hit her in 1916. Lying at 30m, the Strathalbyn is generally intact. There is usually an excellent array of fish life spotted around this site. Divers can explore large sections of the centre of the hull and the boilers at 35m. This wreck dive is subject to fairly strong currents.

Leopoldville (Normandy)
Originally a passenger liner, the Leopoldville carried troops during the Second World War. More than 2,000 American soldiers were aboard when she was torpedoed near Cherbourg in 1944, and due to an uncoordinated rescue operation, 808 of them died. At 160m long and intact apart from the torpedo hole, this is the most impressive of the Channel wrecks. The Leopoldville’s deepest point is at 60m, and the site is exposed, so diving is weather-dependent.

Turquoise (Normandy)
This wreck is thought to be the requisitioned German coastal defence gunboat that was sunk by a steam gunboat in 1942. She was built in Belgium for use in combat. The wreck is quite badly damaged at its bow and stern, but is vast in area (about 66m-long) and sits upright at 40m.

AmOco Cadiz(West Brittany)
This vast super-tanker sank 21 years ago polluting the Brittany coast. It sits at
35m off Portsall but is rarely dived, due to the awful currents that rip over it. However, if the conditions are right it is a stupendous dive.

Kléber (West Brittany)
A French armoured cruiser built in 1902, the Kléber sank near Brest in 1917 after hitting a mine. The deepest part of the wreck is at 45m, and although it is upside down, parts of the upper structure protrude from underneath.

Going French
The wrecks of Normandy are closer for most UK divers than travelling to Scapa Flow in the Orkneys, and the diving conditions would be familiar to anyone who has dived the waters of Devon and Cornwall. The only real obstacle to diving in this area is the language barrier, for those who failed their GCSE French. However, many of the dive centres have English-speaking members of staff and there are excellent British liveaboards that travel to the area, which leave from convenient UK ports.

Marine life
Big stuff: ballan and cuckoo wrasse, lobster, pollack, cuttlefish, gorgonians and sunset coral and rare sightings of basking sharks.
Small stuff: tompot blennies, jewel anemones, snakelocks anemones and spider crabs.

Medical note
Many – but not all – dive centres in France will insist that you produce a recent (less than one year old) medical certificate in order to dive. It must be signed by a doctor. Getting this done in France will cost around 20 Euros, which is probably less than you’d be charged in the UK. Either ask if your dive centre can arrange the medical for you, or – if you’re having it done in the UK – ask which checks you need for the medical certificate to be valid.

Dive essentials...

Torch and backup: absolutely vital to get the best out of any wreck dive, whether you are penetrating the wreck or not.

Inflatable sausage and whistle: these are useful on any open-water dive, but are of particular use in areas subject to currents and tidal movement, which applies to the majority of sites on the French coast.

Visibility: the conditions are similar to those off the UK’s southwest coast – unpredictable. August and September are the best periods for visibility, which normally stays around the 15m mark. During periods of plankton blooms, skilled divers are advised to stick to wrecks between 30 to 50m where the water is usually clear but dark. Many of the wreck sites are silty, so visibility suffers from too many kicking fins.

Drysuit: less-hardy divers may prefer a drysuit at any time of year for Atlantic diving, and you’ll certainly need one outside the summer months.

Wetsuit: 7mm semi-drysuit during the summer.

White Horse Liveaboard - Paul Harvey

White Horse liveaboard leaves Weymouth on a Sunday morning and gets to Normandy around lunchtime,’ says BSAC dive leader Paul Harvey, who has been on two trips with White Horse Charters to dive the wrecks of Normandy. ‘During the week’s diving we’re moored in Cherbourg, or, more often, St-Vaast, which is a little fishing village with a lock-gated port. It has quite a big marina, with a lot of yachtie types. Jon Ayling [who runs White Horse Charters] is a top-notch skipper – he runs his boat the way he wants to, and really knows his stuff. Most of the wrecks are in a fixed area, about half to three-quarters of an hour from port, and all the favourite wrecks are within ten miles of each other. The Leopoldville is the jewel in the crown of wrecks: it’s intact, and just immense. Looking at it is like looking at the QE2 – you can’t take it in. We don’t go inside, as it’s a war grave, but it just has to be dived. The water can be quite dark, as plankton often filters out the light, but below that it’s quite clear, although you need a torch.


Liveaboard MV Maureen - Lizzie Bird

On our first trip to Brittany we concentrated more on the area around Brest, and this time we were closer to St Malo, so we dived different sites,’ says BSAC’s national diving officer Lizzie Bird, who has been on two dive trips to Brittany on the liveaboard MV Maureen. ‘In terms of dives, the highlight of the first trip was the Kléber and on the second it was the Fetlar, which was mega-brilliant. The visibility was more than 20m and from the shot-line there were so many fish that you couldn’t see the wreck – but you could see its outline from the shape of the shoals of fish covering it.