The Forth dimension

The famous Forth Rail Bridge Photo: Shutterstock Diver on the Campania Photo: Mike Clark Map Diver on the Saucy Photo: Mike Clark Blae Rock is home to lots of marine life Photo: Mike Clark Lobster on a discarded creel Photo: Mike Clark Jellyfish encounter Photo: Mike Clark

The Firth of Forth must be one of Britain’s most under-dived stretches of water. If, however, you consider that this estuary contains a wrecked aircraft carrier, an armed tug, a Second World War aircraft and a monster submarine pinnacle, then the apparent disregard of the area becomes something of a mystery. It’s all there and is rarely dived, even though these sites are right next to the city of Edinburgh.

I explored the firth with the help of Mark Blyth, owner of Dive Bunker dive centre at Burntisland, Fife, which has been operating for more than eight years. At the time of my dive, an easterly wind had been blowing for around a week, making the sites at St Abbs and Eyemouth further down Scotland’s southeast coast undiveable as they were experiencing a 2m swell. At Burntisland, though, the day dawned with a sunny sky and only a slight swell. Diving here can be on the murky side, but if you can handle 2–3m viz, it’s well worth the effort. In the summer months, visibility can improve dramatically and 10m on the wrecks and 15m on the Blae Rock is possible.

HMS CAMPANIA

This mammoth ship started life as a 12,884-tonne luxury liner for the Cunard line. Due to her impressive speed, she was converted into an aircraft carrier and made history as the first carrier to launch a plane from the flight deck while underway.

On 5 November 1918, just off Burntisland in a terrible storm, Campania dragged her anchors and ran across the bows of a battleship. She was fatally holed and sank. She missed surviving the war by a matter of days – an inglorious end for such a magnificent ship. Today, it is a protected wreck and lies on its starboard side on a muddy sea floor at a depth of 14–30m.

The water around the Campania is green and clear until 14m, where it turns black. Landing on the sea floor at around 24m in 2m visibility, I was greeted by a wall of steel rising at an angle above me. I deduced that I was near the bow, as this section was relatively intact.

Rising up this wall of steel and mud, several portholes provide posh pads for lobsters. A sparse covering of dead men’s fingers, sea urchins and brittlestars cover the hull here. Up at deck level, the total colonisation by plumose anemones and other marine life makes it tricky to tell masts from guns. Back on the sea floor, I found a large structure that was probably one of the cranes used for lifting aircraft back onto the carrier deck.

Further aft, I came across one of the Campania’s distinctive funnels. I rose up the deck and was surrounded by railings adorned by orange and white plumose anemones and drifting lion’s mane jellyfish. These stinging creatures can be a nuisance in the summer months, so watch out for them.

This is a monster wreck: at just under 200m long, you’ll need to make a number of dives to get the big picture.

HMS SAUCY

This little tug makes a fantastic dive. The forward section of the wreck is completely intact. Anchors hang in their hawse pipes adorned by plumose anemones, while dahlia anemones inhabit the flukes – one was even devouring the claw of a velvet-backed swimming crab.

The Saucy sits on the sea floor at around 23 metres with the bow raised, allowing a diver to pass under it. Up at deck level, a huge winch comes into view. Further back, a large spray guard and the barrel of the deck gun is visible through the gloom.

Here, white plumose anemones colonise the breech end of the gun while an orange clump inhabits the business end, the two factions divided by a border of rusty steel.

Behind the bridge, the wreck starts to lose its shape a little. This is due to the German magnetic mine that sent HMS Saucy and 26 of her crew to the bottom in September 1940. As such, it is a war grave and should be treated with the utmost respect.

However, there are still several visible features, such as crates of ammunition for the deck gun, two brass skylights inside the wreck, and the remains of masts and ventilation shafts.

The hull finally breaks just forward of the stern; here, there is a pile of debris inhabited by massive lobsters and edible crabs. The stern was blown off in the explosion and now lies around 100m from the main section.

BLAE ROCK

For the qualified diver, Blae Rock is a real treat. An underwater pinnacle crossed by fierce tides, it rises from the sea floor at 60m to just 14m from the surface, and slack tide is the best time to dive here.

At around 22m, the wall falls vertically straight away and big basalt columns run down to the sea bed. Cracks and crevices provide homes to lobster, edible crabs, squat lobsters, Yarrell’s blennies and cod. The cliffs themselves are a mass of dead men’s fingers – a stupendous sight in good viz.

At 30m, there is an undercut that runs along the wall, offering shelter to wrasse, velvet-backed swimming crabs and prawns. Coming into the shallows on your ascent, you’ll see schools of pollack, while large moon and lion’s mane jellyfish drift by. You’ll also find brittlestars and anemones on the pinnacle.

GRUMMAN AVENGER

The Grumman TBF-1B Avenger torpedo bomber was on a Royal Navy training flight in December 1945, near its base in Crail. The engine was giving the pilot trouble, so he ditched the aircraft in the firth.

A compass, now on display at the Burntisland Museum, was raised from the wreck, and the machine gun was sent to the Museum of Flight near Edinburgh. Today, there is a strict ‘no-touch’ policy on this fragile but historically important wreck.

Approaching from the front, the aircraft materialises out of the gloom and two large propeller blades stick out of the sea floor, making an anemone-encrusted ‘V for victory’. The cylinders in the radial engine are all there to be seen.

Further back, the fuselage is in an excellent state of preservation. The cockpit canopy is missing and the machine gun blister lies off the wreck in the sand, otherwise everything else is intact.

CONTACT
Dive Bunker
Tel: 01592 874380
Web: www.divebunker.co.uk
Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

For a list of local BSAC branches go to www.bsac.org/page/211/scotland.htm