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| LST 507 |
Diving days done - 4
Number of divers involved - 12
Number of “person” dives done - 34
Longest dive - 110mins
Gasses used - 18/45, 50%, 100%
Line laid - 200m
Shot lines lost - 1
Longest distance travelled to attend - 1100 miles
The project looked this year at LST 507. We started out being pretty certain that 2010 and 2011’s work had confirmed what Nick Chipchase had said, and that our previous efforts had been on LST 531. This year was to confirm that by diving the “other” LST. The things we were looking for were a little more difficult this year. We wanted to confirm that there were no LCVP’s still in position on the bow of this wreck, as LST 501 had reported to have deployed these when abandoning ship.
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| Ammunition on LST 507 |
After the discussions, we found that nobody had seen the very distinctive propellors, rudders or rudder guards which were present on Nick Chipchases survey. Perhaps we’d found the bow? A few more discussions and we’d all persuaded ourselves that the large flat sheets of steel that we’d swam over were the bow doors and loading ramp. Darren Morley was convinced that the doors had puncture holes in them. This was an interesting observation, as LST507 had been sunk by gunfire by the Royal Navy in the morning after the attacks, as she was adrift and a hazard to shipping. Perhaps these were the holes from those very shells, puncturing the hull and doors before exploding deep inside the cargo decks. Gareth Lock and Dorota Czerny had been busy all over this section too, taking some great photos of the wreck and the artifacts present.
A plan was hatched to return to the wreck and confirm that these were the bow doors, and then to have a look in the doorway to see if there was any evidence of vehicles left. Another point of interest, which had become known as the “sticky up thing” also needed examination. This was very near the suspected bow doors, and extended a good 15m above the sea bed. Given that the wreck was upside down, and only 5m proud of the seabed, its presence was a bit of a mystery. Andras and Kata were tasked to look at it and film it on their next dive. Jack and Paul, always up for a bit of exploration, were keen to look at the other section, and try to confirm it as the stern, so their job for day 2 was to go there, and lay more line. Myself and Dorota Czerny went back to make sketches and look for more evidence of vehicles where the wreck had broken. This left Christine Grosart, Darren and Joe Tidball with the job of confirming the bow was in fact a bow, and to look more closely at the shell holes.
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| Bow section of LST 507. Doors and ammunition. |
Tuesday dawned and we headed out to execute our plan. We were down to 9 on the boat today, and this made everything a little bit more spacious. Smudge got the shot into the second section, and Jack and Paul set off to find the stern section. They returned with empty reels, and big smiles. They had found props, and therefore confirmed that the other bit was the bow. They were also convinced that there was much more to see on this piece than on the other, and a new sketch map started to take shape. The bow teams also returned with good news. The doors were in fact doors, and they did have several holes along them, clearly punctures rather than deterioration due to rusting. Another good result. Searches for vehicles like trucks, DUKW’s and Jeeps had proven a bit more elusive. Holds seemed empty, and no debris around the wreck was found, in stark contrast to LST531. No matter, the sketch surveys were refined and developed, and plans laid to move the focus to the stern section.
Wednesday, and we were starting to get concerned about the weather. Friday was always going to be bad, and we were starting to wonder if we’d get out on Thursday. We needed to get some video footage so Christine and I went to shoot the prop area and whatever else we could find. The other teams went to build up the sketch map in the debris field identified by Jack and Paul the previous day. Best laid plans don’t always work though, and we jumped in to find the current running. Things did not improve as we descended, and after a few minutes on the wreck, we found ourselves all hiding behind the wreck getting spun around by the current every time we tried to move on. A good look at the break was managed though, as this was the hiding place! Still no sign of vehicles, and no access into the holds was possible at the break as a solid bulkhead stood in our way.
Reviewing the video, we found we’d captured a few nice shots, and also identified a few more places to investigate further on the next dive. Chris and I were pretty sure we’d seen an engine block, and Darren also said he’d seen something. This was around the stern area. It was not the main engine of course, but about 1.5m long. Possibly from an LCVP, but we hadn’t seen the tell-tale propellor or the loading door, which seem to survive better than the hull sections. Gun tubs were also a possibility, but the majority of the debris field was very confusing and broken. Definitely time to look again. At the close of play on Wednesday, we’d already taken the decision to cancel Friday, and just hope for the best on Thursday.
We all got up on Thursday with a slightly pessimistic outlook. I’d been listening to the rigging on the local yachts and flagpoles rattling all night, and a quick look at those flags in the morning showed the wing to have indeed picked up. In my experience, that clink-clink-clink sound going through the night does not bode well. Smudge, with his usual optimistic outlook, said “Lets just stick us noses out”, which is code for “we’ll try, but I’m not promising anything”. Good enough for me. Out we went, and to my amazement, and the others on the boat, the wind was up, but the water was flat. All the way around Portland Bill, and on into Lyme Bay. The waves never came. We arrived on site, and started looking for the shot line, but it had come loose. Smudge did a great job of building another in rapid time, and dropping it right onto the wreck and pretty much the same place as the other one had been.
Divers hit the water with strict instructions to limit in-water times to 70 mins in case the bad weather arrived while we were in the water. Getting back onto the boat in a heavy swell can be challenging and even dangerous, so we didn’t want to run the risk. Myself and Dorota shot video of the engine block, and even found the loading ramp of an LCVP nearby, fixing that theory. A nice find was on the other side of the hull - the kedge anchor. This was used by the LST to pull itself off the shore after it beached and had unloaded its cargo. Not significant in the grand scheme of things, but a nice thing to see nonetheless. Andras and Kata did some fantastic work around the break, got underneath a section and found a DUKW chassis, wheel and propellor just lying there and even managed to film it. Darren, Paul Burgess and Jack confirmed more about the gun tubs at the stern - one significantly bigger than the other, so most likely the 40 and the 20mm guns respectively. Both are upside down, and heavily compressed into the seabed so no further pictures or information was possible, despite some serious “wafting” of gravel.
We wrapped up the project on Thursday night with a beach barbecue, and a few drinks in the Royal Breakwater hotel, before all going our separate ways on Friday morning. It was a great week, and we have learned a lot about the state of these wrecks today.
We will be compiling the sketches, video and photos over the coming days into a set of results that you can all look at and enjoy. You should consider this work to be a digital memorial to the sacrifices made by the men of Exercise Tiger on 28th April, 1944. It was a huge disaster, and the loss should be recorded and never forgotten.
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