Britannic IANTD Nitrox Scuba Diver

kevg_2.jpg (14636 bytes) The Author, Kevin Gurr on the Britannic

In October/November 1997 a team of ten IANTD Trimix divers assisted by a further eleven safety divers and support crew successfully completed a three week expedition to dive HMHS Britannic. She is the big sister of the Titanic, lost in the Kea Channel off Athens, Greece on November 21, 1916 during WW1.

The Britannic had been heavily modified after the Titanic disaster and incorporated an improved water tight bulkhead and door system as well as a double skin making her approximately 200 tons heavier than her sister. Despite this, she sank in 55 minutes - three times faster than the Titanic!

The aims of the expedition were to start a complete close up video survey of the wreck, especially in the damaged area of the bow and to instigate a side-scan survey of the hull and surrounding area to hopefully provide more clues as to why and how she sank.

The expedition was unique in that it for the first time used non-commercial, essentially sport diving techniques, to complete swimming and DPV (diver propulsion vehicle) exploration of this wreck. All subsequent decompressions were executed in-water from diver carried and surface supplied gas.

I started organising the trip almost two years ago; the biggest logistical problem was obtaining a license to dive from the Greek Government who rigorously protect their waters. A secondary, but equally important issue, was the license from Simon Mills, the owner. Again, without consent from both Simon Mills and the Greek Government, we could have dived the Britannic.

After an epic three day drive from the UK to Greece by three of the team (nicknamed the Hannibal Tour), ten tonnes of equipment arrived safely on the island of Kea.

The first week was hampered by extreme weather, but the team spent the time usefully in setting up the compressor systems, collecting the 60 cylinders of O2 and Helium and doing equipment check out dives. The decompression station was also assembled and tested; this needed to support a maximum of eight divers and the two four-man surface supplied rigs for up to four hours in the unpredictable currents that sweep the Kea channel.

As collecting video and stills was the prime aim of the expedition, we equipped two DPV's with digital cameras as well as divers with still and video cameras to complete the work. These roving teams proved to be a great success capturing never before seen areas of the wreck.

Because of the depth [120m (360 ft)] and the time needed to get the shots (up to 25 minutes), decompression would be a problem. This is not only from a gas supply standpoint [the first deco stop was normally around 51m (153 ft)], but also due to the cold and the fact that the Kea channel is a major shipping lane. This fact in itself prevented us from planning "free float" decompressions.

The decompression times were approximately 3-4 hours and included a seven mile drift amongst some of the largest ships in the world. Thus the decision was made early on to use a RIB as a floating decompression platform under which a bar system would be suspended and feed us with the large volumes of surface supplied deco gas needed. The RIB would then lock onto one of the down lines and remain in position. This was not always successful as some days the current was just too strong and we had to cut free. The free float deco's were scary from a support vessel and a diver standpoint. When you can feel the prop wash from a tanker it is either very big or very close… or both!

Spiraling down the shot line on a DPV for the first time is an amazing experience, as the wreck just comes into view at about 75m (225 ft). The top rail generally starts in 90m (270 ft) except near the smashed bow, which is a little deeper. Continuing on down, the sand is reached at about 120m (360 ft). Stopping to look up is the only way to appreciate the awesome scale of this example of man's endeavour, almost 300 meters (900 ft) long and 30 meters (90 ft) above you. Despite her age, the Britannic is remarkably intact; all major artifacts, as far as we could tell, are still in place. On one of my dives, I found the massive port wing telegraph, its white face still visible beneath the growth.

Huge shoals of fish inhabit the wreck, including large tuna which at first glimpse look like sharks and a million tiny fish which turn in unison responding to the camera lights.

The bow of the ship is smashed from the original explosion and as a result of piling into the seabed with her propellers still turning out of the water. The damage is extensive and for the first time we were actively able to measure the break and video it. We had hoped to use this area as a penetration point to gain access to the fireman's tunnel where the watertight door system was located. This proved impossible. As the alternative route meant a much longer swim, we decided it was unsafe on open circuit bearing in mind our other environmental problems. This part of the project would have to be shelved for later.

Another dive found us amongst the huge triple propellers, the rudder still jammed in the position of its last steering command. This is a lonely dive over the vast expanse of hull, which if you land in the middle of it could be mistaken for the seabed.

An 11 60 Trimix was chosen, as we wanted to keep narcosis to a minimum during any penetrations. At about 70m (210 ft) we did the first of our micro bubble controlling stops. At around 60m (180 ft) the first decompression stops begin with an eventual switch to air at 51m (145 ft) and then to Nitrox 40 at 30m (90 ft) and then finally Nitrox 80 at 9m (27 ft). The last three stops being on the deco bars at 9, 6, and 4.5m (27, 18, and 14 ft) from the surface supplied gas. 80% was chosen rather than 100% as we could easily pump the oxygen J cylinders with air to make 80% and it would easily give us the gas volumes we needed rather than boosting oxygen to 250 bar (3500 psi). It also kept the theoretical oxygen clock manageable, although the majority of the deco was under 1.4 PO2, so this was never really a problem. We just wanted an edge in case any of the deco's got particularly stressful as the environmental conditions changed constantly.

The Britannic is not an easy dive. Current, shipping and the vagaries of ocean diving as well as the logistics of operating with few local facilities and no local medi-vac system, made it one of the most challenging projects I have undertaken.

So was it worth it? Well, the project was a great achievement and we all came home safely, which is the main thing. We successfully side-scanned and produced video of large sections of the wreck and the surrounding site.

As we planned to do multiple days of diving (some team members completing up to four dives in succession), we also conducted Doppler trials to help validate our dive schedules and provide any on site "adjustments", something rarely done in the field. In the end some forty man dives were completed on the site with over 800 minutes logged in excess of 100m (300 ft).

So what next?

Our research has unearthed more potential areas of exploration and more questions to be answered. There has to be another better supported expedition, but at least we now know what to expect. We are currently planning and seeking funding for a phase two (Britannic 2000), employing CC rebreathers and a bell lockout system with surface chamber decompressions to allow us to log much longer bottom times.

Our thanks must go to the diving industry who gave us their support in the form of loaned equipment, the Greek government, and Simon Mills as well as the many others who made this possible.

Team Britannic 1997:
Gas Divers
Kevin Gurr, Project Leader
Alan Wright
John Thornton
Dan Burton
Uffe Eriksson
Ingmar Lundgren
Richard Lundgren
Dave Thompson
Alex Sotiriou
Kirk Kavalaris
Surface Supervisor
Kevin Denlay
Safety Divers
Tristan Cope, Team Doctor
Miria Denlay
Gary Sharp
Ian Fuller
Manthos Sotiriou

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