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Mike Oxlade and i, now trying to locate a ship that sank
in 1883, it was sunk in thick fog off Flambro Head, it was carrying a General cargo that included Dresdon plates, Toys, pianos
,Glassware etc.
20 years ago when diving with Humber divers we found a
unknown wreck that was built of black iron, and it was stood upright with the stern covered in sand, but the fwd part
was complete with the holds still showing and the keel was laid on bedrock (a complete ship) at the time we did not
investigate it any further, but in 2006 we thought that it could be the 1883 wreck we were looking for due to the last
reported position of the captain in 1883, so we dived the wreck again in 2006, this time the wreck had completly covered over
with sand with only part of the fwd hatch showing.
The vessel was sailing from Hamburg to Grimsby when it collided with
the SS Wear in thick fog, one of the passengers was a actress called Lilla de Vere and her husband, all the passengers were
saved.
Work still in progress to identify the wreck.
Below is picture of the ship
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Our new purchase of a RIB conplete with sidescan sonar.
In Harwich marina with Mike Oxlade to check out wreck
SS Norhauk which was carrying a general cargo. including copper ingots, ferro chrome, lead , copper wire, trucks
etc etc.
Mike using sonar to find wreck
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USS Bonhomme Richard
Looking for the site of the Bonhomme Richard, the sonar
picture shows a small wreck off Flambro Head. The picture of the boat is the position of the contact, another wreck is shown
on the chart nearby.
The first USS Bonhomme Richard, formerly Duc
de Duras, was a frigate in the Continental Navy. She was originally an East Indiaman, a merchant ship built in France for the French East India Company in 1765, for service between France and the Orient. She was
placed at the disposal of John Paul Jones on 4 February 1779, by King Louis XVI of France as a result of a loan to the United States by French shipping magnate, Jacques-Donatien Le Ray.
Jones renamed her Bon Homme Richard - usually rendered
in more correct French as Bonhomme Richard, to honor Benjamin Franklin, the American Commissioner at Paris whose almanac, Poor Richard's Almanac had been published in France under the title Les Maximes du Bonhomme Richard.
On 19 June 1779, Bonhomme Richard sailed from Lorient accompanied by Alliance, Pallas, Vengeance,
and Cerf with troop transports and merchant vessels under convoy to Bordeaux and to cruise against the British in the Bay of Biscay. Forced to return to port for repair, the squadron sailed again
14 August 1779. Going northwest around the west coast of the British Isles into the North Sea and then down the east coast the squadron took 16 merchant
vessels as prizes.
On 23 September 1779, they encountered the Baltic Fleet of
41 sail under convoy of HMS Serapis (44) and Countess of Scarborough (22) near Flamborough Head. After 18:00 Bonhomme Richard engaged Serapis
and a bitter engagement, the Battle of Flamborough Head, ensued during the next four hours that cost the lives of nearly
half the American and British crews. At first, a British victory seemed inevitable as the more heavily armed Serapis
used its superior firepower to rake Bonhomme Richard with devastating effect, killing Americans by the score. However,
Jones eventually succeeded in lashing the two ships together, nullifying his opponent's greater maneuverability. An attempt
by the Americans to board Serapis was repulsed, as was an attempt by the British to board Bonhomme Richard.
Finally, after another of Jones's squadron joined in the fight (uncaringly causing serious collateral damage aboard the Richard)
the British captain surrendered at about 10.30pm. Bonhomme Richard, shattered, on fire, and leaking badly defied all
efforts to save her and sank at 11:00 on 25 September 1779. John Paul Jones sailed the captured Serapis to the United Provinces for repairs.
Though Bonhomme Richard sank subsequent to the battle,
the outcome of the battle convinced the French crown of the wisdom of backing the colonies in their fight to separate from
British authority. The defeat of Serapis, in home waters no
less, stung the British admiralty.
Bonhomme Richard's final resting location
is the subject of much speculation. A number of efforts have been conducted to locate the wreck. As of 2005, these efforts
have been unsuccessful. The location of the wreck is presumed to be Flamborough Head in Yorkshire, a headland near where her final battle took place in approximately
180 feet of water. The number of other wrecks in the area and a century of fishing trawling operations have complicated all
searches.
Plot chart showing a position of a possible wreck on seabed
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MV Fogo Isle
MV Fogo Isle, Ex Sealer. This vessel was built to hunt
for seals off Newfoundland
Built 1971 in Norway
R L Kellett purchased the MV Fogo Isle in August
2007 from Holland. Mike and i assisted bringing the vessel back to Grimsby, but first we went searching for wrecks.
First wreck was the SS Koningin Regentes an old paddle
steamer, we dived it and the paddles were still in place,intersting dive.
The second wreck was the MV Michael S which sank in the 1979 with
a cargo of copper slabs, when i was with Humber Divers Ltd we were asked to complete the salvage of the remaining 200 ton
of copper that was not recovered by a previous salvage company, the company had abandened the salvage when they lost a diver on the wreck, we went to the site and placed
expolosives in the hold to clear the way to access the remaining copper, we then blew the charges,and awaited the clearing
of the water to dive, but then we received a force ten gale warning, and retreated to Holland to await the gale to subside,
we never got back to the wreck because of other work.
So we decided to take the Fogo Isle in 2007 to attempt to see if the
copper was still there
we went to the site (off Germany) and started searching but the owner
decided he wanted to get back to Grimsby (Mike and i were very annoyed) it was a very stupid decision to make ,because
at the time copper was selling for £4000 a ton (£800,000 value) we never got back to te wreck.
The Fogo Isle then spent the rest of its time working out of Grimsby
on a wreck i own (SS Benmachdui) for scrap steel,copper,white metal ingots, brass etc, once again the owner did not pay
me anything for any recoveries (we had a % agreement) mike and i even did diving for him during this period. (as the
below pictures show) and i also nearly lost my life on the wreck.
Eddie Ready for diving on SS Benmachdui
Eddie ready to jump in, to dive on SS Benmachdui
Mike and I below
Eddie with White metal ingot recovered from SS Benmachdui
Below Mike and I having a rest (R L Kellett at the back of us)
MV Fogo Isle on site of wreck of SS Benmachdui
Seal came up to have a look at salvage work
Copper plates recovered in grab (recovered two ton of plates)
Bob the owner of Fogo Isl, with non-ferrous metals recovered
The Fog Isle was sold in Dec 2008 (I was the selling agent)
because the owner R L Kellett fell foul of the MCA (No proper salvage certification) it took me ten months to sell the
boat to a Nigerian, after the sale R L Kellett refused to pay me the commission, I am now at the present time taking
him to court (March 2009)
On December 21st 2008 i was told i had cancer of the colon, i now
have another battle to contend with (now 70 years of age) I now think that my diving days are now over, but you never know
? let us wait and see
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