TECHNICALDIVING
Approaching the Aquilla’ s bow the sites of our next wreck dives, Helga Ferdinand and Aquilla.
These two wrecks lie about 250m apart, both hit by a Beaufighter from 404 squadron firing rockets on 8 November 1944. You can clearly see the holes made by the rockets on the port side of Aquilla. The Helga Ferdinand is about 450m from the shore, while Aquila is 250m out.
We took turns diving the wrecks, starting with the Helga. For me, this is a‘ Disney’ wreck, lying upright and intact with an antiaircraft gun on the bow. Its derricks [ lifting devices with a swinging steel boom ] are still upright and the funnel stretches vertically from the boiler. The whistle is still visible and the lifeboat davits sit at jaunty angles; the engine room hatches are still have intact, one of them still tantalisingly open.
Huge ling cod regarded us as we cruised by, pulled along by our scooters through the companionways and towards the stern.
It’ s just a lovely wreck, a ship lost in time. Mindful of the constraint of decompression, we scootered back past the derricks towards the looming anti-aircraft gun on the bow. There was time for a quick tour of the bow before heading back to the shore and decompressing on the slope, completing our deco at 6m in balmy 16 ° C water.
Aquilla lies on her starboard side, the ship like a slumbering monster waiting to wake up. We cruised towards the stern, the teak decking clearly visible, while the accommodation tumbled out like huge hollow Lego blocks on the seabed. Some rifles were still visible, stacked in a storage area.
The gap between the stern invited a swim-through, but I thought better of it and scootered round to the port side of the wreck, following the hatch edges to the focsle and over the gunnel to view the small but significant rocket holes on the side of the wreck and the bow. It was a great dive, but decompression was a-calling, and this would be a long one; we regrouped and headed for the shore, enjoying the warmth during our 6m stop.
Alternating between the wrecks, we continued diving, enjoying each other’ s company and settling into a primal routine of dive-eat-sleep. At last it was time to leave, so we packed our kit and our convoy headed for Trondheim.
Oh wow, oh wow!
Among other local features, Trondheim is known for the Tautra Sill, a 100m deep underwater ridge in the middle of Trondheimsfjorden composed of glacial debris( also known as a morainic sill.) There’ s a reef of the cold water coral Lophelia at 40m. I first dived the Lophelia reef at Tautra 20 years ago but had never made it back – until now.
Exploring the Helga Ferdinand
34 Rare Lophelia coral