In June 1976, Gerry Hassell (then Chairman) reported incredibly exciting news for the club:

‘As I mentioned in a previous article our main aim is to own our own Club House. This is no longer a dream, but is fast becoming a reality – We have brought from Kingston Council, for a nominal sum, a pre-cast concrete building that was due to be demolished… The conditions are that we remove the building from its current site and leave the site in a tidy order. We have also gained planning permission to re-erect it on spare ground leased to Chessington Rugby Club’.

The Committee asked for help to take the building down and then to re-erect it. They also needed fund-raising ideas. ‘In other words a complete combined effort of every member of Kingston Club’. Does anyone know if this referred to the current clubhouse in Tolworth? Let me know if you were there and got involved in this project.

In other news there’s an article by John Webber about surfacing from a dive with Andy Fraser to find that they’d drifted away from the boat. Two hours later, finding it was easier to lie face down in the water breathing through his snorkel rather than being buffeted by the waves he had the indignity of being manhandled out of the water by the RNLI who thought he had drowned!

There’s also a first-hand report by Gerry Hassell of the dive for radioactive discs on the James Egan Lane (previously reported here).

Less substantial matters included putting out feelers to see whether there would be support for a “Mrs Diver” page in the Newsletter for all those ‘non-diving wives’ (how times change!),

Next month: July 1974 – Essential nautical terms for novice divers!

Background

This 6935 ton steel cargo & passenger luxury liner, Kyarra was a beautiful twin masted schooner/rigged steamer built on the River Clyde, Scotland in 1903 for the Australian United Seam Navigation Co Ltd. After 10 years carrying cargo & passengers around Australia she was requisitioned by the British Gov in Oct 1914, painted white with large red crosses and fitted out as a hospital ship.

Later in the war in 1918, after an eventful career which includes services at Gallipoli, she arrived in London and was loaded with a general cargo to be shipped back to Australia along with a large no of war wounded being repatriated. On 24th May 1918 she sailed from Tilbury for Devonport, Plymouth towards the western end of the Channel where she was to embark her human cargo. On 26th May 1918, however, before she could do so, she was attacked and fatally wounded by UB-57 near Swanage, and sent to the bottom. Her exact position at the time unknown.

She then laid undetected until 1967 when Kingston’s involvement began.

Discovery

In July 1967 members of Kingston Branch namely, Ron Blake, Linden Blake, Adrian Bradley, Dave Wakeman, Bill Foley & 2 members of Hounslow Branch, Charlie Stoltz & John Coheagan were in Swanage diving from an inflatable trying to locate the wreck of the Carantan. After some considerable time of searching they picked up a wreck on the echo sounder and believing they had found the Carantan, prepared to dive. Ron & Linden Blake were the first to descend only to discover the wreck that they were diving was not the Carantan but the Kyarra. They discovered this by the brass name on the bow of the ship which at the time was still intact.

They were excited by their find and formed a company called the Kyarra Salvage Association with the intention at the time of salvaging the vessel. As time went on both Adrian Warren and Peter Barrett (Kingston members) were given shares.

In approx 1974, with the help of Commander Alan Bax and Owen Ganda from Fort Bovisand, they blew the prop off with the intention of salvaging. Unfortunately it lay on the sea bed for a further 2 years until under somewhat controversial circumstances, Dave Wakeman (one of the Kingston consortium)decided to salvage it. There was some heated discussion about his actions but later the proceeds were paid fully into the consortium funds.

In 1977 I was diving the wreck with Dave Taylor and Julian Banford when Julian discovered the bronze bell of the Kyarra. This bell to this day is held on behalf of the Kyarra Salvage Association by Dave Wakeman.

Ownership

This was the situation right up until the 1990’s when due to the retirement of various consortium members, it was suggested that ownership of the wreck of the Kyarra should be transferred in the name of the Kingston & Elmbridge BSAC. This once again caused some controversy between some of the original members of the Kyrra Salvage Association. However, 3 members namely Ron & Linden Blake & Adrian Warren decided to sell their shares for £1 each to Kingston & Elmbridge Dive Club. Therefore to clarify the situation and to avoid any confusion, the exact position is that the Kingston Branch own 3/9ths of the vessel and ex members of Kingston still to this day own 6/9ths (majority shares).

Today the wreck of the Kyarra lies in 30 metres of water just a short boat ride out of Swanage. Her rotting remains are perhaps England’s most visited wreck site and draws 1000’s of divers to her each year. Members of Kingston branch and Kyarra Salvage Association welcome divers to this wreck but request that no items be removed to preserve what remains there in good condition for all to enjoy.

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The Eddystone Lighthouse

There was a certain amount of speculation and disbelief as nobody had heard of bronze anchor chain before. So it was therefore believed to be quite old.

Imagine the surprise when stamped on one of the links was a broad arrow, and the date – 12.67!

The mystery was eventually solved when the navy confirmed that the chain and anchor had been lost from a wooden minesweeper.

The cost of the anchor and chain at the time was in the region of ｣2,000.

The chain and anchor were returned to the navy.

The club members involved in this were Julian Bamford, Peter Ollerenshaw, Doug Ramsey, Ann Raybould, John Jackson, Roger Dixon, John Mercer, Len Catermull and George Doswell (Diving Officer).

Did the divers recieve a salvage award?

How did they lift it?

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A now yellowing article from Trident magazine (BSAC’s official publication of the time) supplied by Gerry Hassell, Kingston & Elmbridge’s President, reveals the story behind the dramatic headline.

For those who don’t know the James Egan Lane was a Liberty ship, built in December 1944 and sunk in March 1945 in Whitsand Bay, West of Plymouth. She lies upright, in around 26 metres of water and is therefore very popular with novice divers or as a second dive.

Divers over the years had reported seeing strange glowing discs on the wreck and after reports in a West Country newspaper in 1975 that the holds were ‘carpeted with dead fish’ the Royal Navy investigated. However they found no dead fish and tests of the water showed there was no problem so no further action was taken.

Chief Petty Officer �Jan� Gardner briefs the divers (Gerry Hassell, Norman Haynes and Stuart Farman) prior to their inspection of the wreck’s hold (Click on image to view full size)

In 1976 Gerry Hassell was diving with Jon Weller who found some of the discs and brought them up to the surface with him. Gerry knew that they were probably radio-active and so threw them straight back in. Jon was curious though and wrote to the Hydrographic Department. They not only knew about the discs but had already put plans in place to close the wreck to divers because of the potential risk to health associated with the high levels of radioactivity.

The discs were actually forerunners of modern Catseyes®, and were used to aid aircraft landing in war-time. Pilots could see the glow from the discs and could use them to guide the planes in. Given the time the Egan Layne sank, it may be that these ones were destined for use on the allied advanced landing grounds in Europe.

On hearing of the plans to close the wreck, Gerry and fellow club members contacted the Hydrographic Office and were put in touch with the Royal Navy. This led to a meeting at Gerry’s house with Lt. Commander. Lampard, who was in charge of the Plymouth Command clearance diving team to agree a plan of action. The Navy were proposing to blow the wreck flat unless they had help locating the discs and recovering them.

The Navy’s diving tender was not very large and because of the restricted diving area it was agreed that only Gerry, Norman Hayes, Stuart Farman and his wife Bronwynne would be allowed to dive with the Navy’s clearance divers. The dive was scheduled for March but had to be delayed until May. On the allotted day were met at HMS Drake barracks in Devonport by Chief Petty Officer Diving ‘Jan’ Gardner who was in charge of the recovery expedition and were taken on board the dive tender Instow.

The wind was blowing a hearty 4-5 and this mean the original plan, to transfer to the dive site on inflatables was abandoned and the divers jumped in off the side of the Instow � a descent of two to ten-metres depending on where you stepped off!

All divers were required to have radioactive sensitive material taped onto their bare chests, wrists and forefingers to monitor radiation levels whilst underwater. Gerry, Norman and Stuart were the first team in with two Navy divers. When they reached the wreck they made for the number one hold at the bow, where many of the discs were located in lead-covered boxes about 18-inches square, and attached a heavy hawser to it. This was attached to a marker buoy.

They then began gathering up the many discs lying loose so that they could be collected the following day. Each disc was �about 2-and-a-half inches across and a-quarter-of-an-inch thick and looked rather like two pieces of circular Perspex encapsulating a faintly luminous pale-green centre, about the size of a road tax disc�. Stuart bought two complete boxes to the surface for examination and they were found to contain around 240 discs. On the surface the weather had shown no signs of improvement so it was decided to leave the remaining boxes until the following day.

Back on board the Instow the finds were being examined. The boxes were put in yellow drums, marked ‘Danger: Radioactive Waste’. Geiger counters placed near the drums gave quite strong readings. Readings taken from the material taped to their bodies showed that the radioactivity levels in water were not the high.

On day two, the wind had reduced to a Force 2 which boded well but it had been decided that those who had dived the previous day would not be allowed to return to number one hold because of the danger of over-exposure to radioactivity. In the event Gerry, Norman and Stuart were cleared to dive the rest of the site to check for stray discs but were only allowed a very limited amount of time in number one hold. Two fresh Navy divers continued the removal of boxes from number one hold. A probe containing a radioactivity counter was lowered down to the wreck on an umbilical cord; several hotspots in the hold which recorded high levels were identified.

Although the majority of discs had been retrieved � the final number of retrieved discs was 2000 � they were still concerns about allowing divers access to the wreck if the radioactivity levels had not been sufficiently reduced. To evaluate the levels dives would need to be made the following day – and possibly the day after – to try to establish if the levels were low enough.

Therefore on day three, Gerry, Norman and two Navy divers lifted the remaining boxes of broken discs and the probe was lowered again. One major ‘hotspot’ and two minor ones were found and a further dive revealed part of another box of discs at the major ‘hotspot’ and single ones at the other two. These were all recovered.

Following analysis of the discs, it was decided that the James Egan Lane was safe to dive on without fear of exposure to radio-activity and that there was little danger of divers being able to pick up loose discs although it possible that discs remain on the site, buried out of view. Readings taken at the time showed that each disc recorded an average reading of 50 mr (milli-rems) per hour. This compared with the acceptable radioactivity dosage level for a civilian of 500 mr per year.

Needless to say if you do happen to see something glowing when you dive the wreck, any discs should be retrieved, handled carefully and immediately handed in to the authorities who can arrange for its disposal.

Kingston Sub-Aqua Club, as we were originally known, was formed on the 15th February 1955 at an inaugural meeting held at the Y.M.C.A. Eden St. Kingston. The meeting was opened by Pauline Ady and addressed by Oscar Gugan, Chairman of the British Sub-Aqua Club. The cost of the evening was 10/6, (52.5p). A small start to a club that has been one of the most successful within the B.S.A.C., and has trained many thousand divers. It is impossible to say how many we have trained but in 50 years we have had an average membership of 140, rising to over 200 for a while. You can work it out for yourselves.

Major Hume Wallace ﾐ President of our branch from 1967 until 1995. Hume was at the inaugural meeting of Kingston Diving Club in 1955 along with Pauline Adey, Ron Hyde, Toby Charlton, and Tom Spires, where they formed Branch number seventeen.

This is not going to be a history of the club, but I have looked at some of the older minutes and tried to find a few things of interest or amusement. By the 15th March 1955 we had 32 members and were providing training every other week at the Kingston Baths, for the sum of 3 Guineas (｣3.15) and members charged 2/- (10p) to go swimming. The first meeting raised enough to show a surplus of 5p. Is this the only time the pool has shown a profit?

We often discuss circulating members with information and the newsletter, but this is not new. Our predecessors had the same problem and resolved it by spending the princely sum of ｣2/10 for a second hand, hand operated duplicator.

The branch had really progressed by May 1955 and purchased some compressed air breathing equipment, probably a good purchase for a diving club. Very lengthy discussions are recorded on the best kit to buy from what was then a very limited choice. There was also a decision to hold a raffle to raise funds for the equipment. It was also felt that a diving logbook of some sort was needed but no design was agreed upon. Kingston was on its way.

For some reason there is a gap in the minute book and the next record I have is from April 1960. If anyone can shed light on where these missing minutes may be I would be more than grateful. Several pints will be exchanged for information leading to their recovery.

By now we had a structured organisation and the need to identify instructors was recognised. Armbands were obtained for the instructors to wear and these would be kept at the baths. (couldn’t the instructors swim, or have I misunderstood the type of armband?) There was to be a charge of 3/- for filling a standard bottle and 2/- for a dumpy. I assume by now we had our own compressor although this again is not clear.

The Diving Officer reported that members who were not 3rd Class (sort of between ocean and sports) were going diving at Brighton without his knowledge and permission and this was to stop. (Only the location changes). In September 1960 we purchased a load hailer but there is no reason given for this purchase or what it may have been used for. The filling of bottles is a bit of a mystery as we only agreed to purchase a compressor at this meeting for the sum of ｣70, but no agreement could be reached on buying a boat. I believe this was a portable compressor and we already had a fixed compressor. There is a part of the minutes a bit later that says the compressor had not returned from Spain but again no reason for it being there and did it ever return, perhaps it is still in use in some backstreet Spanish dive centre.

A dinner and dance was to be held on the 5th December 1960, but I cannot find out if this was the first one due to the absence of some minutes. It is recorded that tickets were 15/- each and 120 tickets printed but I cannot work out where it was held or if it showed a profit. It is recorded that members were to be limited to 1 guest each.

A member who shall remain nameless was asked by the committee why he had a 1st Class Diver Badge on his swimming trunks and told them he had inadvertently bought the wrong badge; it should have been 3rd class. The reason he was displaying this badge was that his wife had sewn it on the wrong trunks. It remains a mystery to this day as to what difference it makes as to which pair of trunks it was on.

There are many more examples of purchases and decisions the club made in these early days. For example where to buy sheets of neoprene from, so members could cut out and make their own wetsuits. How to ensure only qualified divers went on dives. The costs of dives, and what to do when members did not turn up for dives they were booked on and did not pay, 50 years on not a lot has changed, although I have not seen anyone laying on a sheet of neoprene to create a wet suit pattern for a while.

I hope these extracts have given a very small insight into Kingston & Elmbridge branch back in the early days. I would like to compile a complete record of the club as there is a wealth of information and experience which may otherwise be lost. If a couple of people would like to offer their services to help it would be much appreciated. Any memories and pictures anyone has would be very useful. Details in writing would be preferred but if you want to relate some interesting excerpt from our history over a pint (your round) I will be happy to listen.

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