Newfoundland - Resting Place for Bones of the Past

NORTHEAST DIVE NEWS

NEWFOUNDLAND

Newfoundland resting place for bones of the past Story and photos by Larry Cohen and Polina Reznikov

Most travel divers go from a cold environment to one with warm air, warm water and palm trees. We escaped New York’s 100 degree heat wave for Canada’s Newfoundland province where the air was a nippy 45F and the water even colder. ewfoundland (pronounced Nufin-Lánd) is an island northeast of Nova Scotia. Our home for 10 days was the Ocean Quest Dive Lodge in Conception Bay South near the city of St. John’s. Ocean Quest is a full-service dive shop and training facility with experience at helping visiting divers become more comfortable and safe in these cold waters. This is advanced, but not necessarily technical diving. Any advanced diver who is comfortable in warm water can acclimate to Newfoundland diving with just a little more training.

One big draw of the 32 degrees water is the spectacular marine life. Cold-water corals and anemones are gigantic compared with those in warmer waters. Abundant fish

LIVEABOARD

ADVENTURES Captain Hank Garvin

WRECK DIVING JOIN US FOR WRECK HUNTING TRIPS Cruise in comfort and search for new wrecks to explore or dive one of the known wrecks.

Photo by Larry Cohen

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▲ Anemones on the Lord Strathcoma make a beautiful garden. Photographed with the Olympus E-410, 7 to 14mm lens in Olympus housing, two Sea & Sea YS-110 strobes. (Larry Cohen pictured above)

life includes ocean pouts, lumpfish, wolf eels and sculpins. In July, whales come into the area to feed. Another reason to dive here is the history of the sunken wrecks and the regional whaling industry.

Bell Island wrecks tell fascinating stories of World War II. In the 1890s high-grade iron ore was discovered and mined here. In the 1930’s, most of this ore went to Germany.

Once the war broke out, shipments to Germany ceased and the ore was redirected to support the Allied Forces. Germany knew how important the iron ore was to the Allied war effort, so they attempted to disrupt its flow to Europe. Doing so posed little challenge to German U-Boats, since Germany already knew the harbor.

On Sept. 4, 1942, the ore carriers SS Saganaga, SS Lord Strathcona and PLM 27 were at anchor off Lance Cove, Bell Island.

That night, using the freighter Evelyn B as cover, the German U-513, under the control of Commander Rolf Ruggeburg, entered Wabana Harbor and rested on the bottom until the following morning. After surfacing, U-513 was spotted and fired upon by the Evelyn B. Although damaged, it fired two torpedoes, sinking the Saganaga. While maneuvering, the Strathcona hit the U-boat and damaged the conning tower. Recovering quickly from the blow, U-513 fired two more torpedoes and sank the Strathcona, after which the U-boat made her escape, again using the Evelyn B as cover. On the Saganaga

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NEWFOUNDLAND

▲ Darryl Leniuk explores the underbelly of an iceberg.

Photographed with the Nikon D200, 12 to 24mm lens in Sea & Sea housing, one Sea & Sea YS-110 and one Ikelite DS-125 strobe.

unique dive sites here. Down the coast in Trinity Bay is South Dildo, a former whaling center that’s now a fishing village. In the water in front of the whale processing plant are the bones of many of these unfortunate animals. This is a shore dive.

Near the dock, there is a mixture of fresh and saltwater creating a blurry effect called a halocline. The water is very green; adding to the surreal feeling on this dive.

From whale graveyards we move to the inspiring sight of icebergs. When I realized this was a 10,000-year old chunk of ice that calved off a glacier in Greenland, I thought, wow. It takes about three years for the berg to end up in Iceberg Alley in Newfoundland. The ice is so condensed that, when used in a drink back at the lodge, some claim that it will last five hours (the ice, not the drink). The lodge has a freezer filled with iceberg ice.

Diving icebergs is done from an inflatable

Photo by Polina Reznikov

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Photo by Polina Reznikov

29 died and 14 survived the Strathcona but the crew abandon ship safely. The actions of the Evelyn B’s crew probably saved the PLM 27 from the same fate as the other ships.

Two months later, on Nov. 4, the PLM 27 and the SS Rose Castle were anchored in the same location. Commander Friedrich Wissmann surfaced the U-518 about 1 kilometer south of the Rose Castle and fired a torpedo at a nearby coal boat. It missed and struck the Scotia Pier, two more torpedoes were fired on the Rose Castle, sinking her with the loss of 28 lives. When the torpedo hit the pier, Bell Island residents expected a landing by the Germans. Parents dressed themselves and their children in their Sunday best, anxiously awaiting an invasion but it never occurred. This was the only land attack on North America during World War II. The PLM 27, which had by now witnessed the sinking of three of its fellow freighters, sent up a flare to light the scene. U-518 responded by firing another torpedo, which sank PLM 27 in around 90 seconds killing 12 crewmen, before it successfully escaped.

The 15 survivors from the Rose Castle and 38 from the PLM 27 made their own way to shore, since no rescue boats available.

These wrecks are well preserved with many artifacts undisturbed. Many Eastern Seaboard wrecks were wire-dragged and blown up getting rid of navigational hazards and eliminate U-Boat hiding places but the Bell Island wrecks are all intact and upright.

Besides the wrecks, there are other

NORTHEAST DIVE NEWS

▲ Larry Cohen comes across a whale skull.

Photographed with the Nikon D200, 12 to 24mm lens in Sea & Sea housing, one Sea & Sea YS-110 and one Ikelite DS-125 strobe.

boat, with safety being of the utmost concern.

Icebergs are constantly reconfiguring. The Ocean Quest team is expert at identifying the bergs that are most stable and accessible to divers but they are unpredictable. It is important to be alert. Unless the berg is grounded, it will bob up and down, causing a lot of surge. This can be very disorientating and even cause some divers to become seasick underwater. ■ Learn more at: www.oceanquestcharters.com.

Larry Cohen teaches underwater photography at dive shops and clubs. Larry is the underwater imaging technical writer at B&H Photo, NY. He has crewed on the John Jack, a New Jersey-based dive boat. A founding member of the New York Underwater Photo Society, Larry is a past president of the New York City Sea Gypsies and a member of Ocean Blue Divers in Manhattan. Contact Larry and Polina at larry@liquidimagesuw.com.

Conception Bay South minutes from St. John’s along the Admirals Coast

Charters from Cornwall to Brockville Eastcliffe Hall Belly Dumper Miles Roche Powerhouse Hoople Creek Bridge Fred Mercur

Julie and Francois Malette

613-862-0907

www.wetbeaver.ca 12

Home of the Kelligrews Soiree

* Spend a day at Topsail Beach Rotary Park * Explore the trails at Manuels River Linear Park * Visit the famous Kelligrews Soiree For information, drop by the Manuels River Chalet or call (709) 834-2099 email: ajanes@conceptionbaysouth.ca or call (709) 834-6518 The warmest climate in Newfoundland & Labrador and ...we are not just referring to our weather. www.nedivenews.com

Northeast & Midwest Dive News SEPTEMBER 2008