"Mount Everest" of scuba diving

[jale]

Strong current; 5min & 50bar consumed to pull yourself on the downline/grappling hook to 48m depth; murky & variable visibility at the bottom; wreck heavily damaged by aerial bombs, sunk-in-action & capsized to port (spatial orientation & entanglement hazards upon penetration: decks are now overheads --and overheads now are decks, engines/boilers/shaft-gearing/heavy machinery all precariously hanging on the ceiling). . .

Helium/Oxygen gas supply logistics & dive support challenges; belligerent subsistence fishermen at divesite; post 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami coastal infrastructure damage; post Sri Lankan Civil War political instability.

i.e.) All a typical HMS Hermes Expedition. . .

:chuckle:
Sorry but could not stop myself...

 

[RJP]

It always used to be said that the Andrea Doria was the "Mount Everest" of scuba diving (to the extent that Google even suggests it as a term: Google mount+everest+scuba+diving).

However, what used to be tremendously challenging dive during the days before trimix, rebreathers and sophisticated dive computers has lost some of its lustre. It must be seriously doubtful that skilled technical divers would consider the wreck the apex of challenging dives any more.

So if we were going to relocate to a new "Mount Everest", and assuming we want to stick with deep wrecks, where would we put it? If the parameters are (i) it has to be a dive that only very skilled and experienced divers could reasonably contemplate, and (ii) it has to be somewhere with the infrastructure to dive it, which wreck would you nominate?

I was reading about the Transylvania in the latest edition of Wreck Diving, and I thought that would make an excellent candidate. At 450 feet deep, and located off the northern coast of Ireland, it strikes me as a pretty worthy successor. The Brittanic might be another, although I think access to the wreck is restricted?

For the same reason that K2 isn't the Everest of climbing.

As with climbing, it's not just about the height (or depth) or difficulty it's about the overall allure of the site. For most people, getting to the rail of the Andrea Doria brings with it all of the romance and high-seas adventure and intrigue surrounding the circumstances that put it on the bottom.

For many people it would be hard to get the same thing from telling people at a cocktail party that they dove The Gunilda.

 

[RJP]

It always used to be said that the Andrea Doria was the "Mount Everest" of scuba diving

Plus, if you really think about it...

Over the years, with the advances in techniques in general, a more thorough understanding of the environment/physiology/theory, far better equipment than the first who got there, and a sufficient number of operators willing to take folks who want to say they've done it... we're at the point where almost anyone with a little training and a enough money can probably get there and come back alive to tell the tale.

Sounds like the Doria is in fact the Everest of diving.

 

[diverdoug1]

In the first half of the 90's, I lived in the northeast, and was lucky enough to get to dive the Andrea Doria 6 times. At that time I didn't have any "Mount Everest" feelings about it, I just wanted to get some cool artifacts. I don't have any mountaneering experience, but having watched some Discovery channel shows about Everest, it certainly seems much more difficult to climb Everest, than my dives on the Doria were. I feel that tagging the bottom of the bosmangat sink hole (where Dave Shaw passed away) may be worthy of being called the "Mount Everest" of diving, Here in south Florida, I have heard the Eagle's Nest cave system called the "Mount Everest". Sorry , I am of topic not talking about wrecks

 

[Rhone Man]

Doing any dives for bragging rights or to prove something is a bit dumb, and this kind of Everest discussion doesn't really help.

That might be fair comment, but I suspect that in reality an awful lot of challenging dives are done for bragging rights. I don't think all those guys brought up plates and cups from the Andrea Doria to drink off when they could buy them a lot cheaper at a fine china store.

Over the years, with the advances in techniques in general, a more thorough understanding of the environment/physiology/theory, far better equipment than the first who got there, and a sufficient number of operators willing to take folks who want to say they've done it... we're at the point where almost anyone with a little training and a enough money can probably get there and come back alive to tell the tale.

Sounds like the Doria is in fact the Everest of diving.

Touche!

 

[diverdoug1]

The china and other artifacts I bring up from wrecks aren't for bragging so much as I like to have a little piece of history in my hands. It is also now nice to have these artifacts as mementos of my past dives. I guess if someone wants to dive a certain dive (or do any other activity for that matter) just to brag about it, I guess that is reason enough for them. Seems like a strange motivation to me, but whatever floats your boat.

 

[Superlyte27]

If we're going with the Everest of Scuba (not just the Everest of Wrecks) then I still gotta vote for either Eagle's Nest or Dipolders. Neither of which have seen the traffic that K2 or the Real Everest has seen, or even the Doria.

 

[coglesby]

I'm starting to think that the Doria retains the crown, until something more appealing is found.

She won the crown in the 60's because at that time, it was one of the world's most difficult dives, right? Diving on air at 200'+ was a challenge, especially in the cold NE waters with ever-changing conditions. Here we are 40 plus years later, still talking about her. So what has changed? We now have better gear, more accessability to the site, mixed gasses to combat the depths.....but we still have the chilly waters to deal with on the dive and deco stops, we still have the ever-changing conditions, and she still gives up her treasure to those that are diligently in pursuit of it. However, even with all of the advances (which also has enabled inexperienced wreck divers access to the dive), she is now deteriorating and collapsing. Most importantly, aside from the deterioration, which comes with it's own set of hazards, she is enveloped with 40 + years of fishing nets swaying in the current just waiting to snarl a diver.

Might she be more formiddable now given the changes and the false sense of security that divers may have, due to the number of successful dives on her?

 

[DCBC]

I dove the Andria Doria on air in 1980 with a group of Navy divers; it was challenging for me. Other candidates could be the SMS Baden (a huge Battleship that was Germany's Flagship in WW1). She's lies in 590 ft of water in the English Channel (southwest of Portsmouth). RMS Carpathia (514'), The German Battleship Ostfriesland (380'), HMHS Britannic (390'?), or some of the deep wrecks off Nova Scotia and George's Bank (because of the current hazards). That hasn't even touched the Pacific. We would need to set-up a Committee to determine the finalists. LOL

 

[Blackwood]

She won the crown in the 60's because at that time, it was one of the world's most difficult dives, right?

Most of the more difficult dives in the world were around then too.

That hasn't even touched the Pacific.

Speaking of which, some of the San Diego crew recently located what they think is a battleship at about 450'. Some of the rebreather guys are doing some workup dives in preparation.

HMHS Britannic

Oddball ignorant question:

What's the functional limit for atmospheric diving? Is it conceivable, for example, to use one to dive Britannic's sister (at what, 12500')? Or is that just beyond the technology (and if so, why)?