The temperature on my dive computer reads -1C. As I descend down the mooring line, the faint outline of the shipwreck comes into view. It's mid-June and I'm diving on the SS Rose Castle, a 138-metre-long merchant ship sunk in the Second World War off Bell Island, in Newfoundland's Conception Bay, 20 kilometres west of St. John's.
Earl Blundon, my guide from Ocean Quest charters, leads me past soft-coral-draped masts to a pilothouse on the main deck. He shines his light in the open doorway. A rusty fuse box and white transistors dangle from bare metal walls. It's the ship's Marconi Room, where radio operators would have desperately tried to call for help as the German submarine U-518 fired two torpedoes into the Rose Castle's hull on the morning of Nov. 2, 1942.
The ship exploded and sank within minutes, taking down 28 crew. Minutes later, another merchant ship, the PLM 27, was also sunk, taking another 12 lives.
Only two months before, on Sept. 5, another German sub had entered Conception Bay and sank the SS Lord Strathcona and the SS Saganaga.
On the SS Lord Strathcona, an anemone-covered companionway makes an interesting swim-through. The ore carrier was torpedoed and sunk off Bell Island by a German submarine on Sept. 5, 1942. In the 1940s, the island’s mines were the largest producers of iron ore in the British Commonwealth – an essential part of the war effort. (Darryl Leniuk for The Globe and Mail)
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Both U-Boats escaped.
This wartime tragedy has produced some of the best cold-water wreck dives in the world. "They're a time capsule," says Rick Stanley, who runs Ocean Quest charters and has been bringing divers to the wrecks for the past 11 years. Frigid waters have preserved them beautifully.
Outfitted with one of Ocean Quest's drysuits, I was surprisingly comfortable for more than 40 minutes underwater.
Currently the wrecks are protected under Transport Canada's Receiver of Wrecks program, which lacks teeth to safeguard the ships from theft. Although most artifacts remain, Stanley has seen some interesting relics disappear. "Brass portholes and plaques have gone missing this year," he says.
He has taken on the unofficial role of steward for the Bell Island wrecks and has installed mooring lines to prevent anchor damage from dive boats. He hopes to eventually have the shipwrecks declared a National Historic Site, which would give them broad protection and make pilfering a serious punishment. "We consider them an underwater museum."
Pack your bags
Getting there
To reach Bell Island, drive 20 minutes west on Highway 40 from St. John's to Portugal Cove. The ferry takes 20 minutes.
Diving
The season is May to October. Two dives on the wrecks cost $205, including all equipment. A three-night, four-dive package costs $499 and includes accommodations, breakfasts and lunches; a seven-night, 10-dive package costs $1,299. OceanQuest's three-storey lodge in Conception Bay South sleeps 12 and is well furnished with hardwood floors and ocean views. An adjoining indoor pool is used for scuba courses. Boats include two rigid-bottom Zodiacs and a 12-metre cabin cruiser for day trips to the wrecks. For more information, call 1-866-623-2664 or visit www.oceanquestcharters.com.
More information
For travel to St. John's, visit www.destinationstjohns.com.
For travel to Newfoundland
and Labrador, visit www.newfoundlandandlabrador.com.
Special to The Globe and Mail
