Looe, South East Cornwall, is a thriving fishing port lying in the heart of the Cornish Riviera Coastline, just over an hours drive past Exeter. Looe is situated between Plymouth and Fowey and over 300 'listed' wrecks lie between Rame Head, the headland to the East of Plymouth Sound and the Dodman Point, the headland to the West of Fowey. Many ships floundered as a result of the First and Second World Wars and lie in deeper water 60m - 90m off Looe. Such wrecks, being at least 10 - 20 miles offshore, require diving to take place at slack tide, with deco stations the prefered method for long hangs.
HMS A7, an early British A Class submarine, was built by Vickers Sons and Maxim Ltd at Barrow-in-Furness and launched in 1905. She was commissioned on 13 April 1905 with a crew consisting of 2 officers and 9 ratings. The A7 was 105 ft long with a beam of just over 12 ft. Her operating depth was 50 ft with a maximum diving depth of 100 ft. The A7 was the first submarine in the Royal Navy to be fitted with hydroplanes on her conning tower. She was powered by a single 600 BHP petrol engine and a 150 BHP electric motor, propelling her to a cruising speed of 11 knots when surfaced and 6 knots when submerged. Her fuel capacity was 7 tons of gasoline which gave her a range of 325 miles at full power when surfaced and 20 miles at 6 knots when submerged. This A Class sub was equipped with two 18 inch bow torpedo tubes and she carried four torpedoes, two in the tubes and two spare.
From 1908 HMS Onyx became the submarine section depot ship, based in Devonport. The submarines at Devonport were confined to running two days a week in the Submarine Exercise area in Whitsand Bay, just to the East of Looe. On 16 January 1914 HMS A7 left Devonport with Lt G M Welman in command for exercises in Whitsand Bay with the depot ship HMS Onyx, the gunboat HMS Pygmy and five other submarines. HMS A7 and HMS A9 took up station off Rame Head and completed two attacks on the gunboat HMS Pygmy. At 11:10, as the Pygmy started her next run, the A7 dived.
It soon became apparent that the attack had failed after the A7 failed to resurface. The Pygmy steamed towards Rame Head in search of the A7. On spotting an oil/petrol slick, the area was marked. The wreck was not located for a further six days, when she was found lying upright at an angle of 35 degrees, with her stern buried deep in the mud. Because of bad weather and heavy swells, no attempt was made to pull the A7 from the mud until 28 January 1914. A 5.5 inch hawser was secured to a forward end eye plate, but the pull fractured the eye plate. Further unsuccessful attempts were made with a larger hawser on 17 February, but ten days later the operation had to be abandoned. HMS A7 was left as a war grave.
Today the A7 lies horizontal on the seabed in 37m at low water and 41 m at high water. The conning tower stands 3m proud of the deck which makes her hard to find in anything more than a Force 4 sea. With the use of Differential GPS system location is somewhat easier! The seabed surrounding the wreck is very silty so good buoyancy control is essential on this dive - or make sure you get in first! When swimming from the conning tower to the bow, there are two large deck hatches forward of the conning tower. Forward of the hatch covers is a small hole in the deck that enables you to see inside where, the last time I dived her, I saw three juvenile crawfish. The A7 is not a massive wreck and you can happily navigate the whole site with a 15 minute bottom time making it a perfect dive for the Advanced Nitrox diver. You must respect the grave - look, but don't touch.
The Rosehill was a 2,788 ton collier steam ship, originally built in Sunderland in 1911 and named the Minster, she was owned by the shipping company Stephen Clarke. She was 95m long and powered by a 3 cylinder engine with single screw. The Rosehill carried a crew of 24 and was armed with a 12lb 4inch gun on her stern. On 23 September 1917 the Rosehill was on a voyage from Cardiff to deliver coal to Devonport.
Two miles off Fowey, the German Submarine UB-40 was laying in wait on the surface. At 6:05pm the UB-40 fired her deadly kiss to the Rosehill. The crew escaped in their own boats, to return three quarters of an hour later. With her propeller still turning the crew had to wait for the engine to stop as the steam pressure fell, before re-boarding. She was in no immediate danger of sinking and so was taken in tow. With so much time lost waiting to re-board, she sank before reaching her destination.
Today the Rosehill lies in 30m of water, just 10 - 15 minutes by RIB from Looe. She is quite broken up but there is still loads to see. Two boilers stand 6m high, containing several congers and Tompot Blennys. After a fair swim heading west to the stern, you will find the 12lb gun, still on its swivel mounting, with the barrel pointing straight up to the surface. On swimming round the stern you will see the rudder lying flat on the seabed and her big prop sticking out of the sand. The Rosehill is a good dive but it takes several visits to get to know her. She was first dived in 1978 by divers from Looe.
The Eastfield was a 2,145 ton armed merchant collier steam ship, built in 1901 by Osbourne Graham & Co in Sunderland. She was 286 ft long with a beam of 43 ft and powered by a 3 cylinder 212 hp engine with single screw. The Eastfield carried a crew of 23 and was armed with a single 90mm gun mounted on her stern.
On 27 November 1917 the Eastfield was on a voyage from Newport to deliver her cargo of coal to Dieppe. At 10.40am the German Submarine UB-57 fired a single torpedo without warning. The torpedo was sighted just 200 yards from the Eastfield and struck the cross bunker. All but one of the crew were picked up by the Mevagissey lifeboat and landed there. Today the wreck lies in 52 - 55m, depending on tide, 7 miles East of the Dodman Point. She stands 8m from the seabed and lies east to West. Her holds appear empty but the engine and her two boilers can be seen in the engine room area. The bow, forward holds and bridge area are still intact. The ship's bell and emergency steering can be seen on display at the Charlestown Shipwreck Centre which is a good place to visit if your diving is blown out. The Eastfield is a good Technical Nitrox dive, best dived at slack tide. Be careful if swimming to the bow as there is a lot of net strewn about.
The Orchis was a 483 ton steam ship, built in 1918 by R Cock & Co in Appledore. She was 45m long with a beam of 8m and powered by a 3 cylinder 72 hp engine with single screw. The Orchis carried a crew of 9 and her cargo was China Clay.
On 30 November 1935 the Orchis was on a voyage from Par Docks, laden with China Clay to deliver to Aberdeen and Dundee. Just four miles off Polperro a leak was discovered in the engine room. The leak was so serious that an immediate order to man the lifeboat was given. As soon as the crew had got into the lifeboat, the Orchis sank by the stern. Today the Orchis lies in 43 - 46m, depending on tide, just a short distance from Looe and Polperro and is a good dive for the Advanced Nitrox Diver.

ADVANCED SPORT / TECHNICAL DIVES FROM LOOE

Name	Type	Depth(M)	Date Lost	Level Of Dive
James Egan Layne	Liberty Ship	Bow 7 - Stern 21	1945	Sport
Rosehill	Steamship	31	1917	Sport /Advanced Nitrox
A7	Submarine	40	1914	Advanced Nitrox
Orchis	Steamship	44	1935	Advanced Nitrox/ Technical Nitrox
Eastfield	Steamship	55	1917	Technical Nitrox
Unicorn	Steamship	53	1923	Technical Nitrox
Butetown	Steamship	58	1918	Technical Nitrox/Trimix
Shoal Fischer	Motor Vessel	Deck 56 - Stern 64	1941	Technical Nitrox/Trimix
Charlwood	Iron Barque	Deck 56 - S/Bed 64	1891	Technical Nitrox/ Trimix
H52	Submarine	S/Bed 62	1937	Technical Nitrox/Trimix

By John Bass.