On the 2nd of June 1993 a tiny yellow and white passenger ferry was craned off the slipway at the Swan Hunter shipyard on the river Tyne. It was to be the last vessel built at the yard, last in a long list that included the Carpathia, Mauretania, Afrique, HMS Edinburgh, HMS Ark Royal to name only a handful.
Countless ships were either built on the Tyne or repaired there during both world wars. HMS Prince of Wales left the Tyne and steamed at top speed into the wasteland of the North Atlantic looking for Bismarck. Civilian workers from the famous Vickers small armaments factory were still on board, and when Bismarck was sunk her survivors were brought back to the Tyne. In times of peace the Tyne never rested. 'Taking coals to Newcastle' is an old expression often used to illustrate the futility of something. Most of the world's shipping needed coal, and Newcastle had lots of it. The massive mining industry fuelled the hundreds of ships that visited the river every year, whilst the mines needed a seemingly endless supply of pit props, and a large number of Tyne wrecks were recorded as having these items on their manifest. Likewise coal is often listed as a cargo as ships tried to deliver it to coaling stations all over the empire.
The German Luftwaffe made nightly visits to the river to drop mines into the shipping channel, U Boats prowled, never far away and there were even a significant number of vessels lost in collision due to the sheer volume of traffic. Ships have run aground and disappeared mysteriously. For several miles in every direction around the entrance to the River Tyne, the seabed is literally a scrapyard offering some of the most exciting and unexploited wreck diving in the UK. Tides are not a problem and it is only necessary to travel a couple of miles offshore at most.
Just to the South of the river lies the largest wreck on the East coast. Little known outside of Tyneside, she is the OSLOFJORD, sixteen and a half thousand tons of Norwegian American Lines passenger Liner. Built in Bremen shortly before the war, she was claimed by a magnetic mine just off the Tyne entrance. The ship was beached in the hope that the salvage team would be able to patch her up, pump her out and float her off on the next big tide. It was not to be. Winter gales knocked her down and she now lies, all 600ft of her, in about 12 metres of water. If this wasn't enough, another ship, the Greek cargo steamer EUGENIA CHANDRIS, struck the wreckage shortly afterwards and sank on top of the Oslofjord. Carrying a cargo of bullets, pom-pom shells, aluminium and copper ingots, Eugenia Chandris is perfect for novice wreck divers and if you don't come back with a pocket full of bullets it's time to give up diving. This is a simply massive dive site, every winter storms turn the wreckage over and enormous pieces of structure disappear without trace whilst new pieces arrive as if from nowhere. Every year Oslofjord yields more of her treasure, cutlery, crockery, portholes, cabin door keys with the name of the ship stamped into them, you name it. I have dived Oslofjord for almost ten years and every year has been different. Everyone can find the wreck and it's possible to dive it every day for a week and not see all of it. From novice wreck divers to avid brass hunters, this wreck has it all.
At the opposite end of the scale, just a little further out and slightly north lies a tiny wreck. The small tug Hercules was towing an empty hopper barge into the river when she detonated a mine. It must have been acoustic or magnetic because she sank absolutely intact and upright. One man survived the blast and dragged himself into the hopper barge. Of the other two crewmen there was no trace. Lying in 20metres of water she is perfect from stem to stern with the exception of her superstructure which has been wiped from the upper deck in its entirety. Very scenic and absolutely impossible to get lost on, she is widely known to the locals and no one will mind taking the time to show visiting divers where to find the wreck. Hercules is a spectacular night dive and is always swarming with cod and pollack - it's usually possible to pick up a lobster or two as well.
On New Years Eve 1916 the Tyne pilot cutter Protector left the river to escort a vessel in. On the chart is a circle, just North of the river entrance and about a mile offshore. In that circle is one word - 'pilots' - this is where Protector was headed. No doubt her crew were keen to see the job through and enjoy what they could of the New Year celebrations but they never came home. In all, nineteen men were lost. The chart shows a wreck symbol lying just outside of the circle and this is documented as the wreck site. There is no wreck on this site however, and it wasn't until 1995 that we found the Protector. She lies in 25metres of water, two miles from her given position, upright and devastated by a mine. Her bow is utterly demolished, the stem lying on its side and the shanks of the two anchors bent like bananas. The engine has been smashed and lies just within the hull on the port side whilst the single boiler lies burst and blown through the side of the ship, the propeller shaft is bent into a hairpin. It is very unlikely that her crew had any idea what had happened and even less likely that they ever had a chance of escape. Protector is a haunting dive and she is largely unexplored. Not many people know where she lies but a bit of asking around will turn up the position.
Sometimes, depending on how much rainwater is coming out of the river and which way the tide carries it, the wrecks immediately off the river mouth suffer from poor visibility. Travel a little North and it is possible to find clear water again. One of the most popular wrecks to the North is HM yacht Mollusc. She lies in 33 metres of water off Blyth, about four miles North of the Tyne. She was a beautiful old steam yacht belonging originally to the Guinness family. Built with the best materials, to the highest standard, her clipper ship bow and figurehead are still intact. She was requisitioned by His Majesty to protect the entrance to the river Blyth during WW2. Fitted with a gun and loaded with ammunition, it was her job to stand off the river entrance and offer the first line of defence to the vital submarine pens located in the river. She was attacked by German aircraft, shot at and bombed, it was an uneven struggle and she rolled over and died. Well known and often dived in the summer months, Mollusc, like every wreck off this coast gives up more treasure every year. There are boxes of brass shell cases sunk in the seabed around the bow, portholes on the stern and rumour has it that there is a huge reward for the bell when it eventually turns up. Well worth a visit, the Mollusc.
There are literally hundreds of wrecks off the Tyne, it is possible to dive every day for the entire season and not see the same wreck twice. Admittedly, the season is quite short, visibility is a problem until around the end of June and then it's green for about six weeks until the algae bloom is over. August and September offer the best conditions especially after a period of light Westerly winds, it is sometimes possible to dive part way through October but the season is about over by then. There are campsites, caravans or cheap B&B's on both sides of the river. North of the Tyne is Whitley Bay, holiday resort and a great place to go out on the town. Likewise, South Shields on the other side is renowned for the same reasons. Newcastle itself is a twenty minute ride away by public transport and is one of the most highly rated cities in Europe for its nightlife. Launching is simple. North of the river, launch at Cullercoats harbour and to the South, there is a slip at the yacht club at the mouth of the river itself. Possibly the best approach would be to turn up on the beach on Friday night/Saturday Morning and just ask the first diver you see. Air or Nitrox can be obtained locally and being a holiday resort there are a multitude of places to eat as well as several well appointed dive shops.
Two hours from Leeds, three hours from Manchester, good food, first class pubs, cheap accommodation and some of the best diving to be had off the East coast, Diving the Tyne is well worth a weekend away.

By Bill Smith.