Even
more mysterious are the shipwrecks, especially if you are aware
of the stories behind them. The Mediterranean is littered with wrecks,
although some are strictly for the technical divers. The Lebanese
coast however, offers a few interesting ones. The Souffleur,
a French Vichy submarine, met its match in WWII, and sank in front
of Khalde, 36 meters deep. It had engine problems, and was forced
to recharge its batteries during the day.
An easy target for the British submarine Parthian. Of the 50 sailors,
only 4 came out alive. The English sub never made it back to base
either and sank on their way back home.
The
Souffleur, WWII French Submarine
Then there is a big
freighter in the bay of Jounieh, the Alice B
which sank to 35 meters during the civil war in Lebanon in the 80's.
The Macedonia, a freighter from 1962 lies
at a depth of 16 meters, while The National Star,
a freighter that sank in 1991 lies at a depth of 52 meters, when
she started taking water; the crew had no time getting the life
boats ready in time and had to jump overboard to save their lives.
The
Souffleur, courtesy of Raymond Abdelnour
The HMS
Victoria
Built at Elswick
and launched in 1887, the HMS Victoria was the flagship in the
Mediterranean of Admiral Sir George Tryon. Part of the Victoria
Class turret ship of the Royal Navy, the HMS Victoria was rammed and
sunk by HMS Camperdown on the 22nd of June 1893 during a manoeuvre
preceding the anchoring, in formation, of the 10 battleships fleet
in Tripoli.
The
HMS Victoria
Admiral Tryon
intended the manoeuvre and the anchoring to be an impressive sight
to the people on the shore. Unfortunately, the manoeuvre went wrong
and the two battleships met halfway. Camperdown struck the Victoria
on the flagship's starboard side, opening up an enormous hole at and
below the waterline. Victoria's bow went down and the stern rose
with the propellers still turning. The ship sank Only 13 minutes
after the collision, rushing towards the bottom.
Today, the HMS
Victoria is resting at the bottom in a vertical position with the
stern upwards starting at 75 meters.
The Lesbian,
is a British freighter facing Beirut commercial port, lies intact
and hardly ever visited except by few technical divers at a depth
of 60 meters after being blown by the French Vichy Navy during WWII.
The
Lesbian, British Freighter
It is an impressive
sight, to hover above the mast of those ships, descending slowly
and landing around their decks. Marine life is especially abundant
on some of these artificial reefs.
The
Lesbian
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