The Wreck of the Dolphin: Ex-HMS Pandora - Ex Seti
N 55 06 085 W 001 27 282
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The evening prior to a dive, I make sure all batteries are charged and equipment is checked. I Carefully take time to inspect all o-ring seals on my torches, lights and camera housings. After episodes as an inexperienced diver, which have consisted of brainless incidents such as leaving my lens cap on, not connecting the electrical wiring within the underwater housing, forgetting my hood, even forgetting my weight belt on one occasion, I now have a pre-dive ritual when it comes to checking my equipment. In the early days there is always something that either you forget, or that goes wrong. To this day I still try to make a point of learning something from every dive trip that I make.
So my checklists grew, almost with every dive. Not only for dive equipment and preparation work, but items like a bottle of water to rinse off the camera lens and buttons, chewing gum, a dry cloth used to wipe the lens for surface shots, a woolly hat to protect your head from the cold when on the boat. When you go diving in the UK off a RIB, there is not much space or time if something goes wrong with your equipment. You need to be prepared for a few eventualities. Of course there are plenty of things which you can't account for happening, the British weather for one, a sudden bout of seasickness, needing the toilet etc., so I do the best I can, and still keep my fingers crossed.
In the morning I will be making another dive to the 'Pandora' as the wreck is locally known. It is a 20 metre dive depending on the tide, and not a particularly difficult dive - within safe recreational limits for diving on air, allowing a good amount of time on the bottom (approximately 25 minutes without going into decompression). Hopefully I will get some good shots, and with a bit of luck some interesting fish, perhaps even an Octopus or a big Ling.
Without going into too much detail, bottom time can be extended even further on this wreck if using Nitrox, a gas mix of Oxygen and Nitrogen at a different percentage to normal breathing air (normal breathing air is approximately 21% oxygen and 79% Nitrogen). This is what we all as human beings breathe, and as scuba divers we breathe the same air. However adding more oxygen into the mix and less nitrogen, for instance a mix of 36% oxygen and 64% nitrogen, reduces the amount of nitrogen that your body absorbs into the tissues. This makes you less likely to get a 'bend' (nitrogen narcosis), thus extending your bottom time considerably. You must be certified to use Nitrox, due to the different decompression tables and theory involved.
The morning of the dive means final equipment check - and yes this time I do have everything, so I'm ready to go. A few meet and greets at the local dive centre with some divers who have made a two hour drive from Yorkshire, a quick cup of coffee and we head off in our cars to Cullercoats harbour, our boat launch site for the day. After donning our dry suits and assembling our equipment, it is all loaded carefully onto the boat and stored wherever there is space.
The boat is a 10 metre long RIB owned by Deep Blue Dive Centre, which takes up to 12 divers. She is skippered by Scott Bissett who informs everyone of safety protocol and takes a list of the buddy teams. After a short 10 minute ride which isn't too uncomfortable due to the calm seas, she is located straight away by the experienced skipper. A line is put down onto the wreck and we begin to kit up.
The first buddy team - consisting of two divers together for safety reasons - kits up and enters the water, then it's our turn. We help each other kit up and go through our equipment and buddy checks. After a backside roll entry off the side of the RIB we are then handed our camera equipment and head toward the bow section of the boat. Signalling we are okay to the boat and each other, we descend into the dark depths of the North Sea. At about 15m it starts to get very dark so its time for the torch, at 20m the sun cannot penetrate the murky waters of the North Sea, it is pitch black and those lights are just what is needed to go snooping around on the wreck. Visibility can range from 5m up to 15m after a period of good weather in the summer. Water temperature is easily tolerable at 13 degrees C in late July to August.
Maintaining good buoyancy is a must due to the sandy bottom, for there is nothing worse than swimming into someone's 'dive trails'. In the UK visibility can be very poor. It is almost like being in a vast pool of soup, sometimes unless you bring your hand right up to your face mask, you will not be able to see it. Of course it doesn't help make good shots for the camera.
The wreck is resting on a sea bed of sand, lying in a South East to North West position. At 4000 tonnes and with a length of 100m she is vast. The Pandora is well broken up and scattered over a large area. Because of the rough conditions in the North sea, she has been battered for years and is now in poor condition.
The Dolphin was built at the Cleveland Dockyard in Middlesbrough, for James Moss and Co. of Liverpool, and was launched as the Seti on 5th July 1902. She was lost on 23rd November 1939 when she struck and detonated a German-laid mine one and a half miles south east of Blyth. She was being towed to the river Clyde for use as a block ship.
The wreck is partially buried into the seabed, and has almost no non-ferrous metal left on her due to heavy salvage over the years, although as seen on the relevant video, you can still clearly find the huge anchor amongst the wreckage. Every winter the heavy storms of the North Sea seem to move sand around the wreckage, sometimes uncovering items that were once thought lost. If you're lucky, you can still find some of the hand-carved parquet flooring tiles amongst the sand and silt which once decked the ship's smoking room. A huge camshaft and mast can also be clearly seen which make for easy navigation on this wreck. Just remember to turn around and follow the 'ship's landmarks' back the way you came. I've discovered this is a great way to find your way about the wreck and back to the anchor line.
There are no clear areas to swim inside. However a few overhangs near the boilers and bow section make a shelter for schooling fish. John Dory, Scorpion fish, Ling and Cod have all been sighted on this wreck during summer months, and the boiler area is covered in Dead Mens Fingers. Plumrose anemones, starfish and sea urchins can also be found dotted about the wreck. Along with the usual large edible crabs, lobsters and squat lobsters can be found amongst the now flattened steel plates.
There is also a small quantity of fish netting scattered around the wreck so awareness is important especially in low visibility. During the summer months this wreck is heavily dived by groups of divers. Currents are not usually strong on this site, except for one hour before high and low tide, and it is best dived at slack water after a period of fine weather.
Ascending back up the line and making a compulsory three minute safety stop, we hand up all cameras and lights and are helped out of our equipment before getting back on board the boat. When we are all de-kitted, a warm cup of coffee is offered by the skipper which is always a welcome sight. Then a 10 minute ride back to the harbour for a spot of lunch, more coffee and that toilet break which we all need. All incorporate a good surface interval before heading back out onto the waves for yet another fascinating dive and hopefully some great video...
For further information on this and many other wrecks along the North East coast, please refer to The Comprehensive Guide to Shipwrecks of the North East Coast. Volumes One and Two by respected local author Ron Young. Available to buy here:
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