Divers of shipwrecks off our shores are finding a rich source of scientific and historic information. But some mysteries remain, reports Lorna Siggins, Marine Correspondent
As marine archaeology emerges from the inky darkness in Irish waters, the nature of State support for our underwater heritage is being challenged. Is legislation passed by this Government to protect wrecks of historical and cultural importance being "used" to cover up key aspects of recent history? Or is it too weak to protect some of the wrecks from plunder and occasional souvenir-hunting by sports divers?
Such questions were raised during last weekend's maritime archaeology conference, From Landscapes to Liners, which was hosted by the Tayleur 150 Years Project at University College Dublin (UCD), and which included a robust presentation by the current owner of the Lusitania, the 76-year-old New Mexico entrepreneur, Gregg Beamis.
Led by recreational diver Brian Stone of the Dublin City University Sub-Aqua Club and professional diver and licensed marine archaeologist Eoghan Kieran, the Tayleur project is currently conducting research on the wreck of the iron-built sailing clipper, owned by the White Star Line, which ran onto rocks off Lambay Island, north Dublin, on February 21st, 1854. As Kieran and Stone outlined in their presentation at the conference, the Tayleur had many technical problems which contributed to its foundering, with the loss of an estimated 400 to 450 of the 660 passengers and 26 crew on board. The ship was bound for Australia, carrying agricultural implements, willow pattern pottery and blank gravestones for the new colony.
Its master, Capt Noble, and crew thought they had set a course south down the Irish Sea when they left Liverpool. However, the three compasses on board had not been adjusted sufficiently to take account of the iron hull and the cargo, and the ship was heading west when it ran into a storm. Although land was sighted a good hour before the vessel struck rocks, the shortage of crew and difficulties with rigging and steering meant that it took that same hour to tack. The anchor chains "shattered like glass" when cast out. Many of those lost were women anxious to ensure they were fully dressed before emerging on deck.
Last year, after obtaining a licence from the Department of the Environment to dive on the Tayleur, Stone and Kieran were among a group of sports and professional divers and archaeologists from Dublin City University (DCU), UCD, Neptune and other sub-aqua clubs who dived the Tayleur. Such licences are required to dive any wrecks more than 100 years old, under the National Monuments Act. A sidescan sonar recorded geophysical images of the ship's remains which resemble "a pile of scaffolding" in about six to 12 metres of water, Stone noted.
The group hopes to raise one of the blank gravestones to serve as a memorial to all those lost, subject to approval by the National Museum. It also hopes to carry out a corrosion study of the wreck this coming season, representing the first such study on a wreck in Irish waters. Sadly, the speakers noted that the site had already been extensively plundered before official protection was extended to thousands of wrecks (including the Tayleur) off this coastline under the 1987 and 1994 amendments to the National Monuments Act.
Similar casual "souvenir-hunting" had been taking place before a planned, hazardous salvage project focused on a famous wreck off the north-west coast, the Laurentic.
Don McGlinchey, president of Comhairle Fo-Thuinn (CFT), the Irish Underwater Council, and the European Underwater Federation, and member of the City of Derry Sub-Aqua Club, has been diving on the wreck in Lough Swilly, owned by Ray Cossum, for some 20 years. Also a White Star Line vessel and built by Harland and Wolff in Belfast, this ship was built as a transatlantic passenger liner, but was commandeered for troop-carrying during the first World War. McGlinchey described how it had 43 tons of gold bullion and troops on board when it put in to Buncrana, Co Donegal, in January 1917 en route to Halifax; four of the crew had developed yellow fever.
Unfortunately, another captain, Otto Kretschmer, had been planting mines in the lough and surrounding waters. The Laurentic was less than an hour out from Buncrana on January 23rd, 1917, when it struck a mine. A second explosion proved fatal. Some 354 young men lost their lives. Many were buried in a mass grave at Fahan Church of Ireland church in Inishowen, where the ship's bell also hangs. The 130 survivors were given a shilling and a packet of cigarettes each at the Guildhall, Derry. The British government's immediate concern, however, was for the bullion on board, which was to have been used to pay the US government for war munitions.
McGlinchey described the ambitious and daring recovery of of the gold by a British navy expedition. More than 5,000 dives were carried out, and only 22 bars were unaccounted for when complete. McGlinchey urged caution among any budding treasure-hunters. Apart from its depth, the ship is also a war grave. "It should be respected as such," he emphasised.
The war graves from more than four centuries ago left by the Spanish Armada were described in detail by diver and historian, Cormac Lowth, and the conference also heard from maritime historian Roy Stokes about German U-boat activity in the Irish Sea.
Recent technological advances in inshore seabed mapping, marine robotics and in underwater filming were described by Kevin Barton, Daniel Toal and Charlotte O'Kelly. O'Kelly gave a video demonstration of the capabilities of "videorays" - tiny, light and remotely operated cameras, which have been used in underwater surveys and salvage, filming for marine research, freshwater tank inspection, inland and offshore search and rescue and even drug-busting.
However, it was the broadside launched by US entrepreneur, Gregg Beamis, which proved fascinating to the divers, marine archaeologists and maritime historians at the conference. Last year, he fulfilled a lifetime ambition to dive on the wreck he has owned since 1982 - the Lusitania - which lies some 12 miles off the Old Head of Kinsale, Co Cork, in 100 metres of water.
Beamis is currently awaiting the outcome of his latest legal action against the State over his right to carry out research on the ship. He maintains that the cause of the sinking will remain the subject of "conjecture" until a detailed forensic examination is conducted. But he is precluded from doing that by a cultural heritage order attached to the shipwreck in 1995.
Although the wreck is less than 100 years old, the State believes it requires protection because of its historical significance, including the fact that Sir Hugh Lane was on board when it sank. Lane was said to have been carrying art treasures with him, placed in lead containers in the hold. However, Beamis has cast doubt on the veracity of the British claim - and on the veracity of various theories about the precise cause of the ship's sinking, with the loss of almost 1,200 lives.
Initially, the ship was hit by a torpedo from a German submarine, but there is still controversy over the cause of the substantial and fatal blast which occurred an estimated 18 minutes later. Claims that the liner was carrying wartime munitions have been denied by the authorities, and in the 1950s the British attempted to destroy the remains, according to Beamis. International diver and author Robert Ballard suggested that the second blast was caused by coal dust from a boiler, but Beamis says all the boilers are relatively intact.
Beamis believes that determination of the truth is being impeded by this Government's order on a wreck which is less than 100 years old, and should not therefore be covered by the National Monuments Act. He is founder of a US-based organisation, Shipwrecks International, which aims to protect the right of divers to explore the ocean floor. He says he has every respect for marine archaeology, but "in situ preservation" is an oxymoron in a marine context.
However, former arts minister and Labour Party president Michael D Higgins, who passed the order on the Lusitania which was defended in court, stands over the legislation. Speaking to The Irish Times from hospital in Galway this week, where he has been recovering from a serious illness, Higgins challenged Beamis's right to turn the wreck in to an "underwater Disneyland" for his colleagues.
"Mr Beamis may own the Lusitania under his arrangement with Cunard, but this ship is a war grave. His title doesn't extend to the contents, which are the property of the survivors and relatives of those who died," he points out. "Before Mr Beamis became involved, objects from this ship were turning up in auction rooms and we have to protect against this type of activity."
Higgins accepts there is a case for determining the cause of sinking, but this should be done in a "controlled, supervised" manner. "We have never attempted to stop Mr Beamis from diving," he adds. "The aim of the legislation was to provide a framework which recognises the significance and historical importance of these vessels in our waters."