Port Napier

Written by Mark Milburn

Thursday, 21 January 2010

WW2 Mine Layer The Port Napier was a 498 feet long 9,600 tons ship that was under construction in June 1940 for the well established Port Line. It was requisitioned and converted to a mine layer and while being loaded it caught fire, it was towed towards Skye where it eventually sank after an explosion. It ended up on its starboard side in about 18-20m. Situated on the Skye side of Loch Alsh it breaks the surface on a low tide making it an easy dive. To dive it we launched from Kyle of Lochalsh and headed the short distance over to the wreck site. The boat we were using was the one which had been chartered for our Skye trip starting the following day. I had heard a lot of good things about this wreck and thought it was a good idea to have a look while I had the chance. Norwegian Lobsters One of the things I decided I wanted to photograph was a Norwegian Lobster as they litter the bottom of the Loch, hopefully there would be some around the wreck. What I didn't expect was such great visiblility, as far as 20m in places. The wreck has a permanent shotline tied to its mast, which sits at about 7m, I just followed the mast to the wreck and made my way to the sea bed. Heading towards the bow I came across severeal of the Norwegian Lobsters, locally known as prawns, as well as hermit crabs, velvet swimming crabs, anemones, urchins, feather stars, whelks, dead mans fingers, common starfish, brittle stars, sea stars and sun stars. The wreck itself is surprisingly intact, much of the deck planking is still in place and most of the structure is easily recognisable. Just in front of the mast is the deck gun, and further forward some of the railings are still in place. I made my way towards the stern looking for the mine laying tracks and tunnels, as I got closer the visibility wasn't looking so good. I reached the stern and found the tunnels, but unfortunately someone had been there before me and had disturbed the silt, I decided it wasn't a good idea to enter the wreck this time. I made my way back towards the gun and then back to the mast. Hanging from the mast are huge pieces of kelp and a few pieces of rope. The ropes were covered in life, peacock worms and sea squirts to name a few. The mast is also covered in life including anemones, feather stars, sea squirts and sponges. The time flew and I decided to exit after 84 minutes, we had the oppurtunity of a second dive so I could explore a little more then. Not enough takers Everyone enjoyed the dive, but unfortunately as everyone had done a lot of travelling and the weather had started to get a little windy, the second dive didn't happen as there wasn't enough takers. Everyone wanted to get up to their accommodation for the coming weeks diving in the waters around Skye. That sounded like a good idea, although I would have preffered a second dive on the Port Napier. A very easy and pleasant dive for any level of diver, if the conditions are always like this then it will be well worth a visit. I would if I had the chance.

 

Next >