Diving the HMS Hermes
by Dharshana Jayawardena (August 10, 2006) |
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HMS Hermes | 
HMS Hermes burns after taking 40 direct hits | 
A diver with safety reel
(Photo: Felician Fernando) |
The descent seems to be eternal. Ten meters. Twenty meters. In an ocean so ethereally blue, the visibility must be undoubtedly limitless. Yet the fish are in hiding; for except for countless Yellow Back Fusiliers and Long Fin Bannerfish, the ocean feels vast and abandoned. This is unusual; for in other dives we have seen large schools of Great Barracuda, Trevally, Tuna, very large Potato Cods, Panther Torpedo Rays and Sea Snakes very often. But not today. The blazing sunlight streams down the clear blue waters in cascading bars and seems to converge into one single point. Our eyes scan keenly to the depths in anticipation. Nothing. We gently slip further down. The gauge registers about 30 meters and then suddenly out of nowhere a large shape looms beneath us. At first glance, one is forgiven for thinking that this is a large rock. But this is not. This is the HMS Hermes. The world's first purpose-built aircraft carrier; built by Armstrong-Whitworths in January 1918; launched September 11, 1919; commissioned by the British Royal Navy 1923 and sunk by the Japanese on April 9th, 1942. At a depth of 42 meters, amidst a gentle current, we let go of the anchor rope and unreel our way 60 years back into history.
A curious giant moray eel looks on
(Photo: Brendon D'Souza) | 
A large potato cod
(Photo: Brendon D'Souza) | 
Basslets frolicking among black coral
(Photo: Brendon D'Souza) |
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Blue water filled with fusiliers and bannerfish
(Photo: Felician Fernando) | 
The black of the bannerfish contrasting against the white of the black coral
(Photo: Felician Fernando) | 
The wreck is enveloped by clouds of blue striped snappers
(Photo: Brendon D'Souza) |
White. In the dim light at 42 meters that's the color that first strikes the mind. Everything seems so beautifully white. The ship is covered with a lovely growth of Black Coral. According to the 1982 Rex Morgan expedition, the ship is lying on its deck with the keel over and also partly resting on its superstructure. (Rex is the son of Charles Morgan, the Royal Navy commissioned photographer who captured the historic last moments of the demise of HMS Hermes. He is the author of the Hermes Adventure, an electrifying narrative of the last moments of the ship based on survivor accounts.) Based on many dives we have done here, we tend to agree. Yet on this dive, it is difficult to say where exactly in the ship we are right now. In this light the visibility is only a few meters ahead and encrustation distorts the features of this massive ship. We continue to swim over the immense hulk. It is then that we spot one of the anti-aircraft guns and its cache of unused shells. What a fantastic sight! The water is very cold here and a strong current pushes us back. We do not have much time.
Base of four inch anti-aircraft gun
(Photo: Felician Fernando) | 
Anti-aircraft gun shells
(Photo: Felician Fernando) | 
Top of cannon
(Photo: Felician Fernando) |
We hover around the anti-aircraft gun savouring every precious minute. But also with a reverence as we are constantly reminded of the 307 souls who perished in this very ship. This, in front of us, is one of the largest undersea war graves in the world. It is now time to leave and start decompression sequence. With great reluctance we bestow a last yearning glance at the immense superstructure and start our slow ascent to the world of light.
The Hermes is named after the mythological Grecian god of boundaries and of the travelers who cross them. To cross this boundary is a lifetime experience. But It is indeed a boundary to be crossed with great care. And, as it often holds true for some boundaries; to cross this boundary is never to return... For after diving the Hermes, you are irrevocably changed for ever.
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