During Surface Interval, Surface Interval

HMT Pine Project Award

Divers from the Sub-Aqua diving club in Guildford, South East England, have been awarded the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award for their ongoing HMT Pine project, which began in 2007. In a series of ongoing investigations, the divers uncovered the mystery of the sinking of the British minesweeper HMT Pine T 101. The ship was specially

ByMałgosia Brykała

Published: January 3, 2014 - 14:38

Updated: July 22, 2023 - 03:32

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The ship was specially designed for laying mines and belonged to the base minesweepers. The 530 ton vessel was armed with several medium calibre guns, which were used for defence against aviation, anti-ship missiles and other surface vessels. HMT Pine had the ability to lay minefields and usually took between 20 and 50 mines. The minelayer was torpedoed while escorting a merchant convoy on 31 January 1944 by the German destroyer S 142.

For unknown reasons the ship was towed to Portsmouth but was too badly damaged and sank 6 miles off Selsey Bill in West Sussex County. As a result of the explosion, the bow of the ship was never found, although it is thought that it may be located off Cape Beachy Head near the town of Eastbourne. The minesweeper settled at a depth of about 19 metres with the wreck site having to be accessed by boat.

BSAC Guildford members, in conjunction with the Archaeological Society, are chronicling and exploiting the most interesting side of the search for the historic wreck of HMT Pine. The project involved 29 divers and approximately 60 dives were carried out.

The awardees received £1,000 in funding towards the ongoing project and they say the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award is a great honour for them and an appreciation of the work and effort they have put into the project.

Source: divernet.com