TSAC talks – Resurgam, Chris Holden
For the last few years we have organised dives to the Resurgam submarine lying at the bottom of Liverpool Bay.
The Resurgam is about five miles offshore lying in about 16m of water. It is a relatively easy dive and a great one for ocean divers to practice their sea dives. It also enables us to use the club Rib and practice a little boat handling.
The only problem is that the wreck is classified as a protected wreck so divers must be registered and dates recorded. This is done in two ways, firstly registration is via Chris Holden the registered ‘keeper’ of the wreck. Once the names have been given to him the registered divers can visit the wreck throughout the year. The second part of the process is to inform CADWR of the dates we will be diving the wreck.
With the first dive being imminent it seemed a good idea to find out a little more about the wreck, so, who better to ask then Chris Holden? He agreed to travel over from Chester and give a talk on our club night.
Chris duly arrived on the 19th followed by guest from Chorley sub aqua, TSAC and Manchester Uni. The audience, comprising over 20 people, settled down and Chris began by introducing himself and his experience.
The talk that followed was incredibly informative and covered much more than the Resurgam giving the submarine a context in terms of its importance. Chris covered the history of submarines including some early versions and the first successful submarine attack in the American civil war (though the sub sank with all hands). He followed this by introducing the submarines designer Rev George Garrett. He was an interesting figure and never gave up on his idea.
The talk included information on the history, why it sank and attempts to conserve the historic wreck. Most importantly for us, he had a full section of the talk with advice on how to dive the submarine successfully and what to look for during the dive.
He finished off with a question and answer section and his final comments on what he thinks would be the final outcome for the submarine. Chris would like it raised and preserved for posterity, so if anyone has a couple of million going spare please contact him.
