Читать книгу Into the Abyss. Diving to Adventure in the Liquid World онлайн

63 страница из 133

That night, because of some German bombing over Ayrshire, some 200 miles to the south, a strict security blackout was imposed to keep the loss secret. As a result, nothing appeared in any local or national newspapers.

As with many other sea losses in both world wars, rumours of sabotage were rife – and the security blackout probably fuelled these rumours. In the absence of any official explanation people speculated wildly about what had happened and these rumours became more and more exaggerated as they passed around.

After the war had ended, thoughts turned to lifting the dangerous cargo of mines. In 1950, the Royal Navy decided to clear the mines - but things moved slowly. It took until 1955/6 before a Royal Navy salvage team from HMS Barglow started working on her, removing the entire upmost port side plating of her hull and exposing her inner ribs, bulkheads and double bottoms. By opening up her innards, Royal Navy clearance divers were able to rig up a lift system and lift the mines vertically up from the bowels of the wreck to the surface between each of the decks.