The RMS Rhone is a famous ship accident that has actually brought to life a lovely marine park. It is just one of the most prominent dives in the Caribbean. Its tragic story continues to captivate and astound us.
Captain Woolley selected the closest route to open sea with the channel in between Dead Breast Island and Black Rock Point on Salt Island. As Rhone occurred to come close to the point the tail end of the typhoon threw her onto the rocks.
The Background
During the yellow high temperature epidemic of the 1860s, transatlantic traveler ships stopped on a regular basis at Road Harbour, Tortola and Great Harbour on Peter Island to move passengers and freight between them. Master Frederick Woolley of the Rhone had been cautioned by a going down barometer that a tornado was coming, but thinking that the hurricane period was over, he made a decision to remain at Great Harbour for the transfer with one more RMS ship, Conway.
Equally as they were passing Black Rock Factor between Salt and Dead Upper body islands, the weather unexpectedly transformed direction. The preliminary stumble caught the Rhone on her side and she shattered versus the rocky reef. Legend has it that Captain Wooley was using a silver teaspoon (which stays dirtied in the coral today) to stir his favorite at the time. The wreck is currently a preferred dive site, home to an interesting array of aquatic life. Most people concur that a complete exploration of the website requires two different dives, as the bow and stern sections are spread out apart at different depths.
The Accident
The Rhone relaxes under the warm clear waters of the Caribbean Sea and is a popular dive website today. Visitors can check out the incredibly undamaged bow area, see where scenes from the 1977 film The Deep were shot, and swim under the strict near its huge 15 foot propeller. This brimming aquatic park is a reminder of the delicate balance in between male and nature.
On 29th October 1867 as Captain Wooley was preparing to anchor the Rhone in Roadway Harbor, the wind and waves changed and he decided to try to defeat the coming close to storm out into the open sea. He steered the ship to Black Rock Factor between Dead Chest and Golden-haired Rock, a pair of rough peaks rising from the water. The ship struck the rocks and sank in two sections with the cold water of the incoming tide calling the warm boilers creating a surge and sinking the vessel with all 123 passengers still tied to their beds.
Snorkeling
Among the most popular wreckage dives in the Caribbean, snorkelers can easily explore much of the Rhone by merely drifting on a mask and breathing with the sea. The deeper bow section is particularly well-preserved, a kaleidoscope of orange cup corals teeming with yellowtail snapper, sennets and jacks. It's additionally where scenes from the 1977 movie The Deep were filmed.
The stern and midsection are more separated, yet they use a haunting look of a past era. Divers need to intend on a minimum of two dives to fully experience the Rhone, especially since visibility can sometimes be tricky. Emphasizes consist of the lucky porthole, which divers massage forever luck, and the popular bronze yachting vacations for couples prop. The rusting skeletal system of the Rhone is a renowned sight in the BVI and is a must-see for any kind of diving or boating fanatic. The ship is open to the public for exploration, and several regional dive boats visit daily. The Rhone is protected by the National forest Solution, and entrance is for free.
Diving
Among the Caribbean's most popular accident dives, Rhone is a desired site for its historical attraction and brimming marine life. It's open and relatively secure, making it ideal for scuba divers of all experience levels.
The story behind the wreckage is heartbreaking: as she was moving travelers to an additional ship, Conway, at Roadway Harbour on Tortola, Rhone rounded Black Rock Point and ran into it at full speed. Hot boilers wrecked versus cool seawater and exploded, sending out the Rhone collapsing right into the rocks and sinking in mins. Only 23 of the 146 people aboard made it through. Their bodies were hidden on Salt Island.
The wreckage split in two when it sank, and the bow area wandered to much deeper waters, while the demanding worked out at about 80 feet. Both are swallowed up in coral reefs and populated by marine life, consisting of institutions of yellowtail snappers, sennets, jacks and grunts. It takes at least 2 dives to discover the whole wreckage, though, because the bow and strict areas are separated by regarding 100 feet of water.
