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E49 & The Gwladmena, Shetland
words by Fiona Watson, photos by Ian Potten
Click on the photos to see a larger picture
E49
Baltasound, Unst, Shetland
Mined March 1917, with the loss of all hands.
 The
E49 lies in around 34m of water between Balta Isle and Huney on the
East Coast of Unst, the most northerly of the Sheltand Isles. She
was located after a lengthy search by Arthur Robertson and other members
of the Shetland sub-aqua club. Dived only a few times a year a beautiful
and interesting wreck. A war grave, permission from the Unst policeman
is required to dive her A small wreck she is difficult to find and
shot, lying buried up to her water line. On white sand the wreck stands
out from around the 15m mark on the way down the line, a dark shadow.
The bows are blown off and lying about 10m from the main wreck, on
the starboard side. The worming gear is still intact, the etching
on the brass still present although covered in growth. The conning
tower is bent over and lies at right angles to the hull, small glass
oval portholes still with their glass in around it, and at the top.
The railing is still present, like a basket covered in dead mans fingers,
and stunningly beautiful, this part of the wreck is always swarming
with shoals of small fish, a few hopeful pieces of kelp on the top
in summer. There are often small flatfish blending in with the wreck.
The periscope mechanism is made of a white alloy, clean of growth,
although the periscope itself is in Gosport museum. Swimming aft,
more worming gear, a square hatchway, a large vent-pipe, home to a
friendly octopus this summer, the plates are corroded, and sheltering
underneath is a solitary tusk, and a few very large ling. The hydroplanes
are just visible above the sand at the stern. It is possible to swim
round the whole wreck within no-stop times, or spend longer examining
the incredible detail and just watching the fish life, visibility
is generally in the 15-20m range, she is diveable at any state of
the tide, but very exposed from the East.
The Gwladmena
 The
Gwladmena was at anchor in Breiwick, Lerwick in January 1918 when
she was involved in a collision with the Flora, and subsequently sank.
A favorite with local divers due to her accessibility, a permanent
buoy is maintained on her bow. Diveable at any time, no tide ever
runs over her. She was built in Hartlepool in 1878 for a Liverpool
company she was an iron screw steamship of 896GRT. 220 feet in length
she lies upright and generally intact at a maximum depth of 39m. The
shotline is tied near the bows, the focsle store, a cave filled with
concreted tins and blocks, now un0identifiable. The bulkhead between
the store and the hold is corroded away, swim aft underneath, amid
the coal she was carrying. A ladder still leads down from the deck.
The bee-hive like stump of the mast is still there, directly beneath
the rounded hole in the deck, now leaning over at an angle, about
ready to fall in. A winch has fallen through nearby. Swimming aft,
at about 36m, the triple expansion engine has been lifted off her
mountings and over the boilers and lies on the port side of the hold
on it's side, confusing at first, it gives an unusual opportunity
to examine the workings of it. The side by side two boilers fill the
full width of the ship, some wreckage lying off the wreck on both
sides at this point. As you swim over, a tangle of pipe-work and machinery
as what is left of the ruins of the engine mountings and engine room
are there. An unusual feature of this wreck is the lignum vitae still
covering the entire length of the prop-shaft, still there running
all the way aft. At the stern, the gun lies on the seabed on the starboard
side, easily missed unless you know it's there. The prop was removed
at the time of sinking. The stern section was ripped open in Feb 1998
by the anchor of the klondyke, 'Silver Harvest'. Whilst it undoubtedly
hastened the speed at which the wreck is collapsing it also opened
it out, and made it more interesting in many ways. An ideal wreck
for Nitrox 30, visibility is often good, particularly in winter where
is can be as far as 25m, although plankton blooms in summer can make
it dark. She makes a superb night dive for the more adventurous, in
mid winter, I have memories of swimming off the wreck in crystal clear
conditions watching the whole wreck lit up by the arc of the dive
lights of the other 4 on the wreck.
Many thanks to Fiona Watson, BDO of Shetland branch, for this
brilliant article on scenic diving in Shetland. Fiona has also written
a piece on scenic diving around Shetland.
Thanks also to Ian Potten of Orkney Branch for allowing us to use
his photos.
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