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The programmes
The 60th anniversary of the D-Day Landings passed by in June 2004. One month later, surviving crew of the British minesweeper HMS Pylades mourned 60 years since her demise. Thousands of warships, merchant ships and other vessels were involved in what was the largest ever sea-borne invasion. In their assault on the French coast, the ships were threatened by all manner of weapons including mines and a mysterious German weapon known as the human torpedo. Pylades sank during the operation, but what caused her final demise has never been ascertained. Could she have been the victim of a human torpedo? In the last of this series, the Wreck Detectives teamed up with local divers, naval experts and a former crew member of the ship to find out what dealt the blow that sank Pylades.
The history
The northern coast of France was the focus of many fierce battles during the Second World War and its waters granted little mercy to wartime seafarers. The most famous of these battles was the D-Day Landings of 6 June 1944. In an attempt to bring the German occupation of Europe to an end, 3.5 million Allied soldiers were transported from Britain to land on a 40-mile stretch of the Normandy coastline in France.
Before the operation could go ahead, minesweepers, such as Pylades, were first sent in to clear a pathway for the ships and boats carrying the troops through mines laid by the Germans. At night these vessels would patrol the coast and by day they would hunt for mines laid by the Germans. Their job went on for many weeks after the initial invasions to make way for more soldiers and more supplies.
However, a month after the D-Day Landings, the Allied forces were still suffering losses at sea around Normandy. The Germans continued to replenish the mines and were at the same time secretly employing their latest weapon – the human torpedo.
These weapons consisted of an 8-metre long torpedo-shaped carrier-body with a similarly sized torpedo slung below. The operator sat in the carrier-body bow section, inside a Perspex-covered cockpit, which reached only 18 inches above the water and was barely visible from the surface. The pilot's task was to aim the torpedo towards the target by using gradated marks etched on the Perspex cockpit, fire the torpedo and return to base, using a wrist compass to navigate. They had a range of 48 nautical miles and a top speed of 4 knots. Although sometimes referred to as midget submarines, these vessels were unable to dive below the water.
The human torpedoes were certainly more dangerous to the men who piloted them than to their intended targets – seven out of ten failed to return after their missions. The pilots had to face poor visibility, buoyancy problems and carbon dioxide poisoning. For these reasons, convicted criminals were often brought in to pilot them.
On 8 July 1944, Pylades was hit twice in her stern – the first immobilised her and the second presented the fatal strike. The captain's log was the only official record of her loss. It said that two mines struck her, but that it was also possible a German human torpedo may have attacked her.
The dive
With the help of 78-year-old Stan Parker, who was onboard Pylades when she was struck, the team had a clearer idea of what to expect from the wreck dive. Stan too said that he heard two explosions on that fateful day, and that it was the second one that dealt the deadly blow. Watching pictures beamed back to the dive ship from the wreck site was a poignant moment for him – many of his fellow crew members were killed in the attack.
French diver Yves Marchaland has been diving this area for years and was able to guide Miranda and the rest of our underwater explorers around the 67-metre long wreck. The wreckage lies at 34 metres and is almost upside down. In good visibility the funnel is visible. But in the dark conditions in which our team were working, the structure of the ship was hard to fathom. Miranda found it difficult to work out where she was on the wreck. With a maximum 3 metres visibility and lots of sharp edges on the wreck, the team had to leave behind its surface-to-diver communication cables for safety reasons.
A remotely operated vehicle (ROV) was brought in to film the wreck when the team were unable to dive in the strong currents. This camera could stay down on the wreck longer than the divers. Operating a £70,000 ROV in a running tide, however, is a risky task.
The stern section of Pylades was devastated and the wreckage strewn over the seabed. To try to figure out what hit her, Ministry of Defence assessment expert, David Manley, explained the difference between damage caused by mines compared to that caused by human torpedoes.
Influence mines were weighed beneath the surface of the water, they were magnetic and activated when the metal hull of a ship passed over them. When they exploded underneath a ship, they left a characteristic crimping on the metal stern which the human torpedoes didn't.
As David Manley explained, if the area around the strike zone on the stern of Pylades appeared corrugated, it was sunk by an influence mine, but if not it would mean it was struck by a human torpedo. As the camera panned across the damage, showing a smooth hull beyond the strike zone, it was clear that a German human torpedo had sunk this minesweeper.
Diving conditions off the coast of Normandy are similar to those off the southern British coast. The water is usually 2°C warmer than the UK and the visibility is a little better. Fish life around this wreck is prolific, but life on the wreck itself is sparse. Ballan and cuckoo wrasse, lobster, pollack, cuttlefish, gorgonians and sunset corals are spotted here, as are smaller inhabitants such as tompot blennies, jewel anemones, snakelocks anemones and spider crabs.
Find out more about the wreck of the Pylades.
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Location
Normandy coast, directly north of Ouistreham
Dive planning
Wrecks must be dived on slack water because of strong currents. Many of the dive centres have English-speaking members of staff and there are excellent British liveaboards that travel to the area, which leave from convenient UK ports. Remember that many, but not all, dive centres in France will insist that you produce a recent (less than one year old) medical certificate in order to dive. The water temperatures in the French Atlantic are 10°C in January and about 19°C in August.
Useful contacts
British liveaboards that travel to Normandy:
MV Dawn Louise:
07976 252248
MV Maureen:
01803 835449
White Horse:
01305 766458
» Find out more
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