HMS Empress of India Wreck in Lyme Bay
HMS Empress of India is one of the largest wrecks in Lyme bay! She was sunk as a Royal Navy target ship, and she was a large battleship of the Soveriegn Class! A big dive in the middle of Lyme Bay!
Dive Site Name: Hms Empress of India Dive Type: Wreck Dive
Max Depth Seabed: 47m Depth to top of Wreck: 32m
Approximate Position: 50 29 75N 002 57 93W
Tonnage: 15585tonnes Length: 115m Beam: 22.9m Cargo: Balast
Date Lost: 04/11/1913 How Lost: Target practice!
Minimum Qualification: Deep Diver / Technical Diver (Or Equivilent)
Hms Empress of India was a Modified Royal Soverign Class Battleship. She was decommisioned and used for target practice and also to test multiple ships firing at the same target in Lyme bay.
She was engaged firstly by the cruiser Liverpool, this was followed by three battleships Thunderer, Orion and King Edward VII, and finally four battleships Neptune, King George V, Thunderer, and Vanguard. By 16:45 "the Empress of India was blazing furiously and down by the stern, sinking at" 18:30.
She had received 44 12-in and 13.5-in hits and "it is not surprising that an elderly ship sank", though the intention had been to repeat the firing at longer range.
She now lays upside dwn on the seabed with a large hole in her dside made by salvage divers removing a condenser!
Further Information:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Empress_of_India_(1891)
http://www.wrecksite.eu/wreck.aspx?78349
http://www.divernet.com/Wrecks/wreck_tours/159408/wreck_tour_70_hms_empress_of_india.html
