Mv Datchet

[Steve.B]

Four hours later we were about 40 miles out, and at this point we were further from land than we would be at any stage on this trip. So if anything bad was going to happen, this really was the most inconvenient time that it could happen.

By this point we had all had lunch, and i was infact just coming out from having a nice shower when i had my first concerns regarding the tow - "was she slightly lower in the water?" - or was it just my imagination? The skipper at this time was comfortably tucked up in his bunk below deck, so i asked the crewman on watch to have a look through the binoculars, he was not sure because of a small bow wave covering the painted line. So i knocked the power off and and looked again. White line?, what white line?, no sign of it at all. How dull. Time to send our trusty crewman back to investigate. So we launched the rescue boat and sent him back to have a look. At this point i was not overly concerned, we have towed a few old wooden boats that have started to take on a small amount of water once exposed to the movement of the sea again. They could have sat for months in port with no problem, but when at sea it can be a different matter.

But the message we got back on the VHF was not good. Said crewman had stuck his head down into the forward hold and found much to his surprise, about 3 foot of water - 3 foot of water where there had been only 2 inches a few hours ago. That's a lot of water. Bugger. We told the crewman to stay put whilst we shortened the tow and came alongside ourselves. By the time we were alongside the water had risen another few inches. Not good! We have a four inch salvage pump onboard, so i craned that over and soon we were pumping the water out at a very fast rate. I even chucked over a couple of smaller submersible pumps for good measure. Sadly, we realised straight away we fighting a losing battle, the water was still rising in the forward hold. The engine room and other spaces were dry, so obviously the leak was in the actual hold itself. That alone told us there was a major problem, for that amount of water to be entering just one space that quickly, we knew she must have sprung a plank or something similar.

We were already in contact with the coast guard, keeping them updated. They asked if we would like a search and rescue helicopter sent out with another pump or two. We asked what size pumps, i cannot remember the reply, but we knew it would be a waste of time. So we thanked the coastguard, but declined the offer. By this time she was getting very low in the water. The water in the hold was now half way up the bulkheads, and we knew the bulkhead between that compartment and the next had been breached when the refrigeration equipment had been removed. Probably no more than 1/2 had passed since we had dropped back alongside her, and already the water was approaching the breaches in the bulkheads.

The owner was obviously somewhat shocked at what was happening, but in a way we were glad he was onboard with us so that he could see for himself that we were doing all we could. If this had happened an hour or two either side of our current position, we may have had a chance at beaching her somewhere, but we were 30 miles away from the nearest land - that being Lundy island. Not a chance of making it.

By this time our trusty crewman was getting a tad concerned, the old boat was making some loud creaking sounds. Time to evacuate and cut her loose. But not before i craned back our salvage pump - said crewman on fishing boat was moaning something about it being ok for us, we were not the one's standing on a sinking boat. Very true, but he was wearing a new life jacket, so i told him to stop moaning and hurry up and connect the salvage pump to the hook of my crane. He even moaned when i told him he now had to stay where he was for a minute so he could let go the lines, i don't know, just can't get the staff these days!

So with said crewman safely back onboard, we sadly let go the final line to the fishing boat. In all seriousness we were all stunned and somewhat shocked at what was happening. We pulled away a safe distance and waited for the inevitable to happen. We did not have to wait long.

I had a camera with me, so i took some photos of her last moments. Unfortunately even that turned out to be harder than i thought. I did not have a memory card in the camera, and had very little space left on the internal memory, so all i could do was turn the camera down to it's lowest setting - hence the small size of some of the following pictures.

We had just let her go.



A sad sight.

[Steve.B]

Still somewhat shocked at what was happening, i carried on taking snaps. Little realising that yet another disaster was about to happen.

Much lower.




And just as i was about to record the final moments of this once proud fishing boat, can you believe it, the batteries in the camera died!


In i rush i went down to my cabin knowing i had a new set of batteries in a cupboard. After what seemed a life time i found them and rushed back up top - just in time to see the stern of the fishing vessel slip below the surface - my last glance was her barnacle encrusted rudder and prop disappearing. By the time i got the new set of batteries in my camera it was too late. This was all that was left.


We waited for a few minutes for any debris to come up to the surface before we launched the rescue boat. The coastguard had asked us to retrieve the EPIRB and any other floating debris that we could. Thankfully because the boat had been clear of any loose junk on deck we had very little to worry about. Depth was about 60 metres, so the coastguard were happy the wreck would not create a hazard to general shipping.

I shall finish off the story tomorrow, i have just realised it's very late - nearly 4am! I think i got a bit carried away tonight, so i shall finish tomorrow.

[pilotdane]

Wow! That's quite an interesting story. It's a shame your camera had the bad luck to die when it did.

Are there different regulations if a boat sinks closer to land or in inland waters? Here in The States they are very particular to have sunken vessels salvaged/removed especially to capture any fuel or oil and they love to enforce it with heavy fines.

[Steve.B]

Are there different regulations if a boat sinks closer to land or in inland waters? Here in The States they are very particular to have sunken vessels salvaged/removed especially to capture any fuel or oil and they love to enforce it with heavy fines.

At the time no fuss was made at all regarding the sunken boat. I was not involved at all with any paperwork, but i am almost certain the coastguard felt that no further action was needed regarding the wreck. A few questions were asked regarding fuel and oil amounts onboard, but these were minimal, so no further action was taken. Their main concern was whether or not she posed a risk to shipping, at a depth of 60m they were happy that she posed no threat. I imagine they simply informed the admiralty so that charts could be updated in the future. The only threat she really posed was to other trawlers, they could snag their nets on her.

I guess that these days it may well be a different matter, a lot more paperwork and a much more detailed investigation. But back in 2003 no fuss was made at all. Being 40 miles off shore from the mainland probably also played a part in the fact no action was taken or required.



Back to the day in question.

After picking up the EPIRB and anything else we could, we recovered the rescue boat and then just sat down. We were all rather dazed, just an hour and a half earlier we were all happily enjoying a nice trip down to the south coast, a fishing boat happily following us 200 yards astern. It had been one of those days where you really felt glad you worked where you did. How things can change so very quickly. No longer where we being faithfully followed by a fishing boat, the fishing boat simply was not there anymore. Such a strange feeling, and such a strange atmosphere onboard the boat at that time. This was the first trip where the owner of the tow was actually onboard with us. I actually felt relieved he was there to witness everything that happened. He could see for himself that we had done no wrong, and that we had done all we could to save his boat. He could see that it was not our fault with his own eyes, that i think made it easier for him to accept what had happened. Not that it made it any easier for us to accept what had happened.

So all plans for the journey rapidly changed. With no tow to deliver to Falmouth there was obviously no point in carrying on in that direction. After 1/2 hour or so we got underway for Bideford. Again, such a strange feeling leaving the area of the sinking.

On the trip back the owner of the fishing boat started to tell us a few things about the boat that he had not mentioned previously. He had bought the boat from Northern Ireland the previous year, and that it had been his intention to have it towed straight from there down to Falmouth at that time. But, and this was news to us, the tug that undertook the tow had to make an emergency detour to Milford Haven because the fishing boat had started to take on water! Like i say, this was news to us, the owner had not divulged that particular snippet of information to us before. (Probably because he feared we might have refused the job if we knew). He explained that on that occasion it was down to some of the caulking coming out of the joints, and that he had re-caulked a great deal of the hull whilst she was at Milford Haven. It really would have been nice if he had told us this before we started the tow. But at the end of the day it was not simply a bit of bad caulking that caused the sinking, she was shipping water far too fast for that to be the case. She would have had to have lost one hell of a lot of caulking for that to be the reason. During the tow our speed through the water was never more than around 5 knots, our SOG was faster because we were going with the tide, so i doubt we were going fast enough to dislodge half the caulking on the hull, plus the fact that ingress was limited to just one compartment points to something else.

On our arrival at Bideford later that night, the coastguard sent a man to the quay to meet us, he asked a couple of questions and that was that. An all round bad day for everyone involved. The guy lost his boat, and we lost some money in used diesel and time, because i do not think we charged him for his tow that ended 30 miles west of Lundy, 60m down in the Atlantic.

[Ralf__]

Impressing story! I enjoyed very much reading it. For me it is astonishing, how much work, time and money people spend to tow a wreck to repair it somewhere else. Is towing so cheap, that it is not worth to do at least the seaworthy repairs at a local shipyard??

[pilotdane]

Stuff like that really bugs me. Had the owner simply said "this is the situation" things could have turned out differently. You could have plotted a course closer to shore so you had the option of beaching or even have a man ride aboard with a big pump.

I remember long ago spending the night in a wooden boat recently put back in the water. The yard could only leave it in the slings for about 6 hours before they needed the lift for another job. It was not long enough for the wood to fully swell and seal up tight so I slept on the floor in the lowest part of the boat so any water would wake me to check the bilge pumps or get the big pumps going.

[Steve.B]

RMAS A357 Datchet in Plymouth Sound around 1990.

I am very grateful to John Durston, a contributor to ShipSpotting.com, for very kindly allowing to me post the following image of Datchet from his personal collection.

The image shows her in Plymouth Sound whilst still in service with the navy. This photo would have been taken during her final few years of service. I think this is the first photograph i have seen that shows her rear deck in it's original state with the recon-chamber on deck, and those davits over the stern. It is interesting to see the rear deck without bulwarks, back then she had the normal navy flexible and removable guard wires. (Many of which are still stored away in her hold to this day!). I also note that she also sports a couple of 'clear view' style windows fitted to the wheelhouse. These days she uses the standard style window wipers. Her designated number of A357 still survives (just) on each of her forward bulwarks to this day. This section of the bulwarks escaped the UHP water blasting that the rest of the hull received a few years back.


Photo accreditation - John Durston - ShipSpotting.com

[PoloUK]

Only just come across this thread Steve - fantastic stories!! Look forward to any others and when they appear.

Re the Buoy that snitched on you, that had a strong hint of the Navy Lark about it!

[Steve.B]

Thank you Mark, I am sure i still have another couple of tales to tell. I really must get around to them. And i am sure i still have a few photos left to post yet. A couple of the tales will certainly have a strong Navy Lark hint to them!