|
in Lunenburg Nova Scotia What most scuba divers call the
best diving experience on Canada's east coast is a visit to HMCS
Saguenay on the bottom of Lunenburg Bay.
|
Sinking the HMCS Saguenay Lunenburg Bay, Nova Scotia . . .  The first HMCS SAGUENAY survived both a torpedoing by an Italian submarine in 1940 and a collision with a merchant ship off Cape Race in 1942. In the collision her depth charges were set off, and most of her stern was blown away. After this, she could never be repaired well enough for sea duty, and she spent the rest of World War II as a training ship at Cornwallis, NS. After the Second World War, Canada created a new type of destroyer, the St. Laurent class. The Saguenay was one of that class. Many ships of the St. Lauent class were converted to be destroyer escorts (the DDH conversion) The hangar and flight deck were placed over where the aft 3"/50 previously resided, and held one Sea King helicopter. This photo of SAGUENAY was taken when she was moored at the National Sea Products wharf in Lunenburg Harbour prior to being sunk in the dive park just outside the harbour at Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, in 1994.  After the charges blew a hole in Saguenay's starboard side she turned on her side as planned.  This is when one of her rudders
dug into the sandy bottom and she righted herself.
 Saguenay now sinks to the bottom bolt upright. This makes the wreck an easy scuba dive but some parts are too close to the surface.  The Saguenay disappears below the surface and a few months later rolled onto her starboard side. The wreck is now completely covered with marine life and has become a nursery for many types of fish and lobster which greatly benefits the fishermen in the Lunenburg area. As well, there is now a dive shop in Lunenburg that services divers from around the world. One thing that makes Saguenay a unique diving experience is the fact that her sister ship HMCS Fraser is moored at the marine terminal in Bridgewater just up the road from Lunenburg. This means that scuba divers who plan to dive on the Saguenay can visit Fraser to get an idea of what they will soon see. All the above photos were taken by Jim Morrow in 1994.  The directors of the Artificial Reef Society of Nova Scotia are pictured here on the bridge of HMCS Fraser. David Williams, David Callan, Hugh Plante, Mike Watson, Rick Welsford, David Wilkie, (Bill Flower is absent). Nova Scotia & P.E.I.
, |