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Underwater_Alex

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    Peterborough
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  1. Glad to see this discussion continuing. To update my progress, I have published this story now in Diver Magazine UK (October 2014) and most recently in a Scandinavian scuba diving magazine. I plan to get it out in many more European scuba titles, when I have time. As the information in this thread really is something new to the Scuba Diving world and I think it is really important to get it out there - it greatly enhances people’s enjoyment of visiting the wreck. These are the opening spreads from the two magazines. HMVF is an integral part of my story as you can imagine - I’ve enlarged quotes from the articles above! I am also presenting this adventure at the London International Dive Show next weekend at ExCel (the same 45 minute talk on both days): http://www.diveshows.co.uk/visitors/p148897-speaker-presentations.htmlTalk is free once you are in the show. Best way to attend is with the combined ticket with Outdoor Show: http://www.diveshows.co.uk/visitors/p216906-1-ticket4-shows-book-now-and-save!.html I will also talk about this project (as well as 2 or 3 other projects) in a FREE talk I am giving next month at the Royal Geographic Society (South Kensington) - 4th March. You need to register for tickets: http://www.londondivingchamber.co.uk/index.php?id=events&page=3 Alex
  2. I went down yesterday and really enjoyed the show and the weather. I think this is The Auck's UC.
  3. Thank you again for all the replies. That has got pretty much everything sorted out. The next stage is two fold. First to make a list of things to check next time I am on the wreck. A clear one are the Norton bikes - to see if they all conform to the pre-war type. Certainly there seem to be many with the upwards swoop of the exhaust Are there any other things people would recommend I look for/photograph to help differentiate between vehicle specifications? And the second part is for me to see and photograph some of these vehicles for real. Please can you suggest some historic military vehicle meetings (and museums/collections) that would be worth attending to get the chance to see these vehicles for real? I live in Peterborough, which is pretty central. However, I am travelling a lot for work through the summer, so a few suggestions would be good. Many thanks for the continued help and support. Alex
  4. Here are some more detail images of the Albion refuelling trucks (AM463). Back of the cab where the hoses come up: I am not sure what these bits are for? Guessing part of the fuel mechanism: Note that in the background there seems to be another pillared trailer/vehicle. I've not got any more info or photos of that background - maybe Tony Edge has some more detail on that (hold 1, lower level). And on the subject of details. This is one of the Bedford OY lorries. This one seems to be fitted out for a specific purpose, does anyone know what these are for: And then finally, there is this vehicle in hold 1, squashed under a collapsed piece of deck, I don't know what it is: Not a lot to go on and it is not possible to photograph it from other angles, here is another photo anyway: Thank you again for any help. Alex
  5. I'd not considered that truck before, and it certainly seems to match many of the details and I don't see anything specifically ruling it out. The only comment I'd add on that ID is that the vehicles on the Thistlegorm don't seem that big, but that's maybe because so much has been ripped off them. :-( Thank you again. Alex
  6. Yes, they are soldierfish. Fish are my area of expertise! This species of soldierfish is found only in the Red Sea, it is known as the Red Sea soldierfish, blotch eye soldierfish or crimson soldierfish. They shelter in the holds during the day and come out to feed on plankton at night. Alex
  7. OK, and now the ones that Tony Edge posted about earlier - that I have really struggled with, every time I think I have an idea, there is always something on them that does not add up. Also I am not sure that they are all the same (because of my inexperience and also the vehicles are in varying states of completeness, or incompleteness), but my guess is that they are all the same. Distinctive features are tall radiator with cap on top. Front wheel arches attached to the bonnet. Spare wheel attached n the right hand side. Lights either side of radiator. Three spoke steering wheel - now all stolen. Two seaters with flat load bed behind (on the Thistlegorm, this is often filled with BSA motorbikes). If you watch Cousteau's original 1955 footage from the wreck, you can see that they had a square windscreen, split into 4 pains of glass. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPBwwOzP3sA - these cars are on screen for about 5 second at around 03:12. There are lots of these on the wreck, on the upper level of hold 1 and 2. Below are photos: This is the same one as in Tony's photo (post #41) This one has different tyres to the others:
  8. Fantastic diagnosis and information. Wow! Just to be sure, is this the handle that allowed you to make the positive ID? :shocked:
  9. Yes, I'll do those in my next post, Tony. They are one of the most prominent and common vehicles on the Thistlegorm, so I am sure there is correct ID out there somewhere! I don't have a clue what they are and indeed if they are all the same. They are all in vary states of vandalisation! So I have a range of images and each image helps build the picture of a complete vehicle. I discounted WOT-2 for them because the radiator filler cap is ontop of the radiator, whereas it is more set back on the WOTs. I'll post them later on today. Alex
  10. The next trucks are the Ford/Fordson WOTs. There are twelve in the lower level of hold 2, in two rows of three on each side. They all face towards the bow in a symmetrical layout. What is the difference in calling them Ford or Fordson? These are also probably the most photographed trucks on the wreck because they are in one of the spacious areas of the hold, so just about every visitor swims over these. The front row on each side has Norton 16H motorbikes loaded onto them. The second row are more buried by material, including rifle boxes, wellington boots etc. The diving magazines/books have regularly labelled these as Bedford trucks! And I have been guilty of propagating this incorrect information - the mistake of thinking that books written specifically about the Thistlegorm are sources of reference. I also struggle to know the difference between WOT 1, WOT 2 and WOT 3. From looking at all the pictures, I think that these are WOT 3s. The first row of two rows always look bigger than the second row, although the other details of the trucks look the same. Maybe the floor of the hold was lower where the second row are. It is very dark in this area of the hold and the trucks are buried in a lot of detritus. So it is easy to be confused. This is the classic view of two of the Ford WOT3s. This is the front row on the port side, middle truck of the three in the foreground. This is the same truck from the other side: And this is the most central of the first row of the three port side WOTs: These all have motorbikes on their backs. The ones above are all from the front row. As I said above, I always feel that the second row are a bit smaller than the front row, but this could be an illusion, because they are more buried, or the floor of the hold is lower, or perhaps have different wheels? These are the three front row WOT trucks on the starboard side, with nortons in the back. 1 is the outermost, 3 is closest to the centre of the ship. 4 & 5 are the second row of WOTs. I think this photo does show that the tops of the cabs of the second row appear much lower than the front row. This is the central truck on row two, starboard side. This is the inner most one on the starboard side, still row two. Here are the same two again, with lighting inside the second one to give the image more visual depth: And this one is the middle truck on the port side, row two: Are these all the same? And are they all WOT3s?
  11. The next vehicle is the Morris CS 8 light truck, which I am pretty confident I have ID'ed correctly because of its distinctive shape, especially bonnet. There are on the upper deck of holds 1 and 2. I am not sure how many there are as I have never counted them - my guess would be 4-6. The distinctive shape of the bonnet is very characteristic. Plus separate wheel arches and different tyres to the other similar sized vehicles on the wreck. I think that is the starting handle at the bottom of the radiator. Here are a pair of Morris CS 8, nose to nose: This is the right hand one from the photo above. Part of the headlight is still there: And another one: As with the other posts, please let me know where I am wrong.
  12. Wow, lots of great progress. Thanks Ted. That is excellent information. Thanks for the input despite your computer problems at the moment, it is especially valuable as you've done this all before and have seen them underwater, rather than just in photos, plus back then, the vehicles were in better condition too. That Leyland Retreiver is a great one. My uneducated eyes hadn't even noticed it was different! Alex
  13. That picture looks very close to me. Has the spare wheel and wheel arches. :-)
  14. Here is an embedded photo of the large lorry that Tony linked above: Some references say that the largest vehicle on the wreck is a Tilling Stevens TS19? This is the largest vehicle, but I don't have an ID for it. Alex
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