The RMS Rhone is a legendary ship accident that has actually given birth to a beautiful marine park. It is just one of the most popular dives in the Caribbean. Its heartbreaking story continues to attract and captivate us.
Captain Woolley went with the closest course to ocean blue via the network in between Dead Breast Island and Black Rock Point on Salt Island. As Rhone occurred to come close to the point the tail end of the typhoon tossed her onto the rocks.
The History
During the yellow high temperature epidemic of the 1860s, transatlantic passenger ships stopped regularly at Road Harbour, Tortola and Great Harbour on Peter Island to move guests and freight between them. Master Frederick Woolley of the Rhone had been warned by a dropping measure that a tornado was coming, yet thinking that the storm period was over, he chose to stay at Great Harbour for the transfer with another RMS ship, Conway.
Equally as they were passing Black Rock Factor between Salt and Dead Chest islands, the weather suddenly transformed instructions. The preliminary lurch caught the Rhone on her side and she wrecked versus the rough reef. Legend has it that Captain Wooley was utilizing a silver teaspoon (which continues to be dirtied in the coral reefs today) to stir his cup of tea at the time. The wreck is currently a prominent dive website, home to an interesting range of marine life. Most people concur that a complete exploration of the site calls for 2 different dives, as the bow and demanding sections are spread out apart at various midsts.
The Accident
The Rhone rests under the cozy clear waters of the Caribbean Sea and is a renowned dive site today. Visitors can discover the extremely intact bow section, see where scenes from the 1977 movie The Deep were shot, and swim under the demanding near its big 15 foot propeller. This bristling marine park is a reminder of the fragile balance between male and nature.
On 29th October 1867 as Captain Wooley was preparing to secure the Rhone in Road Harbor, the wind and waves shifted and he made a decision to try to beat the approaching storm out right into the open sea. He guided the ship to Black Rock Factor between Dead Upper Body and Blond Rock, a pair of rough peaks rising up from the water. The ship struck the rocks and sank in two areas with the cold water of the incoming trend speaking to the warm boilers creating a surge and sinking the vessel with all 123 passengers still linked to their beds.
Snorkeling
One of one of the most popular wreck dives in the Caribbean, snorkelers can conveniently discover much of the Rhone by simply floating on a mask and breathing via the sea. The deeper bow area is especially unspoiled, a 4 day yacht charter greece kaleidoscope of orange cup reefs teeming with yellowtail snapper, sennets and jacks. It's also where scenes from the 1977 motion picture The Deep were filmed.
The strict and stomach are much more separated, however they supply a haunting peek of a past age. Divers must plan on a minimum of two dives to completely experience the Rhone, especially given that visibility can occasionally be challenging. Emphasizes include the fortunate porthole, which divers massage permanently luck, and the famous bronze propeller. The rusting skeletal system of the Rhone is a renowned view in the BVI and is a must-see for any type of diving or boating enthusiast. The ship is open to the general public for exploration, and lots of local dive watercrafts visit daily. The Rhone is secured by the National Park Service, and entry is at no cost.
Diving
Among the Caribbean's most well known wreckage dives, Rhone is a sought after website for its historical attraction and teeming aquatic life. It's open and relatively risk-free, making it suitable for scuba divers of all experience degrees.
The story behind the wreckage is tragic: as she was moving travelers to an additional ship, Conway, at Road Harbour on Tortola, Rhone rounded Black Rock Factor and ran into it at full speed. Warm central heating boilers smashed versus cool seawater and blew up, sending out the Rhone crashing right into the rocks and sinking in mins. Only 23 of the 146 people aboard endured. Their bodies were buried on Salt Island.
The accident split in two when it sank, and the bow section drifted to much deeper waters, while the stern worked out at concerning 80 feet. Both are engulfed in reefs and inhabited by marine life, consisting of colleges of yellowtail snappers, sennets, jacks and grunts. It takes at least 2 dives to discover the entire accident, however, given that the bow and stern areas are divided by about 100 feet of water.
