Holland V Project 2006-2008
By Innes McCartney and Mark Beattie-Edwards
Introduction
The Holland V submarine is a remarkable piece of our naval
heritage. She was the first submarine to actually be commissioned
in the Royal Navy, on the 19th January 1903 at the same time as
Holland III. At this time the Holland's I, II and IV were still
being reworked.
The Holland class of submarine rapidly become obsolete and in
1912 Holland V was destined for destruction and was being towed
to Sheerness when she foundered and sunk at her present location
6 miles SE of the Royal Sovereign Lighthouse off Littlehampton,
Sussex, England.
The wreck remained undiscovered (although not undisturbed)
until 1995 when she was found by chance by Kent diver, Jerry
Dowd. Mr Dowd informed Innes McCartney (now the wreck's licencee)
of the find in 2001 and he made his first exploration of the site
in the same year.
Above right: The Holland V submarine at Sea
Below are links to a short movie clip of the Holland V as
she currently lies on the sea bed, by Periscope Publishing:
Holland V
movie (underwater)
Holland V
movie (museum and dive trip)
Condition of wreck
The submarine is upright and in a fair
degree of overall preservation. This is primarily because the
single-hull design means that the pressure hull contains all of
submarines workings, ballast and fuel tanks within. The pressure
hull is, (according to the Royal Navy Submarine Museum) made of a
rare "S" Grade steel only seen these days on the Holland
submarines and the Forth Bridge. The durability of this material
is probably why the main hull of the submarine is still durable
and intact.
Sadly the same cannot be said of the submarine's external
features. The upper superstructure has largely gone and the stern
fins and propeller guard have also been pulled off. The
periscope, which lay down on the deck when not in use, has been
torn away along with the vent pipes for the interior and the
external exhaust piping. There is no evidence of the upper
steering position or compass binnacle and it is possible they
were removed before her final voyage. However the presence of the
exhaust box cover (which was not present on Holland I when it was
raised) seems to suggest that she was probably reasonably
complete when she foundered in 1912.
Above: Multibeam survey of Holland V on a flat sandy seabed off Littlehampton.
It is the belief of the authors that the site has been
recently subjected to damage by commercial fishing. In 2005 and
2006 the wreck was very heavily netted (much more so than in
2001) and the authors and visiting divers spent at least 3 hours
of bottom time cutting some of the netting away this summer.
Alarmingly there was also a steel cable wrapped over the wreck,
which has almost certainly caused of the destruction of the
submarine's upper works and external features.
2006 Project Aims
The dives conducted on the site in 2006 as part of the Holland
V Project were primarily aimed to cover three areas of activity:
a) Net clearance, b) Photo/Video survey c) Comparative studies of
particular features with Holland I, now housed at the Royal Navy
Submarine Museum in Gosport, Hampshire
2006 Project Outcomes
The dives conducted this year finally led to the site being
freed of the two major nets, which had infested much of the hull
sometime between 2001 and 2005. The nets were removed by both
cutting and moving them off the wreck. This was laborious work
for which thanks should be paid to all of the divers who assisted
in doing this. The buoy line which had become wrapped up around
the bow cap was also freed. A small amount of net remains around
the stern area. This net will be removed in future, but at
present is not considered a threat to the wreck.
Above right: Exhaust box of the Holland V, still
showing some attached netting.
Below right: Photograph of the damage to the exhaust pipes.
The major damage the nets caused appears to have been to the
cast iron exhaust pipes which lead from the top of the pressure
hull over the petrol engine to the exhaust box further aft along
the upper deck. It was noted that two of the four pipes had been
totally trawled off and a further pipe was only partially
present.
It was noted that the outcome of the successful net clearance
of the foredeck in 2005 has encouraged the marine growth
witnessed in 2001 to begin to grow back.
With the net removed divers were tasked with taking
measurements and photographs of some of the features, which had
been uncovered. The use of video and wide-angle (fisheye)
photography has revealed much about the Holland V, which differs
from Holland I. With permission from the Royal Navy Submarine
Museum in February 2006, Innes McCartney was given access to the
top deck of the Holland I exhibit and was able to undertake a
photographic survey of the entire deck as it is currently
preserved.
Above: Sketch of the upper deck of the Holland V, by Julie Morrissey.
It has become readily apparent that the deck of the Holland V
differs greatly from that of Holland I. It was always suspected
that this was likely due to the experimental nature of these
submarines. Of particular note were the differences in
construction of the upper deck, different periscope housing
designs, and different construction methods for the
torpedo-loading hatch. This study is at its beginning and we hope
to have a fuller assessment of the differences after next years
diving season.
NAS divers David Dooley and Darren Gosling were tasked with
making a scale drawing of the exhaust box cover. Over two dives
they gathered the measurements and photos needed to do this and
have subsequently produced the finished drawings. The drawings
have been submitted to the Royal Navy Submarine Museum were it is
currently being evaluated to see whether a replica of the Holland
V exhaust box cover can be fabricated for the Holland I
exhibit.
Above right: Drawing of hte exhaust box lid by
David Dooley.
Finally we have introduced a number of new divers to the site
this year. These have been both members of the public and NAS
divers. Also the "Researching Submarines" NAS Part III course was
run again with 10 participants. By promoting a wider
understanding of submarine wrecks to the diving community we hope
to engender a greater understanding of the technical, historic
and emotional issues that surround wrecks of this type. The
visiting divers have been impressed by the wrecks condition and
interested in learning more on its history.
Recommendations
The authors have made the following recommendations to English
Heritage
- That the site be considered for a notice to
mariners/fishermen being placed in the harbours at Brighton,
Newhaven and Eastbourne.
- That a protected wreck buoy, similar to other historic sites
be placed on the site
- That regular monitoring by Innes McCartney and the NAS be
continued. This clearly results in wider public access and an
appreciation of heritage issues among the diving community.
- That the Holland V continues to act as a central component of
future NAS Part 3 Researching Submarines courses, especially when
coupled by the dry example of Holland I in the Royal Navy
Submarine Museum.
2008 Holland V Project
11th - 14th August 2008
In 2008 the project team will be continuing to record the hull of the Holland V submarine with cameras, video and tape measure survey. We will also be looking to establish a ground line from the Protected Wreck marker buoy established near to the site in 2007 to the wreck itself to aid navigation for visiting divers. The team will also be looking to create a waterproof diver information notelet to enhance the visitor experience.
Above right: Innes McCartney leads a tour of the
Holland I at the Royal Navy Submarine Museum in Gosport
Please contact the NAS office if you would like to simply dive the Holland V or would like to help with the survey or download the booking form and return to the NAS office.
Booking From (111kb) 
Diving from Seabreeze 3 from Sovereign Harbour, Eastbourne
Cost: £65 - single day, £125 - two days, £230 - all four days
No NAS qualification required.
Minimum Diving Qualification: BSAC Dive Leader / PADI Rescue Diver. Nitrox use preferred. Pony rig or twin sets mandatory.
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