Landing Craft Tank (LCT) from World War Two discovered off Land's End

[@D33pUK]

If you enjoyed this deep wreck diving video then check out my other ones 👉www.youtube.com/@D33pUK 🙏

[@tesomoficial9679]

No me pierdo ninguno …gracias por compartir estas maravillosas aventuras 👏👏👏✨✨✨

[@simonflett125]

My Uncle William "Billy" MacKenzie of Stornoway, Isle of Lewis was the captain of an LCT. He participated in Dday. After the war, he became a dentist. Thank you for sharing your film. Fascinating.

[@D33pUK]

Your Uncle must have been a very brave man, that generation was full of heroes. Glad you enjoyed my video 👍

[@marksumner2292]

I’m loving the progression of this channel. The early videos are just the dive itself but now we have maps, reference photos and the actual story of the loss. Really good stuff.

[@D33pUK]

Thanks and glad you think it adds to my videos 👍 I'm definitely trying to up my game and include more information. Plenty more to come I hope!

[@marknelson5929]

Amazing find! Well done. Makes you wonder how many more of these wartime tragedies have slipped through the net in regard to being relatively unknown. I had an Uncle in the RN who was a Captain on these LCTs on the D-Day landings. Geoff was a top man, miss him very much.

[@D33pUK]

I'm sure you're correct, there must be lots of these sorts of events. Well done to you Uncle Geoff!👍

[@tesomoficial9679]

Siempre veo tus vídeos varias veces … realmente son increíbles …hacéis una labor maravillosa de documentación con una magnífica explicación …rescatáis del olvido sucesos que nunca se deberían olvidar … dais voz y VIDA… a esos seres humanos que perecieron en tan trágicos sucesos …mil gracias por compartir ….por hacernos partícipes de vuestras aventuras …que descansen en paz …gloria a los que cayeron….y bendiciones a vosotros por hacer estos increíbles y estupendos trabajos 👏👏👏👏✨✨✨✨

[@D33pUK]

Wow, that's incredible feedback - thank you 👍👍👍👍

[@harbourdogNL]

Fascinating. What would also be interesting, having watched a few of your videos now, is if you also included some footage of after the dive; when you're back topside and chatting with your mates about what you've just seen and experienced, what you think you may have found etc. Just a thought.

[@D33pUK]

That's a great idea and something I'll do in the future although currently I'm uploading videos from the past 2-3 years, and still have plenty left! At that point I was only taking them for my own viewing so wasn't really considering that I might want to put them on here. I'm stunned how many people are enjoying them!

[@harbourdogNL]

@@D33pUK They're great stuff indeed.

[@kwd3109]

Compelling story and video. Frightening too as it looks so dark and gloomy down there. I can see why there were three of you, a man shouldn't be alone in such places.

[@D33pUK]

It's definitely reassuring knowing that there are other divers around!

[@johannesflood5485]

I’m amazed by how interesting you make these exploratory dives for us viewers. I don’t have a clue about a tenth part of all that’s going on but I watch every video you post with great joy. Keep up the good work 😃

[@D33pUK]

Thanks for that kind comment and really pleased you enjoy them!

[@johannesflood5485]

👊

[@pcka12]

Not at all the sort of vessel in which you would wish to find yourself off Lands End in a winter storm & we had such limited ability to forecast storms in 1944! I doubt how many non divers understand how vital the shot line is if you have to decompress for 2 hours out of sight of the dive boat far out in the Western Approaches. When drift diving along the South Coast of England, we would always use a surface marker bouy (smb) because of the very real difficulty of being found by our 'rubber duck' boat cover when the tidal currents could move us so far from our original location.

[@D33pUK]

Absolutely, I can't even imagine what it must have been like to be in one of the LCTs. Supposedly it was horrendous even in the other vessels

[@rogerkirkpatrick9057]

I believe the engines were rear facing and connected to the prop shafts through a thing called a V-Drive this took up less room and got the weight to the rear. So then unloaded it made it easier to get off the shore.

[@rogerkirkpatrick9057]

It was called a Velvet V drive Transmission

[@D33pUK]

@@rogerkirkpatrick9057 Thank you for sharing your knowledge with me 👍

[@ericvadekro8334]

Good video!

[@D33pUK]

Thank you 👍

[@jeffmusor3827]

Very fascinating, good detective work! Must have been so disorienting in the dark on a very different ship wreck! Thanx!!

[@D33pUK]

Thanks you and yes it was 👍

[@Mercmad]

LCT's were in service until quite recently,( Korea and Poland) some were sailed to India but most were lost in situations like this because of their flimsy construction ,and hurried construction by companies , not ship builders. Churchill gave orders as early as 1940 that TLC were to be built ,later to be known as LcT.

[@D33pUK]

I guess they were made in wartime and not expected to be used for more than a few years!

[@Bubblefreejames]

Another great video, with unusually poor vis for out there!!

[@D33pUK]

Absolutely, it was May so I think we got the tail end of the bloom

[@andrewmacdonald4833]

Some years ago, I interviewed a Bomb Aimer that flew on Lancs during the War...he was the sole survivor after being shot down over Germany...he told me that apart from the pilot and engineer both of whom where struggling to keep the plane aloft..others were just sitting in their respective seats...as if frozen..too shocked and frightened to move...that does happen...the same goes for some of the crew here...that didn't get off...presumably because they thought they were safer on board...even though it was clearly foundering..

[@redtobertshateshandles]

When Aussie soldiers in New Guinea were assisted by tanks firing into jungle bunkers, they found the Japanese stunned by the explosions. I guess the same could happen in an aircraft.

[@D33pUK]

I'm sure you're correct, people react very differently when in high pressure environments. I think there is also a study that shows only a small % of people in combat ever fire their weapons.

[@BeccaMH]

Great video - really interesting. I found your channel via Dive Talk and am now working through your videos from oldest to newest. I'm going to be sad when I catch up and don't have anything else to binge!

[@D33pUK]

Awesome, glad you're enjoying them. I've got 4 years of unedited footage and plenty of diving planned for this year! Am trying to release one per week 👍

[@wmdayman]

Very sad

[@eggbird01]

I really like your videos. The way you narrate the complete dive and show everything. Diving the English channel is a while ago for me, the last dives I did on the SS Leopoldville back in 2007. I also did a lot of dives on a number of occasions in the Donegal region, "diving the classics" is what they called it. We used a boat called "The Loyal Watcher" which was operated by Darryl and Linda also from Plymouth. I heard the boat is a tender now and not used voor scuba diving anymore.

[@D33pUK]

Thanks very much and Leopoldville is on my to-do list. I've been lucky enough to visit Donegal/Malin on 4 trips doing all the classics and them moving beyond to wrecks like the Amazon (115m) and Transylvania (130m). Local Watcher is based in Fowey (occasionally Plymouth) and is used for Commercial Diver Training

[@Stewieandrews1]

Another super video- many thanks!

[@D33pUK]

Cheers!

[@rade6063]

Love the video, mate! I hope to one day have the skills to do dives like this. Keep going strong with these dives and videos-I’m really enjoying them.

[@D33pUK]

I'm sure you will and thanks for the comments!

[@darrenhawken9766]

Great vid , thanks for sharing your adventures 👍

[@D33pUK]

Glad you enjoyed them!

[@johnlord8337]

Need to do photogrammetry on these so that one can regain a 3D graphics of these sunken sites for greater study and archiving.

[@D33pUK]

That would be nice and something good for a second or third dive. Unfortunately I doubt I'll ever go back to this one as there's just so many other wrecks to do :)

[@johnlord8337]

@@D33pUK Someone can always use an ROV, amongst all these other sunken sites as well for documentation, including those many other sunken tanks.

[@felixcat9318]

Those poor men, compelled to set out to sea aboard vessels that were incapable of surviving in the sea state they encountered, aboard Tank Landing Craft which themselves were completely unseaworthy due to a lack of maintenance and repairs and with ongoing construction faults! I don't doubt that this horrendous incident would be covered up by the military as much as they possibly could, to protect them from the justified criticisms and legal accountability for consigning 55 men to deaths aboard unseaworthy Tank Landing Craft that had absolutely no place being out at sea in that terrible storm in which they could not survive in the sea state they encountered! I can say with absolute certainty that no British Military Officers were Court Marshalled for causing the entirely forsseble and preventable deaths of 55 men and the loss of multiple Tank Landing Craft! Far better that the military lie to the bereaved families and simply cover the entire disaster up! They considered the lives of their personnel to be as disposable as toilet paper, but not as valuable...

[@robertking2593]

Wish I had got into diving earlier , had to give up from health problems Would have loved to get into technical diving. Loved diving the Mhohegan of the lizard.

[@D33pUK]

The Manacles (including Mohegan) is a fantastic dive site, lots of divers would love to have dived there so you're fortunate in that 👍

[@ninja2kernow]

I was once towed from in a 50ft fishing vessel from st ives to fowey,in the 80s . force 2-3 .It is horrendous. the boat does not make usual motion. i never felt sick until that day .

[@D33pUK]

What the poor men aboard those LCTs endured doesn't even bear thinking about :(

[@ninja2kernow]

@@D33pUK The waves would have been slamming that ramp something awful.

[@antoniabeda9105]

Amazing! Love your videos

[@D33pUK]

Glad you like them!

[@gonsolop2429]

Were there no life rafts? Were they unable too swim free of their sinking vessels? Their loss is quite puzzling. Good video❤

[@D33pUK]

They were in a Force 9 gale so even the best liferaft isn't going to survive that! Glad you like the video though 👍

[@iainhunneybell]

An amazing dive … and what a place to be sailing a flotilla of LCT! They weren’t going to take them to the Far East by sea, sailing themselves, surely?

[@D33pUK]

They were being towed by freighters and I think were planning to stop off at Suez before heading further East. Sadly when the seas got so bad, the freighters cut them loose so they were on their own :(

[@elimeir8558]

Those diesel engines by the photos are Detroit two-stroke engines

[@D33pUK]

My understanding is that Mk3 LCTs had Paxman TPM diesels? www.paxmanhistory.org.uk/paxeng34.htm#12tp

[@shaunwest3612]

Great video,I can see why you had trouble identifying this wreck,it's a proper mess,such a sad story, just to mention your stills of the LCT in Southsea,it's amazing isn't it,I actually watched it being delivered and moved to its place 👌was incredible,and I have to say your are incredibly brave doing what you do👍,love your videos 👍👌😀

[@D33pUK]

@@shaunwest3612 Thank you and I'd love to visit LCT 7074, it's great that it is preserved for posterity 👍

[@shaunwest3612]

@D33pUK you should,it really is amazing, they did an incredible job restoring it, considering it was sunk in the Liverpool dock😳, and now looks amazing 👍

[@RotGoblin]

My only question is why is this being uploaded now when it was reported as being found by Gasperados in 2023?

[@D33pUK]

I've only just got round to uploading the video!

[@RotGoblin]

@@D33pUK Fair.

[@functioningnarcotic2098]

What heating do you use ? And, ..... it might be an idea to do a video on your gear setup and your advice, based on your experience, on what's the best setup for a long deep dive including backups and redundancy etc. Thank you.

[@D33pUK]

I use a Heat Venture Dry V3 heated vest which I like very much apart from the position of the batteries which aren't great. I've modified mine to make it more comfortable. A gear video is in the pipeline but thanks for suggesting it!

[@skipperclinton1087]

You would think that the divers knew what they were going to be diving on they would have researched it first. I lost count of how many times he said "boilers" when they only put engines either diesel or gas on smaller craft. Also, on a landing ship, the anchor is on the stern and dropped well before they landed so they could winch themselves back off the landing beaches. Even the old LSTs were built that way anchor wise. What's equally surprising is that even though it's an LCT, there aren't any tanks down in the bay or any sign of cargo. You'd think the craft wouldn't be sent over empty. We had an LCT in the USN boat unit I was stationed at, and the bays on them are actually pretty large. Not knowing for sure, I would imagine that the hulls were made of wood so there wouldn't be much of an identifiable hull structure. The one our until had was steel hulled, but being it was WWII wood was a lot more plentiful than steel.

[@D33pUK]

@skipperclinton1087 There are thousands (probably more) of unidentified shipwrecks around the British Isles, most of which have never been dived. When we dived this one, we had no idea that it was an LCT! Most of virgin shipwrecks we dive are WW1, or earlier, steamships that are heavily degraded so finding the boilers is a great starting point for getting to grips with the layout of the wreck. That's what I was trying to do on this dive. It wasn't until we were on the surface that we were able to figure out what we had found and that's when we started doing the research. LCT Mk 3s were made of steel rather than wood, it has just rotted away. The 9th LCT flotilla vessels were carrying extra crew due to the length of the journey so they carried wooden caravans in the tank bay as accommodation. Obviously these are long gone!

[@mellissadalby1402]

When the pill did not appear on the surface as expected would it not be appropriate to go down to help the diver who might be in distress?

[@D33pUK]

I might not have explained this correctly but the pill is only used to indicate the presence of a wreck. If no pill appears then the assumption is that it isn't worth getting in the water as it would just be a dive on the seabed.

[@malcolmmoodie6512]

What were you expecting to see if it was upside down

[@D33pUK]

@@malcolmmoodie6512 I'm sure you can appreciate we had no idea it was upside down before we went down. This sort of diving involves a bit of a gamble!

[@marekmikos]

Hi. Which units are you using as CCR?

[@D33pUK]

Most of us are on AP Inspirations but some members of the team use JJs and X-CCR

[@marekmikos]

@@D33pUK thank you for the quick reply. In video about HMS Marmora, you mention raising SP to 1.5 on both of your units. Based on your handheld (and your buddies) I asumed you have AP Inspiration. Keen to know, what is the second unit. Is it Sidemount? (Liberty, x-ccr..) or another modified backmount AP Inspiration? Thx

[@D33pUK]

@@marekmikos I'm not sure of my exact words but I meant that I was changing the SP on both my computers. One is the handset for the Inspiration and the other is a standalone Shearwater, i.e not connected to anything! I only dive with one rebreather, if I need to bailout then our procedure is to use onboard gas, then the gas from other members of the team and finally gas that is deployed from the surface support vessel. Hope that makes sense?

[@marekmikos]

​@@D33pUK thx. Appreciate it. I must have heard incorrectly. Thank you. Wish you all the best and I look forward to wathing your new videos 👌🤙

[@ohioanempire]

I know you mentioned it being the worst storm of ww2, but is it really worse than, say, typhoon cobra?

[@D33pUK]

I think I said 'one of the worst storms.... ' 😂

[@ohioanempire]

Not in the video description ​@@D33pUK

[@D33pUK]

@@ohioanempire It does now - thanks for the prompt 👍👍

[@gonsolop2429]

Death of soldiers during combat received priority over all other deaths. The media wasn't allowed too get all up into military business like they all enjoy today. Not every war death received publicity. Next-of-kin were mailed a heart fealt letter of the Commander's condolences and were largely forgotten as civilians carried on with their lives during tough economic times. I'm alarmed this tragidy exists. Not that these non-combat casualties were largely forgotten. Though your telling their story now, and hopefully their existing family today can better understand their lost elder's personal sacrifce during WW2 in the service of their country. Its not the fact that this mission was incompotantly planned, nor the fact that these " Landing craft " were used in a manner outside their capabilities. Instead, its about man overcoming the impossible with shear will & purpose. ( popular during ww2 ) The plan was likely conceived during a poker game & scotch. Young & middle aged men forging an empire towards greater goals. Too, sh*t happens and some do fale misserably. More than one officer lost rank from this tragidy and it was forgotten by the powers involved too save face. Military Companies, Regiments, etc all thrive on Pride. One can't be proud of such a Cluster***k as this loss of life and equipment. Maybe even certain companies were decomissioned when it came to down sizing after the war.

[@alexwilliamson1486]

Sort your spelling out old boy…it’s quite shocking…..

[@gonsolop2429]

@alexwilliamson1486 Can't fix the STUPID in my smart phone! I edit all my entries FOUR TIMES. . You fix the spelling on your end!🫏

[@gonsolop2429]

@alexwilliamson1486 Can you read sign language, ya picky Poo? " watch the Birdie " , 🤣🤣🤣

[@marksheppard2829]

Keith-whitfield-steele- Born 30th May 2022 Chorlton. Lancashire.. Died Feb 2000 in Wigan and Leigh. Lancashire.Looks like no family

[@D33pUK]

Spent a long time as a widower as well (wife died in 1975), I hope he had a happy life after his horrendous experience in 1944.

[@marksheppard2829]

@@D33pUK sorry to hear that.

[@Aa410k]

Considering how broken up this LCT is, could it have been used as depth charge practice

[@D33pUK]

It is possible although, given it was sunk so close to the end of the war, I consider it unlikely. More likely it has just decayed naturally especiialy as it is in an area of strong tides and minimal protection from the full force of Westerly weather