Posted by AADIVER on April 13, 2001 at 22:24:50:
From a UK diving web site:
Helium Text : Wreck Respect Response
What follows is the complete text of the "discussion document" from the Friends Of War Memorials :
A MEANS OF SAFEGUARDING WAR GRAVES IN WATER DEEPER THAN 50m
UK sports diving has seen rapid growth and the technology available to those diving has become more advanced and accessible. until quite recently, most sports diving was done using straight air, limiting safe diving to 50m or less. Now a small but growing number of trimix (a mixture of helium, nitrogen and oxygen) divers are diving to depths they could only dream of before. This means deeper wrecks are now divable, most of which are untouched war graves or wrecks of archaeological significance.
HMS Hampshire was sunk in 70m of water with the loss of 737 souls including Lord Kitchener. We have learned she has been almost entirely stripped of portholes etc by trimix divers who would not have been able to do this without helium. We have recently been contacted by the 95 year-old daughter of someone lost who is very upset at what has been done to her father's grave since the advent of trimix.
Recently, the war grave HMS Dasher has been located and dived in the Cromarty Firth in over 100m of water. This worries and distresses the friends and relatives of those lost and local people who know she will soon receive the same treatment as HMS Hampshire.
Trimix divers have a very high percentage of "wreckers" who are proudly impervious to pleas for them to show restraint. They take delight in dodging the police and coastguard, regarding themselves pervertedly as latter day "Scarlet Pimpernels." Their booty is sometimes hung over the side of the boat, ready to be quickly ditched if intercepted. No wreck, historic or war grave, is safe from them in their quest for "trophies" which can command a high price.
However, Parliament has it in its power to protect these war graves and historic wrecks in water deeper than 50m by simply denying trimix divers the means to dive and plunder them - helium.
We would be grateful if you would consider supporting a campaign to bring forward legislation to ban helium use by sports divers other than by bone fide archaeological groups.
Please do distribute this discussion document to whomever you like the more comment and interest, the better. Please respond to:
war.graves@virgin.net or 104, St Georges Rd, Sandwich CTl3 9LE
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The entire document is in our opinion inaccurate, misleading, incorrect and does not deserve to be taken seriously. But some people do take it seriously, so we'll go through it line by line and invite anybody to respond -
A MEANS OF SAFEGUARDING WAR GRAVES IN WATER DEEPER THAN 50m
Even the title is misleading. Banning helium will offer no such safeguard. Helium is a safety factor for divers, dives to depths of greater than 50m are possible although not recommended.
UK sports diving has seen rapid growth and the technology available to those diving has become more advanced and accessible. until quite recently, most sports diving was done using straight air, limiting safe diving to 50m or less.
Helium is not new, it has been used as a diving gas for many years. In recent years it has gained acceptance as a recreational diving gas due to the safety factors. The British Sub Aqua Club, the governing body of our sport, recognise this fact and approves the use of trimix gasses.
Now a small but growing number of trimix (a mixture of helium, nitrogen and oxygen) divers are diving to depths they could only dream of before.
Untrue. The majority of trimix divers are limited by qualifications and practicality to a depth of 70m, this depth is reachable using ordinary air. What trimix allows these divers to do is dive to such depth safely. It is the laws of physics, not technology, that govern diving.
This means deeper wrecks are now divable, most of which are untouched war graves or wrecks of archaeological significance.
It is true that more wrecks are safely reachable (see above). The rest of the sentence is a completely false assumption used as a statement of fact to back up the rest of the document. The majority of shipwrecks are merchant and not military, the majority of shipwrecks dived are less than 100 years old. We invite the author of the document to back-up the assumption with some facts.
HMS Hampshire was sunk in 70m of water with the loss of 737 souls including Lord Kitchener. We have learned she has been almost entirely stripped of portholes etc by trimix divers who would not have been able to do this without helium.
HMS Hampshire lies on a total of 70m of water, much is the wreck is shallower than that. The wreck has been known about and dived upon for many, many years using ordinary air. There is no evidence that the removal of items from this wreck has happened in recent years due to the advent of trimix. Much of the damage to HMS Hampshire happened long ago at a time when removing items from shipwrecks was common, at this time the MOD themselves were "plundering" military shipwrecks. Such practices are not acceptable now and are very rare.
We have recently been contacted by the 95 year-old daughter of someone lost who is very upset at what has been done to her father's grave since the advent of trimix.
Certain elements of the press and others have been going around spreading lies and misinformation to survivors and relatives. They are then using the quotes and reactions that these lies elicit to back up their own false claims. We find it very sad that a 95 year-old woman has been exploited in this way, her upset is very real but it is based on false information.
Recently, the war grave HMS Dasher has been located and dived in the Cromarty Firth in over 100m of water. This worries and distresses the friends and relatives of those lost and local people who know she will soon receive the same treatment as HMS Hampshire.
HMS Dasher is actually at 180m. The claim that a 180m dive is commonplace is laughable, HMS Dasher is "protected" by that depth. The extrapolation that it will receive the same treatment as HMS Hampshire shows the author either has a complete lack of understanding about trimix diving or that they are deliberately trying to mislead people. A trimix dive to 180m is a VERY rare occurrence only ever attempted after months of planning and training by a few select divers worldwide.
HMS Dasher has been dived. It was dived by a well known UK technical diver after months of planning and preparation. It was a solo dive and the only thing he did down there was lay a plaque on behalf of the survivors association who supported his attempt.
Trimix divers have a very high percentage of "wreckers" who are proudly impervious to pleas for them to show restraint. They take delight in dodging the police and coastguard, regarding themselves pervertedly as latter day "Scarlet Pimpernels."
Complete and utter rubbish - PROVE IT. We know an awful lot of trimix divers and have NEVER come across one who matches that description. This is simply unsubstantiated garbage used to pad out the document.
Their booty is sometimes hung over the side of the boat, ready to be quickly ditched if intercepted.
Name the boat, let's have some evidence. If this type of statement is being presented as "fact" in a document calling for government action then the author should have such facts readily available to back-up these ridiculous claims. If such a boat does exist then the author would be doing everyone a favour by naming it.
No wreck, historic or war grave, is safe from them in their quest for "trophies" which can command a high price.
Where is the market? where are these "trophies" sold? The notion that divers dive for "treasure" that they then sell belongs in the films and the story books, not in real life. We invite the author to identify and expose this huge market.
However, Parliament has it in its power to protect these war graves and historic wrecks in water deeper than 50m by simply denying trimix divers the means to dive and plunder them - helium.
Just how will this be achieved? By making helium a controlled substance? By restricting the trade of the gas suppliers? By Europe wide legislation banning import? Why not ban children's party balloons as well - they are filled with a type of helium that could be used by divers. How many dive businesses that teach the safe use of helium would close? How many jobs would be lost? How many divers would die because they could not obtain a safe diving gas?
We would be grateful if you would consider supporting a campaign to bring forward legislation to ban helium use by sports divers other than by bone fide archaeological groups.
Anybody who supports this idea on the basis of the discussion document has been seriously misled and is supporting an unsound, impractical and pointless exercise. We urge people to get some facts and hear the truth before offering any form of support.
Helium is used by many divers as a safety factor on any dive deeper than 40m, the majority of these dives are on ordinary merchant shipwrecks with no military or archeological significance. Under these proposals such dives would become illegal or more dangerous than they need to be.
Please do distribute this discussion document to whomever you like the more comment and interest, the better. Please respond to:
war.graves@virgin.net or 104, St Georges Rd, Sandwich CTl3 9LE
We invite divers and others to comply with this request. Please copy your comments to helium@wreckrespect.org.uk, along with any reply.