A brief description of the wreck (updated)

 Britannic's wreck is located at 37°42'05''N,24°17'02''E  in about 400ft/120m.It was found about 3 nautical miles northwest of port St. Nicolo at Kea,64km/39.7miles southeast of Athens. That's 6.75 nautical miles northwest of the official position given by the Admiralty in 1960 and close to the position given by her captain in the distress signal. She's the largest sunken liner in the world.

 

 

 The giant liner lies on her starboard side hiding the zone of impact with the mine (or torpedo). The first thing that catches our attention is the huge hole  just beneath the forward well deck. It seems that the forecastle is attached to the rest of the hull only by some pieces of the B-deck. This is the result of the massive explosion that destroyed completely the entire part of the keel between bulkheads 2 and 3 and of  the force of impact with the seabed. The bow is bent and deformed in the front part because it reached the seabed before the 882ft/269m long liner was completely underwater. Despite this, the crew's quarters in the forecastle were found to be in good shape with many details still visible. The holds were found empty. The forecastle machinery and the two cargo cranes in the forward well deck are still there and they are well-preserved. The foremast is bent and lies on the seafloor near the wreck with the crow's nest still attached on it. The bell was not found. Funnel #1 lies a few meters from the Boat Deck but the other three were found at some distance by Dr. Robert Ballard in 1995.

 Morten Jensen's 1/350 scale model of the wreck.

(Photo: Michail Michailakis ©2006)

 Aft from the forecastle and the zone of impact, the Britannic remains almost intact. Most of the deck houses are in very good condition but isolated points of deterioration were also observed. Most of the wooden structures are long gone but we can see some remains of the wooden floor on the promenade deck. The bridge area, having many wooden walls, suffered time the most. The 4 telegraphs are hanging from their chains and divers found one of the helms. Further aft, in the wheelhouse, the telemotor is still standing in its original position (as on Titanic) and on the floor they are visible pieces of decorated red and white linoleum. During the 2003 expedition, divers managed to penetrate further inside the ship and reached the Marconi Room, where the multiple tuner was located, but couldn't proceed into the Silent Room. Lower in the ship, a diver of the 2003 expedition managed to swim inside the Firemen's passage and then into the Firemen's vestibule. The watertight door to Boiler Room No.6 was found to be open, so the diver advanced further aft finding the huge boilers still on their foundations, despite the fact that the Britannic is lying on her starboard side. It's still unclear why the watertight doors in this area were found open.

 The coral-encrusted hull hasn't lost the familiar shape of the Olympic class liners. The 3 fateful propellers are still there and the rudder is turned to port. Most of the davits are turned outwards for lowering the lifeboats and nearly all of them are in good condition. On the promenade deck (used as a ward) the metal frames of the beds indicate the nature of the ship .On the Boat Deck the four legs of the compass platform and many deck railings are also in place. The weather cover over the forward Grand Staircase glass dome was found nearly intact. During the 1998 expedition, divers discovered that the glass dome was broken, although there was still evidence of the white glass in some places. In 2003, divers who visited the same area discovered the metal frame of the chandelier that hung above the Grand Staircase. Even china items, with the White Star logo on them were found. Unfortunately, most of the interiors of the ship were not explored as debris obstructed most of the entrances and many parts of the hull are covered by fishing  nets. On the stern docking bridge all the machinery is missing and couldn't be located by the divers but it is certain that the Cousteau team took away some parts in 1976. The nearby Shade Deck is in excellent condition. The mainmast has fallen and lies on the seafloor. The four cranes in this area are still firmly attached in their places.

 

Sources

Simon Mills-"Britannic, The Last Titan"

Time Magazine (October 19,1998)

 

The expeditions

 

YEAR/TEAM LEADER

IMPORTANT EVENTS

MATERIAL

1975

Jacques Y. Cousteau

Discovery of the wreck. No dives.

-

1976

Jacques Y. Cousteau

First penetration of divers inside the wreck. Exploration of debris field with SP-350 ("Diving Saucer") -including a dive with Britannic survivor Sheila Mitchell aboard. Retrieval of some items from the wreck.  Production of a documentary for the "Cousteau Odyssey" TV series.

Info - Photos (8) - Interview(1)

1995

Kostas Thoctarides

A solo 20-minute dive. The first to use open circuit diving techniques.

-

1995

Robert Ballard

Video/photo documentation using ROVs and a US-Navy nuclear submarine (NR-1). No penetration inside the wreck. Production of a TV documentary.

-

1997

Kevin Gurr

Mapping of some of the surrounding debris. Penetrations inside the wreck. Video/photo documentation.

Photos (11)

1998

Nick Hope

Video/photo documentation. Penetrations inside the wreck. Production of TV documentary.

Page under construction

1999

Jarrod Jablonski

About 96 dives. Video/photo documentation. Penetrations inside the wreck.

-

2001

Kostas Thoctarides

Filming from Greek submersible "Thetis" during a test dive in the Kea Channel. The footage was later presented in a TV program  produced by Greek gournalist Giorgos Avgeropoulos who also was aboard the submersible.

Page under construction

2003

Carl Spencer

Video/photo documentation, scientific tests, first penetration into boiler room No.6, discovery of mine barrier near the wreck site. Production of 2 TV documentaries.

Info - Photos (17) - Interview(1)

 

2006

 

Video/photo documentation, deeper  penetration into boiler room No.6, closer examination of the hull. Production of a TV documentary for the History Channel, hosted by John Chatterton and Richie Kohler.

Photos (3)

 

 

 

Morten Jensen's 1/350 scale model of the wreck

 

Equipment used for the diving expeditions

 

Interviews with the owner of the wreck

 

Raising the Britannic: Simon Mills' opinion

 

Underwater Museum