WRECKTOUR:135 The Ramsgarth

THIS MONTH'S TOUR is one of the less-dived wrecks out of Littlehampton, but the 1552-ton steamship Ramsgarth is a nice little dive, and well worth a look for a change from the usual suspects. At 29m down on a high-water slack, it's at an ideal depth for most dive clubs.
Our tour begins on the broken hull (1), because this is where the shot caught when skipper team Vernon and Daniel Parker threw it over the side.
I forget who was at the helm and sounder and who was actually throwing the shot on the day. The target had been the boilers, but they have rolled out of the wreck and the shot caught on one of the holes decayed in the hull, rather than dragging onto the boilers.
The Ramsgarth was boarded and scuttled by UB39, coming to rest on its starboard side before collapsing.
The hull rises only a couple of metres from the seabed at this point, so a quick traverse across it will reveal the deck- or keel-side of the wreck without wasting too much time.
On the deck-side, a set of boiler-mounts (2) poke out from under the hull. Just aft from these, the top of the Ramsgarth's triple-expansion steam engine (3) also protrudes. The two boilers (4) have rolled further out, with one wedged up against the other.
Outside these, the mounting brackets (5) from the second boiler just poke out of the gravel seabed. Further out, the last identifiable scrap of wreckage is the skylight (6) and ventilation hatches from above the engine-room.
Heading back in to the main body of the wreckage, there is a break just behind the engine (7), allowing the lower part of the engine and crankshaft to be seen beneath the arch of the hull, and offering limited penetration for those who really want to wriggle underneath.
The propeller-shaft, just out from the break, ends at a flange where the bolts have sheared. A few metres on, the propeller-shaft continues (8) with the aft part of the wreck. After a couple of sections, it disappears into the remaining part of the propshaft tunnel (9). This would have run along the keel in the bottom of the aft holds.
With the wreck fallen to starboard, the two winches (10) that would have served the aft holds now rest inside the flattened hull, just out to starboard from the propshaft tunnel.
Between the winches is the heavy plate with hollow ring that would have supported the mast. The mast (11) lies behind the second winch, pointing diagonally away from the wreck.
The stern remains more intact, tipped over on its starboard side with the deck not quite upright, and rising to 24m from the 29m seabed. There is more space for a peek inside than there was by the engine.
The wooden planks of the deck have survived remarkably well, with single bollards (12) to either side and a large steering quadrant (13) almost filling the last part of the deck.
Below the stern, the rudder is missing and so is the propeller. All that remains is the tail of the propeller-shaft (14).
We now head forward again, across the aft holds to the starboard and deck side of the wreck (15), then crossing the gap back to the forward part by the boilers (4).
To help in poor visibility, a large twisted section of hull (16) bridges most of the gap.
Forward of the boilers, a smaller donkey-boiler (17) has also fallen out from the wreck, and probably rolled forward a bit,
because it is closer to the winches (18) that serve the forward holds than it is to the main boilers.
Between the winches is a mast-foot similar to the one between the aft holds, but there is no sign of the corresponding mast.
The forward part of the hull has tipped over so that there is no gap between hull and seabed. This section is also more intact than further aft, with fewer holes rotted in the hull-plates.
We are now in the closing stages of the tour at the bow. Like the stern, the bow is tipped over to starboard, so that the deck is almost upright, and rising to 24m. Again like the stern, the wooden deck-planking remains mostly intact. There is a large anchor-winch (19) in the middle of the deck, and pairs of bollards to either side.
Below deck, there is easy access into the forecastle (20), though further below the upright ribs are a little too close together.
From the anchor-winch, the anchor-chains are stretched tight through the port and starboard hawse-pipes, with both anchors tight in place against the hull (21).
The upper port edge of the bow is a good point to release a delayed SMB to make a drifting ascent and see to your decompression.

Thanks to Daniel and Vernon Parker, Tim Walsh and Mole Valley SAC.

DEPTH
-20m
20m-35m
35m-45m
45m+
DIFFICULTY RATING