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Falklands veteran becomes reef
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A frigate which served in the Falklands War has been sunk as an artificial reef and diving attraction in Island Bay, off Wellington in New Zealand.
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The sinking went exactly to plan, HMNZS Wellington settling upright in 20m of water and with her bow pointing into the currents of the Cook Strait. Her bridge can be seen from the surface, so the new wreck should make a good site for experienced and newly qualified divers alike.
Launched in 1968 as Britain's HMS Bacchante, the ship served in the Falklands War of 1982, acting as a guard ship off both San Carlos Sound and Port Stanley. She escaped serious harm in a conflict that saw the sinking of two frigates, two destroyers and a landing ship, bad damage to another destroyer, and close calls for two more ships hit by bombs which failed to explode.
HMS Bacchante was sold to New Zealand and commissioned as HMNZS Wellington in 1986. She carried out extensive tours of duty in the region before being decommissioned in 1999.
She was sold for a dollar by the NZ government to a charitable trust - which then spent $1.5 million on preparing and sinking the ship. But that could turn out to represent very good value, as project co-ordinator Marco Zeeman reckons income from diving tourism could top $7.5 million a year.
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