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Warship on Last Mission
Sunk with blast. Destroyer becomes artificial reef in St. Lawrence
by ALLISON HANES
The Montreal Gazette, July 23, 2003
A
Final Gasp As HMCS
Nipigon Goes Down: Water and air jets
through openings as HMCS Nipigon begins
its descent to the bottom of the St. Lawrence
River about eight kilometres offshore
from Rimouski. The decommissioned Canadian
destroyer took two minutes and 54 seconds
to sink yesterday.
It was during a lull in the wind and the whitecaps
that HMCS Nipigon sank below the choppy waters of the St. Lawrence River in less than three
minutes yesterday, offering a dramatic last gasp of air before descending to its final resting
place on a sandy shoal where the river meets the gulf.
Seven years of planning to turn the warship into a
playground for scuba divers and a home for marine life reached their climax with a carefully
orchestrated pyrotechnics display - and a little divine intervention.
"We're
being smiled upon," Jay
Straith said as sun burst through
the clouds and the wind died.
A diver, explosives expert and veteran of nine ship
sinkings, Straith came from British Columbia to help his friends turn the Nipigon into Quebec's
first artificial reef.
Eight charges of C-4 explosives packed on the sides of the Nipigon were detonated simultaneously
just before 1:30 p.m.
Moments earlier, a tug boat pulled the vessel into
place and the last two technicians climbed into their Zodiac and drifted a safe distance
away.
Slowly at first, the steel grey destroyer with 34
years of service in the Canadian navy began to take on water and tipped slightly to its
port side.
Then the stern submerged, sending the bow skyward
in a dramatic spray of water.
It took a mere two minutes and 54 seconds for the
once mighty destroyer to disappear from view.
By 1:33 p.m., the champagne flowed aboard the Evolution,
a ferry boat chartered to take the organizers and their friends about 400 metres from the
site.
Jean-Pierre Bouillon was numb from exhaustion and
disbelief after his seven-year effort to create a more secure dive site within a kilometre
of the treacherous wreck of the Empress of Ireland, where several divers have drowned.
The avid diver and president of the
Société
des récifs artificiels de l'Estuaire du Québec said it was "mission accomplished,"
but that he needed time to let it sink in.
"Everyone keeps asking me to describe my feelings,
but I really can't describe them. A bit sad, happy - it's all mixed up," Bouillon said.
"All through the project, and especially the last few weeks, it was very difficult.
I think though in a couple days I'll be postpartum."
But Straith was ecstatic.
"I'm like an expectant father and this is my
ninth child. This is Jean-Pierre's first child," he said.
The Nipigon, he added, "was riding the elevator.
She was about stone perfect as she went down."
As the submerged ship belched giant air bubbles, Straith
explained how the tug had towed the Nipigon in line with the current so divers will move
with the flow of water as they visit the wreck.
The position of the ship and rush of water through
holes drilled at intervals in the hull for divers also helped the Nipigon settle into place.
"I'll guarantee you what's on the bottom: the
rudder's dug in, she stabilizes off her rudders and then the bow comes down," Straith
said.
It was safe for divers to begin descending only 20
minutes after the sinking. A team went down to ensure all the explosives detonated, and
more are to take the plunge today.
Even though everything went off without a hitch, yesterday
started off with iffy weather and an erroneous newspaper article threatening to throw the
carefully laid plans off course.
With fears that high winds overnight would endanger
the ship and the crew of explosives experts from B.C. who spent the night on board, the
Nipigon was prepared to within five minutes of detonation Friday night.
The thinking was that if the weather flared, it was
better to scuttle the ship quickly and quietly than lose it while anchored eight kilometres
off the shore of St. Luce sur Mer.
But somehow Plan B turned into a front-page story
in the Journal de Québec that left organizers scrambling to reassure the public the
ship was afloat and the sinking was still on.
Hundreds of spectators on the ferry and about 50 private
yachts circled the Nipigon in rough water for more than an hour before the highly anticipated
event.
Among them were groups from Britain and the United
States who are planning their own artificial reefs.
Jeff Dey, from Moorestown,
N.J., is behind a project to sink the Vandenberg off Key West, Fla.,
this spring.
Dey said part of the excitement of such projects is
preserving a piece of military history. The Vandenberg was formerly the USS Harry Taylor,
the first ship to bring troops back to New York Harbour after D-Day .
"We've talked to many veterans who have served on these ships and
their first reaction when we say we're going to sink it is always, 'Oh no!' " Dey said.
"But then you look at the alternative, which is turn it in to razor blades or scrap
metal. We talk about it as serving a final mission and then they become very enthused that
the ship will remain intact and carry on."
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