On a recent weekend cruise with some friends and our dog we happened upon a decommissioned frigate HMS Annapolis. She was moored in Port Graves on Gambier island. We were pretty surprised to see her. It turns out that she is being gutted and sunk to make a diving park in Howe Sound. We motored around her in SPARKLES (our dinghy).
That night we decided to throw caution to the wind and board her under the cover of night fall. It was tough going the vessel was protected by a chain strung from one end of the gang plank to the other. Not since the line up at the bank have I seen this type of security. We found the vessel sealed up tightly and relatively stripped down. We were able to climb all over the exterior including ascending her smoke stacks and scaling the face of the bridge. She had her main armament stripped off and the bridge also appeared to be devoid of anything. After a thorough examination we left the ship undisturbed and returned to SEA WEASEL.
1 comment:
HMS Stands for "Her Majesty's Ship". This is a Canadian vessel, the HMCS Annapolis (The "C" is for "Canadian".) I Helped sink her, using her own deck gun transferred to an air Defense Destroyer. It was very cool getting to walk around on her before sinking her, as you obviously did, you could really feel the history. Enjoy your adventures, be safe.
-Michael
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