HMS SCYLLA being blown up in 2004

Divers' bodies found at SCYLLA wreck
Cause of deaths unknown, but will ignite debate on dive sites


Brixham Coastguard has called off the extensive search for two missing divers yesterday afternoon after the bodies of the divers were located on the wreck of the SCYLLA.

Divers from the dive boat Seeker located both the divers; a mans body was recovered at about 3pm and a woman's body was located and recovered on a subsequent dive at about 4.20pm. Both of the divers were found within the wreck itself.

HMS SCYLLA was sent to the bottom in Whitsand Bay, near Plymouth on Saturday 27th March 2004 with the intention of creating Europe's first artificial reef when schoolboy Daniel Green pressed the button to detonate the charges.

Shortly after the site was created some diving instructors expressed concerns that the wreck was unsafe for divers, especially inexperienced ones. Brian Allen of the Aquanuts Dive Centre had said that the explosives had left sharp jagged pieces of metal that could catch a dry suit or buoyancy control device (BCD) and said that one of his pupils punctured his BCD on the wreck.

A Chelmsford man, Christopher Sidgwick, died on the wreck in 2005 although this was believed to be due to his having confused his smaller back up tank with his main tank rather than any problems with the wreck itself.

HMS SCYLLA was built at Devonport and was commissioned into the Royal Navy in 1970 and decommissioned in 1993.

Diving has become an increasingly popular hobby but concerns have been raised that divers are over-confident at times after only a few lessons.