The wreck of the Hera

Mark Webster · Issue 79, Jul/Aug 2014 · pp. 54–58

Products mentioned: Nikon D300, Subal ND20, 10-17mm FE zoom, Inon Z240 flash guns, Nikon D100, L&M Titan housing, 12-24mm zoom, Subtronic mini flash guns

As underwater photographers we generally have the images we intend to capture foremost in our mind when we visit a wreck and are often unaware of the individual tales of suffering and loss which may have occurred during the sinking of the ship. When marine life takes over the remains of a shipwreck the beauty and tranquillity can mask the grim circumstances of the loss and so we should make the effort to know the history of the wreck and spare a thought for those who perished as we enjoy the dive. One of my local wreck sites had a dramatic and sad end for many of its crew when it came to grief on February 1st 1914 in Veryan Bay close to Falmouth in Cornwall. When you visit the location even on a calm day you cannot help but feel the sense of isolation and desperation the crew must have felt during the wrecking. The Hera was a four masted steel barque built in 1886 in Tecklenberg, Germany…