Saturday, July 31st, 2010

HMS Perseus: The Great Escape

Argostoli (Global Adventures): Cephalonia Island is home to picturesque towns such as Lassi and Fiscardo, the famous Myrtos (or Mirtos) Beach, and the Drogarati cave. Cephalonia is named after the mythological figure Cephalus and part of the lonian Islands on the western edge of Greece. Surrounded by the Mediterranean Sea, the island offers superb diving opportunities that can satisfy everybody from beginner to technical diver.

The HMS Perseus is one of the dives geared to the technical crowd. During the night of December 06, 1941, the British submarine was patrolling the surface of the Ionian Sea between the islands of Cephalonia and Zante. It was her last patrol before she was due to return to her base in Alexandria.

Suddenly a tremendous explosion shattered the submarine from stem to stern. The Perseus did sink within minutes after it struck an Italian made mine and become an underwater grave for most of her crew. Except for one: Leading Stoker John Capes managed to surface through the escape hatch from a depth of 170 feet (52 meters). This represents the deepest escape known using a Davis submerged escape apparatus.

Two fishermen, Haralabos Valianos and Miltiadis Hareras, found him hours later on a rocky beach. He was nursed back to health and the villagers kept him hidden from the occupying Italian troops for eighteen months. On his return to England, Capes’ deep-sea escape was met with disbelief; his account was considered too far-fetched.

Greek diver Kostas Thoctarides (re)discovered the wreck in 1997 with the rear escape hatch still open. Pictures showed that Perseus lies on the seabed with a starboard list. A crack is visible on the port side near the bow, indicating were the boat collided with the mine. The rest of the hull is in good condition with guns, steering wheel, and everything else in place. The compass still shows the last heading of the Perseus.

Divers were able to locate the anchor of an Italian made mine, confirming that an explosion did send the Perseus to the bottom. The submarine is now classified as a war-grave, meaning that nothing can be removed. John Capes, the sole survivor of the tragic incident, died in 1985 at the age of 75.

The submarine did engage several targets before sinking to its own final resting place: On August 26, 1940, two torpedoes were fired but missed the Italian merchant Filippo Grimani just of Durazzo, Albania. The Italian tanker Maya was not so lucky: it did sink on September 5, 1941, after being hit by torpedoes shot from the Perseus. Several weeks later, torpedoes fired from the submarine did sink the German merchant Castellon, but missed the Savona, another German merchant boat. On December 4, 1941, the Perseus did sink the Italian merchant Eridano.

The wreck of the HMS Perseus is located at 37º54'N, 20º54'E, a video showing the exploration of the boat by divers can be found here.

Cephalonia, Greece

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