My great uncle Matthew Towers Stoker 2 class went down in HMS Victoria. The ship sank in a matter of minute's, leaving no chance of escape to those sailors working below decks. Matthew was born in Liverpool in 1874 and was aged 19 at the time of his death. When I see these videos of Christian Francis, I have a strange feeling of sadness seeing Victoria standing upright like a tombstone with Matthew inside. Rest in peace Matthew Towers and all your shipmates who died along side of you.
@davidtowers1282 my 2x great uncle also perished on Victoria. He was called Thomas Bolding. There is a memorial monument to those who died in Victoria Park, Portsmouth.
That first image of the rudder and props suddenly emerging from the darkness is absolutely enthralling. What a thrilling and bewildering sight that must have been to the divers. It's a shame there hasn't been any exploration of the midships/bows.
You can still see her name on the stern. Imagine the engineering that's enabled her to hold together after all those years like that! Victoria is an excellent relic of naval design from the dawn of the steel warship era. Her loss during peacetime manuevers (rammed by a sister ship due to miscommunication) was a huge scandal at he time. Not only was she a new ship and named for the reining monarch, but the great loss of life appalled the British public.
This is truly fantastic stuff. I have dived on a few good ones in my time but this is out of my league. I would love to see where she meets the sea bed.
Other than "Titanic", this is the most spectacular deepwater wreck footage I've ever seen. What a treasure trove or obsolete marine technology, yet intact and almost perfect. The rudder appears to be far too small for the size of the ship itself!
Great video, but perhaps a narrative description about your location on the ship as you were diving and how deep you were. I would classify that dive as being one shown as a documentary but not without the narration. Thanks
Hi Christian, My great uncle is inside HMS Victoria, his name is Matthew Towers age 19 stoker second class born in Liverpool in 1874. He is remembered on his parents headstone in a Liverpool cemetery, The headstone needs re-erecting to which I am trying to secure funds to re-erect it to its former condition. The sweet haunting music of your video keeps calling out to me, its as if Matthew is calling out to me to do this task.
Fantastic find! The Russian warship Rusalka also buried herself vertically in the sediment of the Baltic Sea. I suspect this us an anomaly that could only happen with warships due to their massive frames and thick plates. Merchant vessels that hit the bottom like a lawn dart would probably crumple or break from the force of the impact.....
I was going to mention Rusalka, she's a more fascinating wreck in many aspects. Your right about only military vessels having the strength to do this without losing hull structural integrity. Its a shame these can't be salvaged and be used as museum vessels.
@@felixcat9318 thanks for your reply. Do you know of any reason why they couldn't be salvaged? I have no idea if they would be classed as a war grave, either due to their age or the circumstances under which they sank....
Fabulous deep wreck so sad it cannot be dived Too much politics ,with wrecks being no serious exploration. The reason its bow is buried in the bottom ,the front guns n turrets were so heavy ,it was just like a spear going to the bottom.
There’s always the risk of wrecks being pillaged. It’s one thing if it’s for historical preservation, but look what happened to the Titanic, bits salvaged and sold off... despicable.
Perhaps the most bizarre story of this wreck is that Admiral Tryon's doppelganger was seen walking through his own living room at his home while he was on the ship shortly before the collision.
I know Scuba divers get their `buzz` from doing this but ROV surveys reveal SO much more for the viewer/historians.Off to look for ROV survey, GREAT find though and in a remarkable state of preservation for her age!
My name is Victoria, Queen of Queens; Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair! Nothing beside remains. Round the decay Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare The lone and level sands stretch far away.
WHO GOES?! Who goes in this sacred place where none have tread for so long? Who disturbs the sleep of so many good men? WE, the willing, WE the brave, WE the lost demand to know WHO GOES?! Do not stir the mud where our bones lie. Do not entertain yourselves at our expense. Do not provoke the wrath of we who were betrayed by the foolishness of our Captain, even though his bones mix with our own, we did not need to die! THIS is our tomb and here we will lie till the seas give up their dead at the trumpet's call and we all muster at the Master's Gate, at the ending of this world and the beginning of the next where there will be no more war nor ships like this for good men to die in. GO NOW and leave us in peace.
The main battery was two vey big guns mounted in a full turret forward with armour protecting the magazine and a ram bow. The ship was very front heavy and flooded forward which combines with the ram bow to make it stable in that position without trapped air.
@@theswagman1263 They did. Several eyewitnesses reported the propellors never stopped spinning. They were probably still spinning when it hit the bottom.
Would be nice if they could remove the fishing equipment snagged on the wreck and remove it. I know this was a while ago. But they know where it is, the area doesn't look that dangerous. Map it out first .....
Half of the 700 man crew were lost, because a British admiral couldn't do simple 5th grade math. Two columns of ships were entering a bay, 1200 yards apart. Vice-Admiral Tryon ordered both columns to turn inward 180 degrees, thus putting the 2 columns alongside and heading the opposite direction. Except the 2 lead ships, Victoria and Camperdown, each had a 700 yard turning diameter. If they are 1200 yards apart and you bring each of them 700 yards closer . . . . . . well, that's going to cause a problem. Camperdown was almost lost also, from the damage it suffered when ramming Victoria. And it wasn't the first time that Tryon had screwed the pooch trying out that particular maneuver; he had avoided disaster before from a subordinate bringing the mistake to his attention.
I see that you have a fixation on the propellers, what was your problem, could you not show us some other parts of the wreck? Your dive was for nothing but to show the props. well don. Over half of the dive photos' were of the props. at lest you gave us a glimpse of the inside thank you. I remember that the boilers exploded. that could account for all of the damage that you have found. I know that the engine room crew went down with the ship
My great uncle Matthew Towers Stoker 2 class went down in HMS Victoria. The ship sank in a matter of minute's, leaving no chance of escape to those sailors working below decks. Matthew was born in Liverpool in 1874 and was aged 19 at the time of his death.
When I see these videos of Christian Francis, I have a strange feeling of sadness seeing Victoria standing upright like a tombstone with Matthew inside. Rest in peace Matthew Towers and all your shipmates who died along side of you.
RIP *lifts glass*
May his soul rest in peace and warmth in the light of our Lord and in the arms of all saints.. Your comment moved me.
Loss can be felt through the generations. Rest in piece Mathew and all others aboard and may your memory live on.
@davidtowers1282 my 2x great uncle also perished on Victoria. He was called Thomas Bolding. There is a memorial monument to those who died in Victoria Park, Portsmouth.
A fascinating video and wreck. I would love to see more film of this ship all the way down to the seabed and the debris field.
That first image of the rudder and props suddenly emerging from the darkness is absolutely enthralling. What a thrilling and bewildering sight that must have been to the divers. It's a shame there hasn't been any exploration of the midships/bows.
You can still see her name on the stern. Imagine the engineering that's enabled her to hold together after all those years like that! Victoria is an excellent relic of naval design from the dawn of the steel warship era. Her loss during peacetime manuevers (rammed by a sister ship due to miscommunication) was a huge scandal at he time. Not only was she a new ship and named for the reining monarch, but the great loss of life appalled the British public.
Armored bow for ramming, and incredibly hearty armor scheme....might be the only type of that era which could survive as she has.
Spectacular visuals. Love that you've used A.R.Rehman's Bombay theme for the background, and even credited him .
My goodness! This wreck is standing up on the bow - and for something that is now more than a hundred and ninety years old. That's stupendous.
And still with lots of red paint visible on the stern.
A good portion of the forward part of the ship is buried in the seabed. There is another "vertical wreck", the "Rusalka".
shes one of 2 vertical wrecks. The other being the Russian monitor Rusulka. its pretty impressive how they stayed like this for over 100 years.
This is truly fantastic stuff. I have dived on a few good ones in my time but this is out of my league.
I would love to see where she meets the sea bed.
I'd love to see how deep the bow is embedded in the seabed! A complete view from top to bottom would ba an unbelievable sight!
...about 30 meters of the ship is embedded
@@lubeman62 about 98 feet!
Other than "Titanic", this is the most spectacular deepwater wreck footage I've ever seen. What a treasure trove or obsolete marine technology, yet intact and almost perfect. The rudder appears to be far too small for the size of the ship itself!
Surprisingly, it doesn't take a very large rudder to have a dramatic change of course.
For the time, this was an impressive battleship, and the dive footage is outstanding !
"You don't often see battlecruisers standing on their bows."..... 😂
Great video, but perhaps a narrative description about your location on the ship as you were diving and how deep you were. I would classify that dive as being one shown as a documentary but not without the narration. Thanks
Awesome dive. Great video thank you 😊
What a brilliant video well done 👍
Hi John, I wish but not yet. Please keep in touch for new developments.
Hi Christian, My great uncle is inside HMS Victoria, his name is Matthew Towers age 19 stoker second class born in Liverpool in 1874.
He is remembered on his parents headstone in a Liverpool cemetery,
The headstone needs re-erecting to which I am trying to secure funds to re-erect it to its former condition.
The sweet haunting music of your video keeps calling out to me, its as if Matthew is calling out to me to do this task.
@@davidtowers1282Indian classical music
This is really amazing! I wonder what's within her still, deeper down..
Christian, is it possible to dive the HMS Victoria?
Fantastic find!
The Russian warship Rusalka also buried herself vertically in the sediment of the Baltic Sea.
I suspect this us an anomaly that could only happen with warships due to their massive frames and thick plates.
Merchant vessels that hit the bottom like a lawn dart would probably crumple or break from the force of the impact.....
I think it's a hull strength to overall weight ratio yeah. cargo ships that sink while empty? maybe... but a full one? nah.
victoria has an 18 inch thick belt. Thats probobly why she didn't break when she hit the bottom.
I was going to mention Rusalka, she's a more fascinating wreck in many aspects.
Your right about only military vessels having the strength to do this without losing hull structural integrity.
Its a shame these can't be salvaged and be used as museum vessels.
@@felixcat9318 thanks for your reply.
Do you know of any reason why they couldn't be salvaged?
I have no idea if they would be classed as a war grave, either due to their age or the circumstances under which they sank....
Fabulous deep wreck so sad it cannot be dived Too much politics ,with wrecks being no serious exploration. The reason its bow is buried in the bottom ,the front guns n turrets were so heavy ,it was just like a spear going to the bottom.
@@user-vt9um8mv4t It's a grave, but not a war grave. She sank in peacetime during maneuvers.
@@user-vt9um8mv4t I never said it shouldn't be. All wrecked ships, with confirmed dead, should be respected as graves.
There’s always the risk of wrecks being pillaged.
It’s one thing if it’s for historical preservation, but look what happened to the Titanic, bits salvaged and sold off... despicable.
If we can’t go where someone died, we can’t go anywhere.
The Chinese are stealing the wrecks and cutting them up for the pre-nuclear metal.
Perhaps the most bizarre story of this wreck is that Admiral Tryon's doppelganger was seen walking through his own living room at his home while he was on the ship shortly before the collision.
Amazing how the paint remains, or does it?
It is in a remarkable the state of the condition of the ship
I know Scuba divers get their `buzz` from doing this but ROV surveys reveal SO much more for the viewer/historians.Off to look for ROV survey, GREAT find though and in a remarkable state of preservation for her age!
16:07 damn I really thought the halo music was about to play lmfao
My name is Victoria, Queen of Queens;
Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.
Amazing no one has removed the propellers
great video!
The physics of that impact must have been something.
I can never get over. The thought that every person. That was ever involved in this ship or other wrecks like. Has been dead for a long time.
Remarkable, good condition of wreck. Why ist it so red in colour in the stern ? something grows on the steel ?
Oxide paint
I’ve never heard of a vertical ship wreck
there's a Russian ship, a prewar Monitor, that is vertical in the Baltic, up near Leningrad.
@@michaelbevan3285 that’s cool.
What are you guys breathing, and how deep can you go?
WHO GOES?!
Who goes in this sacred place
where none have tread for so long?
Who disturbs the sleep of so many good men?
WE, the willing, WE the brave, WE the lost demand to know
WHO GOES?!
Do not stir the mud where our bones lie.
Do not entertain yourselves at our expense.
Do not provoke the wrath of we who were betrayed
by the foolishness of our Captain,
even though his bones mix with our own,
we did not need to die!
THIS is our tomb and here we will lie
till the seas give up their dead at the trumpet's call
and we all muster at the Master's Gate,
at the ending of this world
and the beginning of the next where there will be no more war
nor ships like this for good men to die in.
GO NOW
and leave us in peace.
Ummmm.......no .
Over 300 men's grave.
How terrible.
It drove itself straight in. Crazy.
It is the hands of old Hob now...forevermore.
How deep is the stern compared to bow?
The bow is 340 feet deeper than the stern.
Do you know the weirdest thing about this wreckage is that is vertical idk how did that happened
Another russuian ship rusika is also vertical
The main battery was two vey big guns mounted in a full turret forward with armour protecting the magazine and a ram bow. The ship was very front heavy and flooded forward which combines with the ram bow to make it stable in that position without trapped air.
@@davidwright7193 and it's possible the propellors continued turning as it sank
Plus a very soft seabed
@@theswagman1263 They did. Several eyewitnesses reported the propellors never stopped spinning. They were probably still spinning when it hit the bottom.
The virgin normal shipwreck
The chad Vertical shipwreck
Bless em'
I seam to recall a submarine wreck with the bow stabbed into the bottom. Any one else?
German U-boat off of Norway
Would be nice if they could remove the fishing equipment snagged on the wreck and remove it. I know this was a while ago. But they know where it is, the area doesn't look that dangerous. Map it out first .....
Half of the 700 man crew were lost, because a British admiral couldn't do simple 5th grade math.
Two columns of ships were entering a bay, 1200 yards apart. Vice-Admiral Tryon ordered both columns to turn inward 180 degrees, thus putting the 2 columns alongside and heading the opposite direction. Except the 2 lead ships, Victoria and Camperdown, each had a 700 yard turning diameter.
If they are 1200 yards apart and you bring each of them 700 yards closer . . . . . . well, that's going to cause a problem.
Camperdown was almost lost also, from the damage it suffered when ramming Victoria. And it wasn't the first time that Tryon had screwed the pooch trying out that particular maneuver; he had avoided disaster before from a subordinate bringing the mistake to his attention.
Oh for Christ’s sake, the imbecile had done it *before*???
He was a nutter by all accounts
built on tyneside but captained by a clown
I see that you have a fixation on the propellers, what was your problem, could you not show us some other parts of the wreck? Your dive was for nothing but to show the props. well don. Over half of the dive photos' were of the props. at lest you gave us a glimpse of the inside thank you. I remember that the boilers exploded. that could account for all of the damage that you have found. I know that the engine room crew went down with the ship
I KNOW OF ONLY TWO VERTICAL SHIP WREAKS THE RUSALKA (HOPEFULLY I SPELLED THE RIGHT) AND THE VICTORIA