Loch Striven MTB

Last Friday we ventured onto the Clyde hoping for some good viz and a few reasonable pictures of one of the many wrecks. We bumped into Jason from Wreckspeditions in Kip Marina where we discovered that viz on the Wallachia was 2 metres at best so plans were hastily changed to Loch Striven in the hope that recent good conditions in Loch Fine maybe replicated elsewhere…….unfortunately not. Conditions at 40 metres were 2-3 metres with a lot of snotts and a few large lions mane jellies. So close up wide angle photography was order of the day. 

Our target was the wooden MTB wreck north of Brackley Point, lying on a mud slope between 37-39 metres. Many divers have visited this site and it still makes an interesting dive although now not quite as intact as it used to be at the stern. Ship worms are slowly devouring the layers of cross planked hull as can be seen in the photo below.

One feature on the port forward gunnel is a longitudinal scallop shape, around 2-3 metres long and similar to the feature circled in red in the picture. This suggests the vessel was built as a motor torpedo boat although I have never seen any evidence of torpedo tubes, and suspect they were probably removed at some stage.

Here is a photo of the feature which starts just forward of the wheelhouse structure on port side.

The superstructure has also fallen on top of the engine room in the stern section of the vessel, making it difficult to establish the number of engines, is it two or is it three?

Time was also spent trialling the latest software update to the Raymarine Axiom echo sounder and I managed to catch Tom midwater ascending from the wreck…the white spec!  Before anyone asks……. it is sidescan so diver ascends sideways, honest. One feature I like about the unit is the ability to look to both port and starboard when searching, or select full screen for either out to about 175 metres, the example below is looking to port, zoomed to around 100 metres.