Diver dies exploring Titanic sister ship

Published on Monday 25 May 2009 13:31

A BRITISH diver devoted to providing "new angles" to the Titanic story died after an underwater filming mission exploring her sister ship.

The 37-year-old, named today by the Greek merchant marine ministry as Carl Spencer, was part of a National Geographic crew exploring the Britannic, which sank in the Aegean Sea, off Greece, in 1916.

Mr Spencer, believed to be from the Midlands region, suffered from an attack of the bends, which can occur when divers surface too quickly and nitrogen forms bubbles in their blood supply.

A military helicopter flew him to Greece's naval hospital in Athens but he did not regain consciousness.

The Britannic Foundation, headed by British businessman Simon Mills, wants to preserve the ship.

Foundation member Mark Chirnside said: "I understand there is an expedition going on at the moment.

"I think it's about 120 metres down and so it's quite a tough dive and you need really qualified people to go down."

Mr Spencer previously joined a dive to video the RMS Carpathia, which picked up 705 survivors as the Titanic went down in 1912 but was sunk six years later by a German U-boat.

"The role of the Carpathia is often forgotten in the Titanic story, so if we can help provide a new angle to the story, that would be great," he told the BBC in 2004.

According to the website of the Bluebird Project, which is restoring Donald Campbell's ill-fated craft, he was also a heating and air conditioning engineer based in the Midlands.

The website said: "Carl's initial involvement in the project was as a bottom diver carrying out preliminary visual and video surveys of the wreck."

Following the sinking of the Titanic in April 1912, the hull of the 53,000-ton Britannic was redesigned and it was launched on February 26 1914. It was sunk on November 21 1916 after being struck by a single mine blast.