I watched a programme last night uncovering wrecks in the Thames River (the article below summarises the programme's findings). The subject matter was very interesting but the presentation and the presenters were terrible!
Pictured: Divers discover amazingly preserved shipwreck of HMS London on bottom of Thames | Mail Online
and
Old Father Thames gives up his secrets - Times Online Quote:
HMS Aisha
In 1938, Robert Turner probably felt as if he owned the river when he was cruising on his beautiful new 98ft cruiser Wilna. But a year later it would be painted battleship grey and pressed into service as the HMS Aisha. Hitler had realised that the Thames was London's major artery, transporting fuel, food, and troops. Cut the Thames and he'd bring London and the rest of the country to their knees. The river became a target for the Lufwaffe bombers and submarines that sneaked up the estuary. The Aisha was fitted with an antique First World War machine-gun and put into the care of a ragtag group of volunteers. Known as “Dad's Navy”, or Churchill's pirates, these were the same heroes who pulled off the miracle of Dunkirk. Advanced acoustic and magnetic mines (and standard contact mines) were dropped by plane and laid by submarine. Port of London staff were posted along the river in shelters, to note where mines hit the river. Those laid by submarine were harder to spot. Dad's Navy had nothing to combat the fast E-boats that sneaked all the way up the river to the city. In October 1940 the Aisha hit a mine and
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Quote:
SS Letchworth
Boats such as the Aisha, though valiant, were scant defence against the Luftwaffe. On November 1, 1940, five bombers thundered above the collier SS Letchworth as she headed into London with a cargo of coal, part of a convoy delivering vital supplies to London's power stations. Eight bombs whistled into the water around the Letchworth, but the ninth scored a hit.
Other boats in the convoy - as many as 60 ships would sail together for security - rescued the crew and set them ashore on the tip of nearby Southend Pier, before continuing towards London. But when the bedraggled sailors appeared at the base of the pier in Southend, locals thought they were spies. They didn't believe there had been a shipwreck - the pier is the longest in the UK, and the plight of the Letchworth had gone unnoticed. Eventually, suspicions allayed, a shopkeeper took pity and clothed them.
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