Expedition Ermine in 4K - Greece

The HMS Ermine - First JJ CCR Dive Expedition, Greece 2024 | AegeanTec
The Ermine was commissioned for Burns overnight mail services; Glasgow, Greenock, Belfast/Dublin in 1912 at the Fairfield yard in Glasgow (the engine identification plaque was located during this expedition @ 2:35 seconds in the video indicating this was engine #486). She ran on a twin screw, 2 x triple expansion steam engine which can both be seen in the upper engine room today and documented in this video.
In July, 1915, she was one of a group of ships requisitioned by the Admiralty to augment the ships of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary in The Great War. The ship became the HMS Ermine, and was greatly used under the most arduous of conditions, often under fire during the Dardanelles and Gallipoli campaigns. The ship was used to deliver troops and horses as well as picking up casualties from the battlefields.
At the start of August 1917, HMS Ermine came from Salonika harbour to Stavros, near the mouth of the Struma River. Leaving at midnight on 1/2 Aug., at 12:55am there was an explosion "she was struck in the forward stoke hold" (David Jamieson, a mercantile marine crew member and survivor that sent a 5 page letter to the parents of a casualty in 1919) and she sank in two and a half minutes. Most of the crew were in bed, and they had to dash for the boats. The two port side boats which most rushed to couldn't get away because of the tide and suction, and went under. Of the 20 casualties, majority were stokers, greasers, donkeymen and firemen, all working and living in the lower decks keeping the engines running. Many would have been sleeping close to the section of the ship that struck the mine and others in the engine rooms on the same level - below the water line.
Today, the HMS Ermine sits upright, in one piece with minor damage to its structure in ~65m water depth. Conditions in this area can be challenging with negligible visibility (visibility on day 1 and 2 of this expedition were found to be excellent at ~5-6m, day 2 and 3 deteriorated to around 2-3m). The Ermine was located by the Greek UFR (Underwater Filming and Research) team in October 2014 and later conducted identification dives in 2015/2016. Almost 1 decade later, AegeanTec partnered with UFR Team to return to this historic site and conduct technical dives to verify and record the identity of this ship through video and photography. This video is the first recordings and documentation of this wreck site during the expedition.
The dive team observed a WW1 wreck in fantastic condition, more than 100 years since she sank and much of the structure is still in place. All of the metal work appears to be in relatively good condition, the chimney, lifeboat davits and all deck material is still in place. Portholes and even the glass windows have survived the past century on the seabed. The video footage from the upper engine room shows a number of light fittings and the light bulbs are still in place. Unfortunately, any wooden structure, including decks, accommodation and furniture has suffered significant decay. The wreck is rich in marine life, with soft corals covering the entire wreck.
8 divers on JJ rebreathers part of the JJ CCR AegeanTec expedition, 2 divers from Underwater Filming and Research on Open Circuit system.
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Special thanks to Marinos Giourgas with AegeanTec for coordinating and hosting this expedition, as well to Vasilis Mentogiannis and Kostas Katsioulis from UFR Team for sharing their research and working with AegeanTec to document this historic site.
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Cameras used: GoPro 11 and 10, all footage taken in 4K @ 120fps. INON UFL-G140 SD Underwater Semi-fisheye Conversion Lens used on main underwater camera rig.
Lighting used: 2 x Keldan 18XR Video Lights on the main rig, with 4 x Keldan 10X Video Lights on backups and DPV
Main rig created with CarbonArm deep dive housing, tray and floats (no filters used during these clips due to depth).
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Music: Feel Again by Yarin Primak and Discovery by Roman P
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[@KidZoid555]

Incredible.❤