The Accident of the Rhone
The RMS Rhone is a legendary ship wreck that has actually brought to life a beautiful aquatic park. It is just one of one of the most prominent dives in the Caribbean. Its awful story continues to fascinate and astound us.


Captain Woolley opted for the closest route to ocean blue via the channel between Dead Breast Island and Black Rock Point on Salt Island. As Rhone came around to come close to the factor the tail end of the typhoon tossed her onto the rocks.

The Background
Throughout the yellow high temperature epidemic of the 1860s, transatlantic guest ships quit regularly at Roadway Harbour, Tortola and Great Harbour on Peter Island to transfer guests and cargo in between them. Master Frederick Woolley of the Rhone had actually been alerted by a going down measure that a tornado was coming, however thinking that the typhoon period was over, he made a decision to remain at Great Harbour for the transfer with one more RMS ship, Conway.

Just as they were passing Black Rock Point in between Salt and Dead Breast islands, the weather condition all of a sudden changed direction. The first stumble caught the Rhone on her side and she smashed against the rocky coral reef. Tale has it that Captain Wooley was making use of a silver teaspoon (which remains dirtied in the reefs today) to stir his cup of tea at the time. The wreckage is currently a prominent dive site, home to a remarkable variety of marine life. Many people agree that a complete exploration of the site calls for two separate dives, as the bow and strict sections are spread apart at various depths.

The Wreckage
The Rhone relaxes below the cozy clear waters of the Caribbean Sea and is a renowned dive site today. Site visitors can check out the remarkably undamaged bow section, see where scenes from the 1977 film The Deep were fired, and swim under the stern near its huge 15 foot propeller. This brimming aquatic park is a suggestion of the delicate balance between male and nature.

On 29th October 1867 as Captain Wooley was preparing to secure the Rhone in Road Harbor, the wind and waves shifted and he chose to attempt to defeat the approaching storm out into the open sea. He guided the ship to Black Rock Factor in between Dead Chest and Blonde Rock, a pair of rocky peaks rising from the water. The ship struck the rocks and sank in 2 areas with the cold water of the incoming tide getting in touch with the warm central heating boilers creating an explosion and sinking the vessel with all 123 travelers still tied to their beds.

Snorkeling
Among one of the most popular wreck dives in the Caribbean, snorkelers can quickly discover much of the Rhone by just drifting on a mask and breathing with the sea. The much deeper bow section is especially well-preserved, a kaleidoscope of orange cup reefs teeming with yellowtail snapper, sennets and jacks. It's additionally where scenes from the 1977 film The Deep were recorded.

The stern and stomach are more broken up, yet they provide a haunting glance of a past age. Scuba divers ought to intend on at least two dives to totally experience the Rhone, especially given that visibility can often be tricky. Highlights consist of the fortunate porthole, which divers scrub forever luck, and the well-known bronze prop. The rusting skeletal system of the Rhone is a legendary sight in the BVI and is a must-see for any type of diving or boating fanatic. The ship is british virgin islands catamaran rental open to the general public for exploration, and lots of neighborhood dive watercrafts check out daily. The Rhone is secured by the National Park Service, and entrance is for free.

Diving
One of the Caribbean's most celebrated wreck dives, Rhone is a coveted website for its historic appeal and brimming marine life. It's open and relatively secure, making it ideal for scuba divers of all experience levels.

The story behind the wreckage is unfortunate: as she was moving travelers to one more ship, Conway, at Road Harbour on Tortola, Rhone rounded Black Rock Factor and faced it at full speed. Warm boilers smashed versus chilly seawater and exploded, sending out the Rhone collapsing into the rocks and sinking in minutes. Only 23 of the 146 individuals aboard made it through. Their bodies were buried on Salt Island.

The wreckage split in two when it sank, and the bow section wandered to deeper waters, while the stern cleared up at about 80 feet. Both are swallowed up in coral and lived in by marine life, consisting of schools of yellowtail snappers, sennets, jacks and grunts. It takes at the very least two dives to discover the entire wreckage, though, given that the bow and stern areas are separated by regarding 100 feet of water.