Deep wreck (aircraft carrier)Área Marina Protegida

Pecio HMS Hermes

Sri Lanka · About 8 nautical miles off Batticaloa, east coast of Sri Lanka

Profundidad: 44–55 mNivel: Technical (mandatory decompression)May to October

The first aircraft carrier in the world designed as such from the keel up, delivered to the Royal Navy in 1924. On 9 April 1942, with no air cover and no aircraft aboard, she was spotted by a Japanese reconnaissance plane off Batticaloa and attacked by a formation of Aichi D3A dive bombers launched from Nagumo's carriers. She took some forty direct hits and sank in under an hour. Three hundred and seven men died, among them Captain Richard Onslow. She lies capsized on her port side.

Depth

44–55 m

Recommended level

Technical (mandatory decompression)

Current

Usually gentle, occasionally strong

Access

Boat from Batticaloa (45-60 minutes)

Best time

May to October

Marine protected area

Plan your dive

Best time: May to October

Protection status

Tumba de guerra británica designada; figura en la Base Nacional de Pecios de Sri Lanka

Did you know

Es un pecio casi único: muy pocos portaaviones se han hundido en aguas tan someras, y de los accesibles (Saratoga, Oriskany, Graf Zeppelin) ninguno se hundió en combate. Estuvo inaccesible durante la guerra civil y no se pudo bucear con normalidad hasta después de 2009. Las fuentes discrepan en el reparto de víctimas (19 oficiales y 282 o 288 marineros) y en la profundidad exacta, entre 44 y 55 m según se mida el casco o el fondo.

Sources consulted: Wikipedia (HMS Hermes 95); Base Nacional de Pecios de Sri Lanka (Marina de Sri Lanka); X-Ray Mag; PADI; Tech Asia; Rushkult