HMS ''Reclaim'' was a deep diving and submarine rescue vessel of the British

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

. She was originally intended to be the ''King Salvor''-class ocean salvage vessel ''Salverdant'' and was fitted with specialised equipment including underwater television cameras and

sonar Sonar (sound navigation and ranging or sonic navigation and ranging) is a technique that uses sound propagation (usually underwater, as in submarine navigation) to navigation, navigate, measure distances (ranging), communicate with or detect o ...

and echosounding apparatus. She was also equipped for submarine rescue work. At the time of her commissioning in 1949, ''Reclaim'' was the Royal Navy's only vessel capable of carrying out deep diving operations. Upon completion ''Reclaim'' was attached to HMS ''Vernon'',

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

as a

diving tender Diving most often refers to: * Diving (sport), the sport of jumping into deep water * Underwater diving, human activity underwater for recreational or occupational purposes Diving or Dive may also refer to: Sports * Dive (American football), a ...

Operational service

* 1948: diving from ''Reclaim'', Petty Officer Wilfred Bollard set a world deep diving record of . * 1951: on 14 June 1951 ''Reclaim'' found the submerged wreck of the submarine , missing since 17 April, during which operation her new underwater television apparatus was used. One of the divers from ''Reclaim'' working on the ''Affray'' was Lionel "Buster" Crabb, who later became famous when in 1956 he disappeared in Portsmouth harbour. * 1953: Attended the

Coronation Fleet Review A fleet review or naval review is an event where a gathering of ships from a particular navy is paraded and reviewed by an incumbent head of state and/or other official civilian and military dignitaries. A number of national navies continue to ...

Spithead Spithead is an area of the Solent and a roadstead off Gilkicker Point in Hampshire, England. It is protected from all winds except those from the southeast. It receives its name from the Spit, a sandbank stretching south from the Hampshire ...

. * 1956: Lt. George Wookey of the Royal Navy's Clearance Diving Branch dived from HMS ''Reclaim'' to set a new deep diving record of in Sor Fjord, Norway on 12 October 1956. * 1960: ''Reclaim'' was assigned to , Port Edgar for service as a Mine Counter Measures Support Ship and Diving Trials Ship. From January and May 1961 she carried out diving trials in the

Canary Isles The Canary Islands (; es, Canarias, ), also known informally as the Canaries, are a Spanish autonomous community and archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, in Macaronesia. At their closest point to the African mainland, they are west of Morocc ...

. She was later relieved as Mine Counter Measures Support Ship by the minelayer , which enabled her to concentrate on her roles as deep diving support vessel. * 1962: Deep Diving Trials programme begun, culminating in ten dives off

Toulon Toulon (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Tolon , , ) is a city on the French Riviera and a large port on the Mediterranean coast, with a major naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, and the Provence province, Toulon is th ...

in 1965 to . * 1968: ''Reclaim'' took part in the salvage operation on the Air Lingus Viscount 803 Aircraft EI-AOM, the "Saint Phelim", which had crashed into the

Irish Sea The Irish Sea or , gv, Y Keayn Yernagh, sco, Erse Sie, gd, Muir Èireann , Ulster-Scots: ''Airish Sea'', cy, Môr Iwerddon . is an extensive body of water that separates the islands of Ireland and Great Britain. It is linked to the Ce ...

off Tuskar Rock on 24 March 1968. Over a period of 26 days, divers working from the ''Reclaim'' performed 91 dives in depths of , managing to salvage a third of the aircraft's wreckage. Unfortunately, when ''Reclaim'' attempted to raise the fuselage to the surface using straps instead of nets, the wreckage broke apart upon reaching the surface and sank. *1974: ''Reclaim'' despatched to Harstad in Norway in May to recover a ditched Wessex helicopter from HMS Hermes. The Wessex was only located when Reclaim, using its underwater camera capability snagged the helicopter with the camera. A largely successful operation was spoiled when the gearbox and engine pulled out of the body of the aircraft. * 1977: ''Reclaim'' attended the 1977 Silver Jubilee Fleet Review off

. ''Reclaim'' was the only ship to attend both the Coronation and Silver Jubilee reviews. * 1979: ''Reclaim'' (at that time the oldest ship in the Navy), was paid off, to be replaced by the new Seabed Operations Vessel . * 15 May 1982 arrived at

Bruges Bruges ( , nl, Brugge ) is the capital and largest City status in Belgium, city of the Provinces of Belgium, province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium, in the northwest of the country, and the sixth-largest city of the countr ...

, Belgium for demolition.

Trivia

HMS ''Reclaim'' served as a filming location for the ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the u ...

'' serial "

The Sea Devils ''The Sea Devils'' is the third serial of the ninth season of the long-running British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in six weekly parts on BBC1 from 26 February to 1 April 1972. It was written by Ma ...

" in 1971. It was the last British warship to have sails. Although rarely used, they could add half a knot to her speed.

References

External links

Photograph of HMS ''Reclaim''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Reclaim 1948 ships King Salvor-class salvage vessels of the Royal Navy