The Accident of the Rhone
The RMS Rhone is a famous ship wreck that has given birth to an attractive aquatic park. It is one of the most popular dives in the Caribbean. Its terrible story continues to amaze and mesmerize us.


Captain Woolley chose the closest route to ocean blue through the network between Dead Breast Island and Black Rock Point on Salt Island. As Rhone occurred to approach the factor the tail end of the hurricane threw her onto the rocks.

The History
During the yellow high temperature epidemic of the 1860s, transatlantic guest ships stopped consistently at Road Harbour, Tortola and Great Harbour on Peter Island to transfer travelers and freight between them. Master Frederick Woolley of the Rhone had been alerted by a going down measure that a storm was coming, but thinking that the storm period was over, he chose to remain at Great Harbour for the transfer with an additional RMS ship, Conway.

Equally as they were passing Black Rock Point between Salt and Dead Breast islands, the weather condition instantly changed direction. The initial lurch captured the Rhone on her side and she wrecked versus the rough reef. Legend has it that Captain Wooley was using a silver teaspoon (which stays dirtied in the reefs today) to mix his favorite at the time. The wreck is now a popular dive site, home to an interesting variety of aquatic life. Most individuals agree that a full exploration of the site needs two separate dives, as the bow and demanding areas are spread out apart at various midsts.

The Accident
The Rhone relaxes underneath the cozy clear waters of the Caribbean Sea and is a popular dive website today. Site visitors can discover the extremely undamaged bow area, see where scenes from the 1977 movie The Deep were fired, and swim under the strict near its huge 15 foot prop. This bristling aquatic park is a suggestion of the fragile equilibrium in between male and nature.

On 29th October 1867 as Captain Wooley was preparing to secure the Rhone in Roadway Harbor, the wind and waves moved and he made a decision to attempt to beat the approaching storm out into the open sea. He steered the ship to Black Rock Point between Dead Upper Body and Blond Rock, a set of rough peaks rising from the water. The ship struck the rocks and sank in two sections with the cold water of the incoming tide contacting the warm central heating boilers creating a surge and sinking the vessel with all 123 travelers still connected to their beds.

Snorkeling
Among the most well-known wreck dives in the Caribbean, snorkelers can easily explore much of the Rhone by merely drifting on a mask and breathing with the sea. The deeper bow section is particularly unspoiled, a kaleidoscope of orange mug corals reefs teeming with yellowtail snapper, sennets and jacks. It's also where scenes from the 1977 movie The Deep were filmed.

The strict and waistline are a lot more broken up, but they offer a haunting glance of a previous age. Divers should intend on a minimum of two dives to fully experience the Rhone, especially given that exposure can in some cases be challenging. Highlights consist of the lucky porthole, which divers massage completely luck, and the well-known bronze propeller. The rusting skeletal system of the Rhone is a famous sight in the BVI and is a must-see for any diving or boating fanatic. The ship is open to the general public for exploration, and several regional dive all-inclusive yacht charters boats visit daily. The Rhone is shielded by the National Park Service, and entry is absolutely free.

Diving
One of the Caribbean's most popular wreckage dives, Rhone is a desired site for its historic appeal and teeming aquatic life. It's open and fairly safe, making it ideal for divers of all experience degrees.

The story behind the wreck is terrible: as she was moving travelers to another ship, Conway, at Roadway Harbour on Tortola, Rhone rounded Black Rock Point and faced it at full speed. Hot central heating boilers shattered versus chilly seawater and blew up, sending the Rhone collapsing into the rocks and sinking in mins. Only 23 of the 146 individuals aboard survived. Their bodies were hidden on Salt Island.

The wreck split in two when it sank, and the bow area drifted to much deeper waters, while the demanding resolved at regarding 80 feet. Both are swallowed up in coral reefs and lived in by marine life, consisting of institutions 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.