| A ship’s bell from the wreck of a steam vessel which sunk in a World War One torpedo attack goes on public display for the first time in a major maritime exhibition. The bell of the Conargo was brought to the surface covered in barnacles and sea bed muck in 2003 by Simon Rodger, a member of the Hazel Grove Sub-Aqua Club, which has organised the exhibition along with Simon’s company, Bowstone Diving Products.
More than 10 men lost their lives when the Conargo, formerly known as the Altona, was hit on Easter Sunday, 1918, as it approached the Calf of Man, an island just off the southwest coast of the Isle of Man. Ten of the brave crew were in a lifeboat waiting for the order to abandon the ship after she came under attack from the German U-boat. The next hit killed all of the lifeboat’s occupants although other crew members managed to escape in separate boats and eventually reached safety in Dublin and Holyhead.
The event showcased around 40 ship bells, lamps, helms and other artefacts sourced from divers all over the UK. |
