An Identification Challenge (not a reg)

[Emilio Largo]

Depending on water temperature, I bet the diver in the photo knows all about Chilliwack.

[Drado]

Depending on water temperature, I bet the diver in the photo knows all about Chilliwack.

Maybe more of Chilli-Willy...

[Aileron]

Well, I think we've taken this highjacked thread about as far as it can go without hitting the BOTTOM of the gutter.

Or not.

[Drado]

And we still need a definitive answer as to what those pins were used for!

My vote is still a linking pin.

"Is that a linking pin in your trouserlettes, or are you just happy to see me?"

[Aileron]

And we still need a definitive answer as to what those pins were used for!

My vote is still a linking pin.

"Is that a linking pin in your trouserlettes, or are you just happy to see me?"

OMG Ed, hysterical!!!!! "Luigi, your linking pin has significant shrinkage"

We should stop here, Ed.

[DaleC]

I dove the site again and managed to note the markings on the side and solve the mystery of the pin.
Each boat has a number; 203 and 91.
Both boats also have the following same markings:

2E/EO 1210
Folding Boat Mk3
4 ESD
Jan 55
RCSME

I figure Jan 55 is the manufacture date and RCSME stands for Royal Canadian School of Military Engineering. I think 4ESD is 4 Engineer Supply Depot. Still working on 2E/Eo 1210.
The pin mystery is solved. It holds the load bearing girders in place on the boat gunnel superstructure. I saw one in place on the boats. They were not connected by a leather tether as I first suspected but rather by small link chain.
I also found this anchor next to the wreckage but don't know if it was part of the boats or just an unrelated snag.



On Thursday I'm diving with a DIR team that is interested in doing a site survey as they have just finished taking an UW archeology course and are keen to put their learning into practice. I still plan to research the history via military records and some contacts I've made but I'll probably turn the wreckage over to them and get back to studying fish.

[Drado]

UW photos of the wrecks in situ would be nice

[sitkadiver]

Dale,

I do a lot of dish diving here is Sitka. Mostly for steamship china and old bottles, but there is also a ton of military stuff on the bottom. I've found the ID'ing things can be a bit of a challenge.

I found 2 dishes that I could not identify right away:

1 was a plain white dinner plate with USQMC prints on the underside. I found out rather quickly that it stood for United States Quarter Master Corps.

The second one was more tricky, it was a cup with no handle and had blue and red trim around the top with a green four leaf clover. In the leaves of the clover were the letters - U S A T. Took me almost a month before I ran across an article about the United States Army Transport Corp. They were/are the folks who handle cargo and frieght shipping for the US Army. They also laid cables for communications. Turns out they are one of the largest "Navy's" in the world.

It makes sense now since Sitka is surrounded by old bunkers and coastal artillery positions. In fact, one of the great day hikes here is the cause way past the airport where you can a flashlight and still explore the old bunkers and magazines.

On a side note: A few years ago I worked asa a diver recovery lead lined communications cable that was put down during the war, there's miles of it around here. I was surprised that on all the WWII maps I used for the project, none had USAT stamped anywhere on them.

[sitkadiver]

I forgot to ask....

Could 2E/OE be 2nd Engineers, Engineering Office ? Why it wouldn't be RCE for Royal Canadian Engineers is beyond me.

Good Luck in your search.

[DaleC]

Great stories Sitka Diver. One would think Alaska would be out of the way but it really did see a lot of action during the war and after with the threat of invasion over the top (as it were). I don't know about the 2E/OE but I plan to revisit the military museum this Saturday and those retired sappers ought to be able to tell me something.
On a related note, the museum also has a small display from a couple of retired combat divers. I asked if I could snap some shots of the pieces and they agreed so I will share them when I do so.

Hopefully I'll have some pics of the boats soon too.

[DaleC]

Finally a few photo's. An overall pic of the boats didn't work so well because of the vis. To give some perspective, that's me in two shots about 8' off the boat with a UK lightcannon. We also took some high def video that I hope will be along soon.

Bailey bridge panels


Boats






All photo's by J. Campbell

[Drado]

Remarkably very good condition! Then again, since I Iive in the tropics, any sunken ship just deteriorates rather quickly around here.

[sitkadiver]

Nice pics Dale. No doubt you ID'd it correctly.

Has anyone thought of bringing it up? Looks like it could still be used a static display in a museum or something.

[DaleC]

I suppose that will be up to the powers that be.

I'm still following the DND trail and those archeological guys are going to survey it and make there findings known to their group. Eventually someone will then decide where it fits in the scheme of things. Supposedly it depends a bit on wether it was sunk on purpose (for training) or accidentally. As it stands at the moment it is covered by some laws which prohibit anyone from raising it on their own.

I suspect that without proper treatment, it would quickly deteriorate when removed from the water. The rope handles for example, as shown in one photo, simply fall to pieces when touched.