The bell from the wreck of a steam vessel which sunk in a WWI torpedo attack will be on public display for the first time in a major maritime exhibition organised by a scuba diving club.

More than ten 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 bell of the Conargo, which is 17 inches high, 17 inches in diameter and weighs 93 pounds, was brought to the surface covered in barnacles and seabed 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.

The event, on March 17, will showcase around 40 ship bells, lamps, helms and other artefacts sourced from divers all over the UK.

 

The Conargo

 

Simon has been diving for more than 30 years and the bell is one of his most treasured finds in a large collection of maritime artefacts.

He said: “I only ever see myself as a custodian of objects like the bell of the Conargo. They will stay with me until I pass them on to my children and if that is not possible, then I will find a museum for them because they are an integral part of maritime history.

“That’s why it is nice to put it on public display for the first time and let others see the bell which still bears the name given to it by its original German owners which is ironic given that it was sunk by them in the end.”

The exhibition will take place on March 17, from 12-8pm at Brookdale Social Club in Bridge Lane, Bramhall.

Entrance to the exhibition is £2. For more information or for advance tickets, call 07791 023612 or email moc.casghnull@nimda.

For more information: http://www.sportdiver.co.uk/News/Latest-News/Bell-of-WWI-wreck-on-display-for-first-time