A diver discovered the coveted ship’s bell from a WWII Canadian naval vessel after it was missing on the shipwreck for 80 years.
Dom Robinson, who has been diving and exploring shipwrecks for over 40 years, said people have spent 20 years searching for the bell on the HMCS Trentonian, which was sunk after being hit by a torpedo in 1945.
The existence of the bell became a bit of a “myth” because no one had seen it since it was first dived, so Robinson was ecstatic to find it on his third dive of the wreck in late April.
He spent several hours lugging it up from 69 meters below the surface of the sea, near Falmouth, in Cornwall, England.
“There was a myth that the bell was down there,” said the 53-year-old from Portsmouth, England. “The first diver saw it and left it there, for whatever reason, (but) since then no one could find it.
The experienced diver has found two other ship bells over the years, but couldn’t believe it when he discovered it.
“The wreck is really broken after 80 years. It’s covered in fishing gear and doesn’t even look like a shipwreck.
“I think the reason people didn’t find it is because it’s buried under quite a bit of rusty plate and fishing net.
“I saw the rim of it and it caught my eye. I put my hand inside and knew instantly what it was—and I got super excited.”
Robinson brought the bell to the surface and declared it to a government official known as the Receiver of Wreck and contacted a Canadian historian who helped connect him with the Canadian Navy.
“You have to carry it up,” he told SWNS news agency. “It took a couple of hours.”
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The bell was handed over to the Deputy Naval Attache from the Canadian Embassy on May 12 in Plymouth, and will be cleaned up to be displayed in a Navy museum in Canada. Dom can’t wait to see how the bell looks all cleaned up.
“If you’re going to pick one part of the ship that is its heart or soul it would be the bell. You can imagine it was quite emotional.”
“They are beautiful things. It’s the single item that defines and makes it that ship.
“It’s now my favorite dive—and a highlight of my diving career.”
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