8m

Lines to cuckoo and landing craft

60mN

17mClump

Anchors

North side

SouthWEst

corner

Swim-through

East facing wall

Tompot blenniesRectangular compartments

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he Outer Mulberry in West Sussex isa favourite dive for all levels, mainlybecause it’s easy to dive and is hometo an abundant variety marine life,whatever the time of year. It’s hardto imagine that such a popular dive

site is made from the smashed remains of aSecond World War concrete structure onceused by the RAF for target practice. Unlike atraditional shipwreck, there’s no bow, sternor propulsion unit to attract the seriousmetalhead, but it still has plenty to offereveryone. From native oysters to

lumpsuckers, the site is acknowledged to bea site of nature conservation importanceand as a result there is a voluntary no-takeapproach adopted by divers and fishermen.The site is well marked with a large

permanent buoy and chain leading down tothe seabed. As you descend to the bottom10 metres below, on a good day, theMulberry can be seen to the north-east,about 8-10m away from the concrete baseat the bottom of the chain. If the visibility isnot so good, then simply follow the line,which takes you directly to the wreck. There

are a couple of other lines leading away inthe other direction which lead you, on atriangular path, to the wrecks of a smallSecond World War landing craft and theCuckoo – a small RAF rescue craft. But forme, the main attraction is definitely theMulberry unit itself.The first thing you will notice is two

cylindrical clump anchors approx 1.8m by1.5m. Behind these anchors you will see thetwisted and contorted steel that reinforcedthe collapsed concrete structure. A word ofwarning; in places the eroded steel can be

Outer MulberrySouthern region expeditions officer Alison Mayor describes an unusualwreck that has become a haven for local wildlife. Once square andfeatureless, the mobile concrete breakwaters have aged gracefully to provide homes for a surprising range of creatures

LOCATION: Selsey, West Sussex

DEPTH: 10-12m

VISIBILITY: 6-12m

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ALL PHOTOS: MARTIN DAVIES

WAbove: Jewel anemones onthe Mulberry harbour remains

PLeft to right: Clump anchors;dragonet; rounding the northeast wall

sharp and will puncture drysuits and trapgauges that are not well secured, so pleasetake care.I normally go clockwise around the

outside of the wreck, keeping it on my righthand side and heading north. In thesummer months, there is often a large shoalof bib and the occasional poor cod hangingjust off the wreck. In the crevices andhideaways provided by the broken concrete,look out for large ballan wrasse, tompotblennies, lobsters, and crabs. The tompotshere can be particularly inquisitive aboutvisiting divers. Don’t forget to keep an eyeout for dogfish and rays on the sand andshingle seabed to your left.After about 25 metres, you will notice

that the structure rises up towards thesurface as you head to the northern andmost complete section of the wreck. Theinternal construction of the Mulberry is anetwork of rectangular compartments,which when filled with air allowed the unitto float and when flooded sank the unit intoplace as part of the Mulberry harbour.Between these compartments you can oftensee large bass cruising the wreck, ready to

ambush their prey. On the walls of thecompartments grow a variety of sponges.Turning the corner to the northern face of

the wreck, you arrive at one of thehighlights of the dive. There is a vertical wallrising 8m from the seabed and stretching17m in length. The bottom three metres ofthe wall is cut away by approx 30º and thisarea receives no direct sunlight. As a resultof the current that funnels past thisoverhang, there are clusters of anemonesand cup corals. There are at least fourdifferent patches of jewel anemones, one ofthe easternmost colonies of this species. Thelargest, over a metre across, is brilliantyellow. Three types of cup coral have beenfound here, two of which are nationally rare– southern cup coral and Weymouth carpetcoral. Around the base of the wall there is asmall scour, filled with empty slipper limpetshells and more ballan and goldsinnywrasse. Three metres north of the wall, youwill see a wheeled shaft, presumably part ofthe buoyancy and ballast operation. Here Ihave seen cuttlefish, squid and dragonets.A right-hand turn takes you along the

main wall where pollock hang mid-water

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gALL PHOTOS: MARTIN DAVIES

WAbove left to right: Ballan wrasse,goldsinny wrasse and tompot blenniesare some of the marine life that livesaround the wreck

SBelow: A lumpsucker lurks in thetwisted steel and weeds

TBelow: Exploringthe concrete and

steel structure

and occasional shoals of horse mackerelcan be found. This east-facing wall isgenerally covered in various seaweeds andkelp and there are two round holes mid wayalong. Towards the end of this stretch thestructure deteriorates into a jumble ofdifferent sizes of concrete piecesinterspersed with lengths of steel and pipes.During the Spring, this central area isfavoured by male lumpsuckers, also knownas sea hens, who nurture their eggs andyoung by carefully aerating them andprotecting from predators. By early May,

WRECKED!these colourful, comical looking fishreturn to their normal depths of 50 to 300m.Carrying on in a clockwise direction,

the south-east and southern sections ofthe wreck are a mangle of concreteslabs with some small swim-throughs, ifyou venture inside for a few metres. It’sdifficult to accurately record the extentof this area because it is such a jumble ofconcrete and metal; suffice to say youare never far from the outside edge andit is fairly easy to regain your navigationround the site. Looking around, youmight find the odd conger eel here.

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HistoryThis ‘Phoenix A’ unit was just one part of the innovative Mulberry Harbours designed tobe towed across to Normandy to construct one of two harbours – each the size of Dover’s – to support the Allied invasion in 1944.A total of 150 Phoenix Units were built. They were designed to form the main

breakwater. These Phoenix blocks were 60 metres long by 18 metres high and 15 metreswide. Weighing 7,000 tons, this huge block of re-enforced concrete was submerged offPagham out of sight of the German aircraft until the invasion began. However when thetime came it could not be refloated.Later, it became a target for RAF bombing practice and all that remains of the Outer

Mulberry is the lower section of the unit. If you want to get an idea of what an intactPhoenix unit looked like, there are two permanently moored in Portland harbour. Theseunits are listed as scheduled monuments in recognition of their historic importance.

SBelow: permanently moored PhoenixUnits at Portland Harbour

WTop to bottom: Lobster; velvetswimming crab and John Dory

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ALL PHOTOS: MARTIN DAVIES

If you follow the wreck round on theoutside, there are a couple of large bollardsbefore you turn the final corner and headback to the starting point. On this south-west corner there is a wall slightly awayfrom the main wreck, which provides a bitof shelter from any tide. In this area I haveoccasionally seen the enigmatic John Doryand also the colourful but skittish black-faced blenny, an inhabitant of the site onlyseen recently along this coast.At the end of this wall you will return to

the starting point – the cylindrical clumpanchors – and if you have time and gas leftyou may chose to explore some of thecentral area, keeping an eye open forcruising bass and large ballan wrasse. Simplyfollow the line and ascend up the chainback to the buoy to complete your dive.The Outer Mulberry is a popular dive

site, it’s only a 10-minute RIB ride fromSelsey and is also a favoured second diveby charter boats from Selsey,Littlehampton and beyond. As a resultthere may be more than one boat on thesite when you surface, although generallythis site can accommodate severalboatloads of divers. A surface marker buoyis essential if you want to surface awayfrom the permanent buoy.

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BognorRegis

Pagham

Aldwick

Selsey

UpperNorton

English Channel

X

EssentialsDEPTH RANGE:Depth ranges from 10 to 12metres depending on state of tide so thedive can be even be undertaken by thoseunder Ocean Diver training. The seabed ismostly shingle / gravel with sandy patchestowards the north-east. Visibility isgenerally 6 to 12m. On low water springs,the wreck is very close to the surface.FINDING THE WRECK:The wreck is at 50º 44.747N 000º 42.233W (WGS 84), justthree miles east from Pagham and Selsey.It is easy to find as it is marked with apermanent yellow buoy. At weekends you may find a collection of dive boats onthe site.TIDAL INFORMATION:Slack water is 4 hours before and 3 hours after high waterPortsmouth. Even on a spring tide it ispossible to gain shelter in the wreck for agood dive.GAS:This is a shallow dive that can be divedon air or nitrox, with little risk of going intodecompression. Air and nitrox can bebought locally at Mulberry Divers at 9 Orchard Parade, East Beach, Selsey PO20 0NS (01243 601 000).RIB LAUNCHING:Launching is simple fromthe newly refurbished public slipway atSelsey East Beach and there is parking.That said, the shingle beach slip is exposedat low water, so it’s not easy to launch andrecover a couple of hours either side of low water.ACCOMMODATION:There is plenty ofaccommodation to suit all budgets andtastes. Many local B&Bs are available: if booking on a Charter Boat out of Selsey,visitwww.southerncoastcharters.com/html/

accommodation.html for some options.Camping and Caravanning is available atSelsey on a large holiday complexwww.ukcampsite.co.uk/sites/t/Warners-Farm-Touring-Park-(-Bunn-Leisure-)-Chichester-1529.htm as well as some local,smaller sites.FOOD:For a quick snack, Mulberry Divers isconveniently located next to a fish and chipshop and bakery. Good pub food is availableat the Lifeboat Inn in Selseywww.thelifeboatinn.co.ukBLOWN OUT:Strong winds, especially fromthe east, are likely to blow out your diving.Other diving options locally are limited, butthe newly opened Mary Rose museum,HMS Warrior, HMS Victory and PortsmouthHistoric Dockyard are well worth a visit(www.historicdockyard.co.uk). Or try the D-Day Museum in Southsea(www.ddaymuseum.co.uk) for more detailsabout Operation Overlord and the MulberryHarbours. The new Diving museum inGosport is good too(www.divingmuseum.co.uk).CHARTER BOATS:There are a threecharter boats offering regular trips to theOuter Mulberry. For a quick and convenientRIB ride from Selsey’s East Beach contactLinda or Steve Frampton at MulberryDivers, (www.mulberrydivers.co.uk / 01243 601 000) or Simon Bradburn atSouthern Coast Charters(www.southerncoastcharters.com / 07932 162 721). A local hard boat (with lift)called Emma Jayne is also available,contact skipper Colin(www.southcoastdivingfishing.com / 07779 654 022).

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ALL PHOTOS: MARTIN DAVIES

VAbove left: Starfishadd colour to the seabed

QLeft: Take care to avoidsharp edges from thedecaying structure