Parat (Gulen, Norway — 185 fsw)

Background

The Parat is actually one of two wrecks in a combo dive!

In December 15, 1944 the German freighter MV Ferndale was underway on a pitch-black night as part of a convoy going from Bergen to Alesund. The German ships would hide out during the day and then move at night in an effort to avoid the Allied spotter planes and bombers. The Ferndale was loaded with potatoes and ammunition when she struck ground at Seglsteinen. The other ships in the convoy narrowly avoided further collisions.

The ships were navigating by dead reckoning which is estimating current (and therefore their own actual speed) and then making turns based on time and angle. For example, they would sail for 2 minutes and then turn 10 degrees port for 10 minutes, then 3 degrees starboard for 5 minutes, etc. This is how they navigated at night without lights, radar, etc.

It is likely that the captain of the Ferndale misjudged the difference in current in the small channel compared to the open area of the Fjord. As a result, the Ferndale ran into the Seglsteinen rock which is in the middle of the narrow Krakhelle strait (Krakhellesundet).

It is pretty obvious how this could happen given how narrow the strait is and how rudimentary the navigation techniques were.

After the Ferndale started to sink and take on water, the Norwegian dive support boat Parat was dispatched from nearby Floro to help and assist in salvage operations.

As morning dawned on December 16th, a British spotter plane saw the ships and called in a squadron of British Mosquito bombers. An hour later, a squadron of 20 Mosquito bombers arrived and attacked both ships with cannons and rockets. Both ships were set ablaze and efforts to stop the fires were in vain as the ammunition in the Ferndale was causing frequent explosions.

An hour later, eight more Mosquitos showed up and continued the attack. Both ships quickly sank from the damage with the Parat going down first and then the much larger Ferndale sinking four hours later and ending up only four feet from the Parat. It is pretty amazing that it didn’t simply crush the smaller ship.

Below are some historical pictures of the large cargo ship Ferndale sinking.

The Wrecks

Both wrecks are on a 45-degree slope which makes for a nice deco profile if you visit the deeper Parat wreck. Below is a diagram from the Dykkepedia website (left) and the wreck diagram from Orjan at Gulen Dive Resort (right).

The bow of the Ferndale starts about 30 feet deep but is badly blown up both from ammunition explosions and salvaging that happened after the war. I also read that the locals looted the potatoes after the crash and that the bow was blown up at some point since it was a navigation hazard. The ship structure becomes much more obvious below 60 feet and she follows the slope down towards the stern which is about 130 feet deep. The Ferndale was built in 1928 and is a relatively large ship (385 feet long / 54 feet across) and offers plenty to explore.

The bow of the Parat is literally 3-4 feet from the stern of the Ferndale and sits about 145 feet deep and extends down the slope to about 185 feet deep at the stern. The deck of the wreck is largely gone but most of the wreck is still intact and is a very nice wreck to visit. Due to the positions of the wrecks, it makes for an ideal profile for doing decompression stops. The Parat is a very cool wreck with intact engine room covers, some lanterns and salvage gear in the bow, and an array of pumps in the stern area. There are also two anti-aircraft guns with one on the port and one on the starboard side of the Parat. The other interesting feature is the “rusticles” at the stern of the Parat.

The Dives

My primary goal was to make a photogrammetry model of the Parat wreck.

Dive 1

I had the opportunity to make two dives on the wreck. When I made my first dive, I didn’t know I was going to get a chance to return so I hoped to get enough photos for a model on a single dive which is challenging given the depth and run-time limitations.

But, I thought that since it was a small-ish wreck, I might be able to make a decent model even if I only got one dive on the site. On the first dive, I quickly went down the slope and spent the entire dive on the Parat and completed most of the photos for a model. Given the lack of sunlight and the amount of particulates in the water, I had to get pretty close to the wreck which means that I needed a lot of photos. I took 1235 photos on the first dive.

This was the model after the first dive:

It is good, but I knew it had some gaps on the interior areas, the bow and the underside of the stern and that a second dive would allow me to add in more details.

Dive 2

When I knew I was going back, I had three primary goals for the second dive: (1) Fill in the blanks for the bow and the wheelhouse area and (2) build a portion of the Ferndale into the model to provide some context and perspective and (3) include the port side anti-aircraft gun.

Once again, it was really dark. I had also wanted to get some natural light photos of the Parat when viewed from above from the Ferndale. I had to boost my ISO through the roof, open up the lens and slow the shutter speed to get anything even close to workable. Even then, I had to add 2-3+ stops of exposure in post-production to get anything. The water was also very, very green in color.

If you have seen any other photos of this wreck from a similar angle, you will realize how dark this is even with a 1/40th shutter, f6.3, ISO 4000 and 3+ stops of exposure in post-processing.

I achieved goal (1) and goal (3) and got part of goal (2) but wish I would have spent more time on that. It would have been even better to get more of the port stern side of the Ferndale. It was a really tricky project though because the only thing that really links them in terms of space is some rope. Photogrammetry needs data and if you don’t have a way to link the two parts together, it won’t work.

I took 700 more photos for the model on Dive 2. Here is how it looked after the second dive (more photos & links to the model are further below):

In my opinion, the coolest part of this model is the linkage between the wrecks. I only wish I had spent more time getting more of the hull of the Ferndale into the model.

Photos

Below are some wide-angle photos I took on the second dive. They include photos of the other two divers on the dive with me. I’ve made most of them black-and-white because they give a better feel for the environment and the water was soooo green.

Below are some of the detailed areas taken from photos from the model. I have included a photogrammetry model screen capture to provide a guide to where on the wreck the photos are taken from.

Here are the photos that correspond to the points above:

Photogrammetry Model

Below are some screen captures of the model and links to the on-line “live” 3D models. This model came out nicely and really gives a good sense of the orientation of the two wrecks and the cool features.

Lower Resolution / Mobile Version

Higher Resolution / Desktop Version

References

Dykking.no

The Technical Diver

Dykkepedia.com

The potato shipwreck at Seglsteinen