Tuesday, May 26, 2009

British Diver Carl Spencer Dies Exploring Titanic Sister Ship


A tragic loss for the dive community.

A highly respected British diver has died during the exploration of a shipwreck off the coast of Greece.

Carl Spencer, 37, had been leading a 17-man National Geographic Society expedition to film Britannic, sister ship of Titanic, off the island of Kea when he suffered severe decompression sickness (DCS), also known as the bends, during an emergency ascent to the surface.

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Mr Spencer, a father of two from Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, led an expedition to Britannic in 2003. He had also taken part in explorations of Titanic, led by James Cameron, director of the eponymous film, and Carpathia, which rescued 705 passengers from the stricken liner in 1912.

He was listed as one of the world’s most accomplished divers on the website Diving with Legends and had participated in decompression research.

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Our thoughts and prayers are with Spencer's family and friends.

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1 comment:

Rosemary E Lunn said...

Tragic diver, Carl Spencer to be honoured by New York based Explorers Club

In a statement issued yesterday the Explorers Club, of which Mr Spencer was a respected and enthusiastic member, confirmed that he is to be formally recognised for his lifetime achievements. It reads;

"Carl Spencer was a highly regarded member of The Explorers Club, an international society of professional explorers founded in 1904 and based in New York City. The Club's members have been responsible for an illustrious series of famous firsts – first to the North Pole, first to the South Pole, first to the summit of Mount Everest, first to the deepest point in the ocean, first to the surface of the Moon – often carrying one of 202 specially numbered Club flags, each with its own unique history. As recognition for his significant accomplishments as an explorer and the extreme difficulty of his expedition, Carl had been awarded the privilege of carrying The Explorers Club Flag to HMHS Britannic. Now the Club is considering an appropriate way to permanently pay tribute to Carl’s outstanding achievements and his substantial contributions to exploration".

In a later statement it was confirmed that flag number #68, which began its career in 1937 and has twice voyaged aboard the Space Shuttle, traveled with Carl and his team to HMHS Britannic and will now be retired permanently and enshrined in his name at the Explorer’s Club headquarters in New York. A fitting tribute to a genuinely world-class explorer.