The Valentine Tanks

Unique ‘floating tanks’, relics of World War Two, can be dived from Swanage,  says . Ideal for an early-season UK warm-up dive in this case – but they’re always ready for inspection

- Will Appleyard

WE USUALLY ASSOCIATE wreckage found on these abed with boats that have had a bad day. It might appear odd, then, that just a short boat-ride from the popular seaside town of Swanage in Dorset, it’s possible to dive the remains of several World War Two tanks.

Well, these tanks were in fact seagoing vessels in their own right. Before their demise, they were taking part in Exercise Smash around Poole Bay in preparation for the forthcoming D-Day landings of 6 June, 1944.

The idea behind the top-secret design was that a canvas frame fitted around the tank would, when raised, displace enough water to enable them to float. They were known as “DD” or “Duplex Drive” Valentine tanks, and a propeller was also mounted at the rear to move the vehicle forward and to within beach range, where the tank’s tracks would take over the job.

Today, divers usually visit only two examples of these tanks because, conveniently, one pair has been roped together to help divers to locate both on a single dive. They lie upright only 70m apart.

A condition survey by Bournemouth University confirms that in fact seven tanks exist in the area, although divers venture to the other five rarely, if at all.

I’ve been interested in the Valentine tanks for many years, but have only really scratched the surface with my own research. So when I discovered that Isle of Purbeck SAC was launching an underwater project to map the history of the sinkings in time for the 75th anniversary in 2019, I thought I’d take the opportunity to expand my own knowledge and head on down.

The wreck-site is popular among newbie divers because of its close proximity to Swanage-based divecentres – and the fact that the tanks lie only 15m deep. With this in mind, I took my partner Ana along to introduce her to the delights of UK diving and immerse ourselves (literally) in a piece of history.