RMS Rhone & Salt Island · British Virgin Islands · Wreck
RMS Rhone — stern
A 5 m (15 ft) propeller and open gearing in 9 m of water
Photo: Gareth Richards · CC BY-SA 3.0
The back half of the Rhone lies broken open in 9 m just off Black Rock Point, with the 5 m (15 ft) propeller still in place and the driveshaft running forward into the engine box and gears. It is the shallow companion to the bow dive, long enough to run a full tank, shallow enough to snorkel, and the half operators use after dark.
Also known as Rhone stern.
Where it is and how deep
18.3689° N, 64.5346° WApproximate position — the dashed circle shows where the site lies; your operator's briefing has the mooring.
The dive
The stern sits in 9 m off Black Rock Point, so the dive is limited by gas rather than by depth. The obvious feature is the propeller, about 5 m (15 ft) across and still attached; you can swim in under the stern beneath it, then pick up the massive driveshaft and follow it forward to the engine box and the gears, which lie open to the water where the hull came apart.
Because it is so shallow this is the tank that runs long, and it is the half of the wreck operators use at night. After dark the same ground turns up lobsters, eels and sleeping turtles in the wreckage, with nudibranchs and basket starfish out on the structure. The whole site has been inside a national park since 1980, and the fittings you swim past are still on the wreck.
The wreck
- Vessel
- RMS Rhone
- Type
- Passenger liner
- Built
- 1865
- Sunk
- 1867
- Cause
- Wrecked on Salt Island in the hurricane of 29 October 1867
- Lies
- Broken stern section in 9 m off Black Rock Point, Salt Island
The Rhone was launched at the Millwall Iron Works on the Isle of Dogs, London, in February 1865 and was lost on 29 October 1867 off Salt Island, breaking in two: the bow section came to rest in 24 m, the stern in 9 m. Of the approximately 145 people aboard, twenty-five survived. The stern half stayed in the shallows where it came apart, and the wreck was turned into a national park in 1980.
Marine life and season
- Sea turtles
- Nudibranchs
- Macro critters
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Good | Good | Good | Fair | Fair | Fair | Good | Prime |
Season follows RMS Rhone & Salt Island: Nov–Jun is calmest and clearest; Aug–Oct hurricane season brings swell that can close the exposed Rhone site entirely.
Photos from RMS Rhone — stern
Gareth Richards · CC BY-SA 3.0
Gareth Richards · CC BY-SA 3.0
Dive videos
BVI SCUBA RMS Rhone Stern Section · Ray Carpenter on YouTube
Questions divers ask
How deep is the Rhone stern?+
The stern lies in 9 m of water just off Black Rock Point. Depth is not the limiting factor here: the tank ends on gas, and snorkellers can see the wreckage from the surface.
Can you dive the Rhone at night?+
Yes. The shallow stern is the half operators use after dark, and it turns up lobsters, eels and sleeping turtles in the wreckage, along with nudibranchs and basket starfish.
Sources
- RMS Rhone — Wikipedia
- RMS Rhone — Dive BVI
- Dive Sites — Sail Caribbean Divers
Photo credits
- Broken, coral-encrusted hull plating and machinery of the Rhone's stern section on the seabed by Gareth Richards, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Collapsed steel hull frames of the stern wreckage covered in coral and sponge growth by Gareth Richards, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Ribbed hull section of the stern wreck slanting down across the sandy bottom by Gareth Richards, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
In The Logbook
- Your first wreck dive: what to expect and whereFirst dives · 6 min read
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