Ostmark S/S

Ostmark S/S is about 33 miles north of Hornbæk at Kattegat. This wreck is in fine condition, only the stem has been blown off by a bomber. The wreck lies at 45 and goes up to 30 meters below the surface at the following position: 56:37.911, 12:16.078. It is a very good wreck to dive on, but the weather conditions can be a bit rough.

In France in 1932 a ship was built by the name of Cote d’argent. Which function it had a the time we do not know. It was conquered by the Germans on the 30^th of July 1940 and after a fire rebuilt into a minelayer. It must have been at least a 100 meters long. It was at 3047 BRT, a real warship with a heavy load of canons and anti-aircraft guns.

At the 21^st of April it was attacked by British aircrafts and sunk east of the island of Anholt. 109 mariners lost their lives less than a month before the Germans capitulated. It must have sunk quickly as it was a direct hit. The whole of the stem has been blown away.

After many attempts, it was finally possible to dive at the wreck in 1988. It is actually very easy to obtain soundings at the ship, as it is pretty large. But the bottom around it is very black and muddy. If the lead does not hit the wreck you are in trouble. The wreck is at 43 meters below surface and rises up 10 meters and stands right on the keel.

On the rear deck of Ostmark S/S is a very large canon. Unfortunately, on the day I had brought my photo equipment, the water was not very clear. The rear deck is about 36-38 meters below the surface and the top of the canon at about 32 meters.
Right beneath the canon on the rear deck lives a small somewhat shy catfish. It has been “at home” every time I have looked for it. Sometimes you can get it out of its hole a little bit, but it did not like to have its photo taken.
On the top deck there are several boxes of grenades.
A decoy box or - whatever it is – towards the middle of the wreck.
After 30 minutes between 42 and 34 meters below sealevel it is time for some deco. 3 minutes at 3 meters must be enough even though it is the second dive on this wreck today. It is great to dive with Nitrox – in particular when you meet some tech-divers as we did on the way to the bottom. Ok, they spent 5 more minutes than us at the bottom, but after that they spent 40 minutes doing deco. Ha – ha – ha.