Diver finds warship bell after 80 years — but not everyone approves

HMCS Trentonian sank after being torpedoed by a German U-boat killing six sailors. (Provided photo)

A piece of Canadian naval history has been recovered from the bottom of the English Channel and is now destined for a museum, but not everyone is celebrating.

British diver and YouTuber Dom Robinson, a 53-year-old military veteran and project manager, located the bell from HMCS Trentonian, 67 metres below the surface. The ship, a Royal Canadian Navy corvette, was sunk by a German U-boat in February 1945. Six sailors were killed in the attack, and the vessel went down in just 10 minutes.

Robinson, who has been exploring shipwrecks for more than 30 years, called the discovery “emotional” and “unbelievably exciting.”

“I didn’t really believe it was there until I actually saw it,” he said. “I was just unbelievably pleased. It’s one of those moments that divers dream of.”

Robinson located the bell during his third dive on the wreck. Inscribed with the ship’s name, he believes the bell’s recovery preserves history that would otherwise be lost.

“These are actively decaying wrecks that will eventually collapse into the seabed, and these things will be lost forever when that happens,” he said. “I think getting it up where lots of people can see it, and lots of people can hear the story, that’s a much better way to commemorate the people who died.”

The bell was turned over to members of the Canadian Navy. Arrangements are underway to transport it back to Canada, where it will be restored and displayed at the Naval Museum of Halifax.

But not everyone agrees with the decision to recover the bell.

Naval historian Roger Litwiller, a longtime advocate for preserving Canada’s naval heritage, says the Trentonian should be considered a war grave and treated with the same respect as a cemetery.

“If the staff at one of the cemeteries in Normandy came to work in the morning and found holes dug throughout the cemetery and the brass handles on the caskets removed, what would the response be?” Litwiller said. “There would be an international uproar.”

Litwiller says that while the shipwreck is deteriorating, items like brass bells and fittings remain relatively well preserved and should be left in place as part of the ship’s legacy.

“Those shiny bits will be the last remnants of the Trentonian and the war grave of those men,” he said. “By removing that bell, it has removed the last opportunity to physically identify that wreck.”

HMCS Trentonian, one of 123 Flower-class corvettes to serve during the Second World War, was the last to be lost in action.

Litwiller notes that numerous artifacts from the wreck have been removed over the years, and says the navy has been seeking to get better safeguards for shipwrecks. The United Kingdom has long enforced legal protections for Royal Navy vessels that were sunk.

Still, Robinson insists his intentions were honourable, noting he promptly reported the find and expressed a desire to see the bell displayed in a museum.

“I feel like I’ve protected it for future generations,” he said. “If people feel differently, I could put it back, but realistically, I don’t think anyone would want that to happen.”

Robinson said that members of the Royal Canadian Navy expressed their thanks when he handed over the bell.

“I said to them, are you upset that I’ve taken this, do you feel I should have left it down there?” he recalled. “And they were like ‘no, no. We understand what happens. We know these wrecks are decaying. We know that if this bell wasn’t brought up it would be lost forever.’”

The director of navy public affairs, Lt.-Col. Patricia Brunelle, said in an email that removing items from Canadian navy shipwrecks without authorization is improper and in some cases is illegal.

She says the navy is grateful to have received the bell, but added that accepting it doesn’t mean it approves or would encourage the removal of items from ocean war graves.