2 divers in UK find relic headed for city

London, Sept. 17: Two British divers made a remarkable discovery off the Sussex coast when they scooped a memorial plaque from a wrecked ship that was carrying it to Mumbai in 1912.
The plaque was due to be erected in Secunderabad, in a memorial ceremony to commemorate the soldiers who had died of cholera while stationed there.
The two divers from Tunbridge Wells Sub Aqua Club, Mr Jamie Smith and Mr Geoff Mulligan, were diving off the coast of Eastbourne when they came across a brass memorial plaque. “We cleaned it up to see what was on it and contacted the Receiver of Wreck at the Maritime and Coastguard Agency to help identify it,” he added.
“I spotted the edge of the plaque and bagged it up to be sent to the surface for closer inspection. I didn’t realise it would be such an interesting and unusual find,” said Mr Smith.
It has since been discovered that the plaque was aboard the Oceana, a P&O liner heading to Mumbai from Essex.
It reached the Sovereign Shoals, near Eastbourne, on March 15, 1912, where it hit a steel vessel, Pisagua. It was too late before the liner noticed the vessel and she sank.
The Sherwood Foresters Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Regiment were stationed there between 1819 and 1836, reports from Kent said.
Mr Smith said: “I’ve been diving with the club in Tunbridge Wells for over 15 years now and this is my first major find.”
Mr Mulligan said: “When we first found it I thought it could be a commemorative plaque for lost souls on the wreck but then we realised it was destined for Bombay and the significance of it.”
Mr Smith did not want salvage rights, but wants the plaque returned to the Worcestershire and Sherwood Foresters Regimental Museum in Nottingham, ending its 97-year journey.