Com-Central.net

Scuttle Calypso as scuba diving reef to end Cousteau family feud?
Powered by CDNN - CYBER DIVER News Network
by HUGH SCHOFIELD

LA ROCHELLE, France (21 Jan 2006) -- In an obscure corner of the old trawler harbour of La Rochelle, hidden from view by the building-site that was once the city's fish-market and forgotten by all but a devoted few, lie the rotting remains of one of the most famous ships of the 20th century.

Heavy-duty rubber straps have been bound round the stern to stop it breaking apart and the front is covered by a white tarpaulin. A large sign warns the curious against coming aboard. Understandably, because the handrails are splitting and the metal floors have rusted through to a thin veneer.

For the intrepid visitor who ignores the advice there is more desolation to come. Inside, where once rang out the cries of hardy crewmen and a thousand instruments whirred, there are now blackened timbers, gaping emptiness and the drip of discoloured rainwater.

This is the pitiful carcass of the legendary Calypso, the former Royal Navy minesweeper that for nearly half a century plied the oceans with the French undersea adventurer Jacques Cousteau, taking a starring role in his celebrated films and television programmes.

Nine years after the commander's death, the ship has fallen victim to a bitter family feud and its chances of a new life as a museum or research centre – let alone taking to the sea again – appear to be receding into the depths.

"We had an expert's report done recently and they said it was no longer a question of repairing the boat, but of rebuilding it," said Marc Parnaudeau, who is in charge of the Calypso dossier at the La Rochelle town hall.

"Every part would have to be replaced because the wood has completely rotted through. But it's like the bicycle which you change every part of. In the end you have a completely new one," he said.

The sad tale of the Calypso's decline began in 1996 – a year before Cousteau's death at the age of 87– when the ship was badly damaged in a collision with a barge in Singapore. Towed back to Marseille, the Calypso was brought to La Rochelle on the Atlantic coast two years later where the plan was to make it the centrepiece of a projected maritime museum.

"The theme of the museum was going to be submarine exploration – so it would have been perfect. But then the questions over the ownership suddenly emerged," said Parnaudeau.

Throughout its decades of service, the Calypso had in fact been the property of the Anglo-Irish millionaire Sir Loel Guinness, who leased it to Cousteau for a nominal rent. But since the commander's death two associations have laid claim to his legacy.

On one side the Equipe Cousteau – the French arm of the US-based Cousteau Society – represents the interests of Cousteau's widow Francine. On the other, the Campagnes Océanographiques Françaises (COF) is backed by Jean-Michel Cousteau, the commander's son by his first marriage, as well as by several of his old crew such as chief diver Albert Falco, now 78.

Francine – a former air-hostess 40 years Cousteau's junior who married him six months after the death of his first wife Simone – says that since the collapse of the La Rochelle museum idea she has struck a deal with an American company to have the Calypso turned into a scientific education centre in the Bahamas.

But the COF wants the ship to stay in France. "This is an historic vessel that should have been classified as part of the French national heritage a long time ago," said Jean-Michel. According to Falco, Cousteau told him shortly before he died that he wanted the Calypso to return to the Mediterranean.

"The boat needs us. I'd be ready to start out tomorrow," Falco told Le Monde.

Last November, a court in Paris appeared to settle the matter when it ruled in favour of Francine. A document showing that the Calypso was registered under the COF's name in the 1970s was erroneous, the judge found. But the COF immediately said that it would appeal – earning a vicious denunciation from Francine.

Meanwhile, the authorities in La Rochelle are impatient to get rid of a boat which is now seen as an embarrassing encumbrance.

"The dispute has gone on so long that we just want to be shot of it. It is heart-breaking, but we have to think ahead. And having the Calypso falling apart on our quayside is not good publicity. We will be happy to help pay the costs of getting her out of here," said Parnaudeau.

Some have suggested the Calypso should be towed out to sea and scuttled. It could then be used as a training area for deep-sea divers. Compared to yet more legal wrangling and years of painful decay, it could prove to be the more fitting end.

Absolutely, I'd think there's little doubt the old man would approve of it becoming a living reef being as it's not likely to be seaworthy ever again...heck the Great Barrier Reef is supposed to be shrinking minutely every year so why not start adding back to it.

Overall it sure is a pretty sad story for a such a famous boat. Used to love watching that stuff when I was young. This vessel and Cousteau;s crew were ground-breakers. And still today, estimates are that we've only explored about 1% of the ocean environment....every new deep-sea dive brings the discovery of at least one more deepwater species.