0:00
The subject of today's dive never made
0:03
The SS Sam Butts was a Liberty Ship
0:07
packed with troops, military vehicles,
0:10
ammunition, explosives, petrol, all
0:13
destined for the invasion beaches.
0:18
on the 6th of June, 1944,
0:23
German heavy guns on the French coast
0:28
Shells smashed into the ship and within
0:30
minutes it was burning fiercely.
0:33
Petrol and ammunition began exploding
0:37
and the order was given to abandon ship.
0:40
In the end, 136 men lost their lives.
0:44
But remarkably, that wasn't the end of
0:48
With the burning ship threatening the
0:50
invasion fleet, the Royal Navy
0:53
eventually fired a torpedo into it and
0:57
Earlier this year, I spent 9 days diving
1:02
And one of the things that that really
1:03
amazed me was just how intact some of
1:06
the wrecks in this part of the English
1:09
I've dived quite a few other Liberty
1:11
Ships, but the Sam Butts really stood
1:13
out. It was It was so much to see down
1:16
there and it was so preserved.
1:19
It's upright, intact.
1:21
And during this dive, I'm going to show
1:23
you a load of things that are closely
1:28
We're going to see ammunition that's
1:30
cooked off due to the inferno that that
1:33
blazed on the wreck. You're going to see
1:35
the tele-motor helm, so the hydraulic
1:39
Undoubtedly, the skipper when he gave
1:41
the abandon ship was nearby. There's
1:43
forks, crockery, portholes,
1:47
loads to see down there. I think, just
1:51
like me, you're going to really enjoy
