Rondo.
The Rondo is a steamer lying almost vertically down the face of an underwater cliff at Dearg Sgeir in the Sound of Mull. Her stern is just a few metres below the surface and her crushed bow is on the seabed at about 50 m. This makes it an unusual wreck that can be dived to many different depths. The hull is thickly covered in plumose anemones and dead men's fingers.
What's down there.
- Wreck standing near-vertical down a cliff face
- Stern and rudder post only a few metres deep
- Crushed bow on the seabed at about 50 m
- Dense anemone growth under the keel
- Interior openings along the hull
- Plumose anemones (orange, white and green)
- Dead men's fingers
- Wrasse
- Saithe
- Pollack
Stern about 5–8 m below the surface; bow at about 50 m, at the foot of an underwater cliff.
Very strong tidal currents in this part of the Sound of Mull, so dive at slack water. Visibility is usually good. Shallow sections suit less experienced divers at slack water; the deeper bow and any penetration are for experienced divers only.
How it got there.
Built in 1917 by the Tampa Shipbuilding & Drydock Co in Tampa, Florida, as the War Wonder (ordered for the British Government), then renamed Lithopolis (1918), Laurie (1930) and finally Rondo (1934) under Norwegian owners. About 80 m (264 ft) long, 2,363 gross tons, with a triple-expansion steam engine. Sailing in ballast from Glasgow, she anchored near Tobermory to shelter from a blizzard, but her anchor chain parted on the night of 25 January 1935. She drifted down the Sound of Mull and stranded on the islet of Dearg Sgeir. None of her crew was lost. After salvage work she slipped off the rock and slid bow-first down the underwater cliff.
54 dives.
From the reconstructed log — the dates follow the pattern I dived, so read them as representative rather than exact.