There could not be more of a contrast between the ubiquitous wreck of the Panayiotis, beached on a sun kissed cove, surrounded by the chatter of tourists and the wreck of the HMS Perseus lying in quiet solitude on the dark seabed.  The valiant endeavours of its crew and the extraordinary story of one mans survival is perhaps the most telling difference.

In 1941 on a wintery December night during a patrol of the sea between Zakynthos and Kefalonia, tragedy - in the form of an Italian mine struck the British Submarine ‘Perseus’  and all her crew save one man perished.  British sailor, stoker John Capes was with three other stokers sharing a bottle of rum at the time of the explosion, his compartment was the last to flood as the submarine sank to the seabed.  Although injured Capes assisted his three other crewmembers; he helped each shipmate off with their boots and on with their emergency apparatus, before guiding them towards the escape hatch.  Capes followed, taking one last swig of rum for courage.  A painful ascent through fifty-two metres depth brought him to the surface of the cold Ionian sea...alone.  Through the dark, Capes started to swim towards a black land mass in the distance.  Hours later, he collapsed on the shores of Kefalonia.

Two fishermen Haralabos Valianos and Miltiadis Hareras found him.  First concealing him in a nearby cave, they gave him ouzo and dry clothes.  The next night they moved him by donkey to their village of Mavrata.  He was nursed back to health and for eighteen months the villagers kept him hidden from the occupying Italian troops until he was eventually smuggled in a tiny sailing boat to the safety of Smyrna, Turkey.

On his return to England, Capes’ deep-sea escape was met with disbelief.  As a renowned storyteller; his account was considered too far-fetched and the depth from which he had emerged too incredible to be true!  However, in 1996, fifteen years after his death, Greek divers discovered the Perseus lying just seven nautical miles off Zakynthos.  Looking down through the open hatch, they saw a discarded rum bottle and four pairs of boots.

Until recently the Greek government restricted wreck dives fearful of antiquity smugglers but a law passed in 2006 allows scuba diving all over Greece. 

*St Nicholas Diving Centre at Vasilikos are the only Zante based PADI qualified team to offer advanced divers the rare chance to explore the HMS Perseus.  Mike Moss, who heads the St Nicks team has dived the wreck numerous times and is something of an aficionado when it comes to the Perseus.  

Mike welcomes any opportunity to dive the Perseus and enthused “It is an incredible sight, visibility is fantastic due to the depth and lack of currents which have also helped preserve the Perseus.  Now it's a man-made reef teeming with marine life, it's got to be one of the best dives in Greece”.

Dives to the Perseus are arranged on request.  Cost and schedule is dependant on group size.  The dive can either be arranged as a half day or a full day including lunch on neighbouring island of Kefalonia.

For more information contact the St Nicks team:   

Email: mike@stnicksdiving.com

Telephone: (+30) 6980214275

Website: www.stnicksdiving.com

*Click here to see a recent video of the team diving the Perseus wreck or visit uTube for more videos.