The famed shipwreck SS Andrea Doria has sadly claimed her latest victim.
British technical diver Steven Slater died while diving the SS Andrea Doria on July 24, 2017.
While the exact details and cause of death are unknown, what is known is that Slater suffered some problems during the dive, and was removed from the water unconscious by the crew of the dive boat. Although CPR was performed, he failed to regain consciousness.
One of the pinnacle deep wrecks in the world, the Italian liner sank on July 26, 1956 off the coast of Massachusetts near the island of Nantucket, and lies in 70m/230ft, with the top wreck at around 50m/165ft. Sadly, Slater became the tenth diver to perish while diving the wreck.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E09LhnYhSh0
His family released a statement saying,
“It is with absolute sadness that we have to tell you that Steven died on Monday 24th July whilst #diving in the United States. We are all heartbroken but draw comfort knowing he was doing something that he loved.”
Slater was an accomplished technical diver and deep wreck explorer, and a member of the Darkstar team — a U.K. mixed-gas diving team. He loved nothing more than exploring the wrecks lying off the northeast coast of the U.K. He was an avid and thorough researcher who conducted many dives over a 28-year diving career.
His pinnacle dive to date was the ocean liner Empress of Britain which lies off the Irish Coast in 165m/541ft of water. The Empress of Britain was the largest ocean liner lost during the Second World War, as well as the largest ship ever sunk by a U-boat.
Slater’s friend Mike Dixon, who runs a dive operation out of Tynmouth, paid tribute to his friend, saying:
“A regular contributor to diving and shipwreck conferences, Steve was well known in the UK deep diving community for his diving and his research but most of all for his sense of humour and generosity of spirit. He will be greatly missed by everyone who knew him.”
