A Sea King from 771 Naval Air Squadron lifts a metal stairway out of the English Channel – one of the more unusual ‘rescue’ missions the Ace of Clubs have been called to.The steps in question lead from the top of rocks at Porth Kerris, near St Keverne on the Lizard peninsula, down to the sea.
They were used by divers from all three Services – the imaginatively-titled Porth Kerris building nearby, which is looked after by Culdrose staff, serves as the frogmen’s dedicated ‘clubhouse’.
Winter storms ripped the stairway off the rock and tossed them into the sea – prompting a two-stage rescue operation.
First a team from HMS Seahawk Sub Aqua Club moved the steps into deeper waters – where they’d receive less of a battering from the waves – by borrowing some special lifting bags from fellow divers in Falmouth.
For two weeks the one-tonne steps remained anchored down ten metres below the surface of the sea waiting for the divers to return – this time with a 771 cab.
The Sea King was carrying out some loadlifting practice – and a rather unwieldy and heavy set of steps underwater proved as good an object to lift and shift as anything.
Once hauled out of the water, the steps were carried about 50 metres to the divers’ compound. There starfish and other sea creatures were safely removed from the metal and returned to their natural home.
The stairs require some work before they are put back in place for divers to use once more.
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