The Naval Air Command Sub Aqua Club (NACSAC) was an organization within the
Royal Navy that oversaw
sportsand technical diving training activities for
naval aviation and
fleet units. Today, it has branches at
RNAS Culdrose (HMS Seahawk) and
RNAS Yeovilton (HMS Heron). Both bases provide training, and club members regularly dive into their local areas on weekends. Diving instruction, from beginner to advanced level, is offered under the auspices of the
British Sub-Aqua Club. In 2005, NACSAC was closed down as an organization in favour of the
Royal Navy Sub Aqua Club, which is what Lieutenant Graham and CPO
Larn had wanted from the outset of NACSAC, which was only given that title since HMS Vernon, the RN Diving School at
Portsmouth would not support the idea of sport diving within the service.[citation needed]
Chief Petty Officer Richard Larn was the organization's Diving Officer from its formation in 1960, who, apart from a period on HMS Bulwark between 1967 and 1968, continued to organize training and expeditions until his retirement from the navy in 1971. One of the club's first projects was to send a team of divers to the
Isles of Scilly to find a historic Royal Navy ship,
HMS Association, a 90-gun ship of the line lost in the
great naval disaster in 1707.[3][4] In 1964 approximately ten NACSAC members - including the shipwreck expert and writer,
Chief Petty Officer Richard Larn[5] - arrived on Sicily, they were believed to be only the second group of divers to visit the area. Their initial dives began a series of navy visits that continued for four years.[3][6] In 1964, 1965, and 1966,[7] The divers could only access the
Western Rocks, but barely around the Gilstone Ledge,[3] where a later expedition managed to locate the wreck of
HMS Association in 1967.[8] The rediscovery of the site also led to more government legislation, notably the
Protection of Wrecks Act 1973, passed in an attempt to preserve British historic wreck sites as part of the maritime heritage.[9]
The annual expeditions, organized to promote diving as an exciting sport, had become a key focus of NACSAC activities. Despite changes to the
Royal Navy Fleet command structure, NACSAC flourished, at one time having branches in seven Fleet Air Arm bases, until superseded by the Royal Navy Sub Aqua Club.
^For more details on these dives and the later discovery of the Association, see McBride, Peter and Larn, Richard (1999) Admiral Shovell's treasure;
ISBN0-9523971-3-7 (hardback)
ISBN0-9523971-2-9 (paperback).
^The annual expedition in 1966 was announced as a search for the wreck of the Association. Plans to find it had existed before (see above), but until then the dives in the Isles of Scilly had largely discovered modern wrecks. See the
List of shipwrecks of the Isles of Scilly.
The Naval Air Command Sub Aqua Club (NACSAC) was an organization within the
Royal Navy that oversaw
sportsand technical diving training activities for
naval aviation and
fleet units. Today, it has branches at
RNAS Culdrose (HMS Seahawk) and
RNAS Yeovilton (HMS Heron). Both bases provide training, and club members regularly dive into their local areas on weekends. Diving instruction, from beginner to advanced level, is offered under the auspices of the
British Sub-Aqua Club. In 2005, NACSAC was closed down as an organization in favour of the
Royal Navy Sub Aqua Club, which is what Lieutenant Graham and CPO
Larn had wanted from the outset of NACSAC, which was only given that title since HMS Vernon, the RN Diving School at
Portsmouth would not support the idea of sport diving within the service.[citation needed]
Chief Petty Officer Richard Larn was the organization's Diving Officer from its formation in 1960, who, apart from a period on HMS Bulwark between 1967 and 1968, continued to organize training and expeditions until his retirement from the navy in 1971. One of the club's first projects was to send a team of divers to the
Isles of Scilly to find a historic Royal Navy ship,
HMS Association, a 90-gun ship of the line lost in the
great naval disaster in 1707.[3][4] In 1964 approximately ten NACSAC members - including the shipwreck expert and writer,
Chief Petty Officer Richard Larn[5] - arrived on Sicily, they were believed to be only the second group of divers to visit the area. Their initial dives began a series of navy visits that continued for four years.[3][6] In 1964, 1965, and 1966,[7] The divers could only access the
Western Rocks, but barely around the Gilstone Ledge,[3] where a later expedition managed to locate the wreck of
HMS Association in 1967.[8] The rediscovery of the site also led to more government legislation, notably the
Protection of Wrecks Act 1973, passed in an attempt to preserve British historic wreck sites as part of the maritime heritage.[9]
The annual expeditions, organized to promote diving as an exciting sport, had become a key focus of NACSAC activities. Despite changes to the
Royal Navy Fleet command structure, NACSAC flourished, at one time having branches in seven Fleet Air Arm bases, until superseded by the Royal Navy Sub Aqua Club.
^For more details on these dives and the later discovery of the Association, see McBride, Peter and Larn, Richard (1999) Admiral Shovell's treasure;
ISBN0-9523971-3-7 (hardback)
ISBN0-9523971-2-9 (paperback).
^The annual expedition in 1966 was announced as a search for the wreck of the Association. Plans to find it had existed before (see above), but until then the dives in the Isles of Scilly had largely discovered modern wrecks. See the
List of shipwrecks of the Isles of Scilly.