At an age when most men would be happily retired, York diving instructor Brian Goddard still regularly dives to the bottom of the sea in search of sunken ships. He spoke to HELEN MEAD

Few visits to gents’ toilets leave lasting memories.

But for Brian Goddard, the row of urinals and toilets he came across on June 19, 2013, will never leave him - because they lay at the bottom of the sea.

The white porcelain urinals, ornate sinks and beautifully-tiled floor of what was once a smart washroom in a large steamship, were among the first things he saw as he dived to a depth of almost 70 metres in the North Sea.

“It was incredible, absolutely stunning,” says Brian. “You could see the maker’s name, ‘Armitage Ware’ and a chamber pot bears the name of the Danish shipping line DFDS. Hot, cold and waste labelling was clearly visible.”

The washroom formed part of the passenger/cargo steamship NJ Fjord which was scuttled on the order of a German submarine captain in April 1917. Previously undived, the wreck had lain unseen until the 2013 expedition by a team diving with the specialist dive company Marine Quest, based in the Scottish port of Eyemouth.

They travelled 55 miles offshore and used an echo sounder to locate the ship - the vessel which brought together the opposing fleets in the Battle of Jutland.

Experienced wreck diver Brian, who lives in the village of Earswick north of York, was proud to be part of that team. The visibility was good, and the underwater film he made shows shoals of fish darting around the largely intact wreck.

He is passionate about the pastime that has seen him dive to the depths of the ocean to explore the eerie yet captivating remains of vessels sunk in conflict or by other means. “I love it down there. It is quiet and peaceful, and so interesting. You never know what you are going to come across.”

York Press:

Andrew and Brian Goddard with Mark Byrne

Raised in landlocked Sheffield, the retired BT engineering manager’s love of the sea stems partly from his father who served in the navy, but it is also thanks to his uncle who owned a television set in days when TV was in its infancy. “I used to go round and watch this programme called ‘Sea Hunt’ about a scuba diver but for a young lad in Sheffield the idea of breathing underwater was as far-fetched as walking on the moon.”

Man did, in fact, set foot on the moon before Brian made his first dive, in 1973.

Since those early days, when he joined his local sub-aqua group, he has participated in around 2000 dives, to wrecks including ships, submarines and aircraft.

This year, he was among a Marine Quest team who discovered a wreck believed to be HMS G7, a British G-class submarine built for the Royal Navy during the First World War. It was sunk in October 1918 in the North Sea.

The team investigated an anomaly detected by the UK Hydrographic Office which surveys the ocean floor.

“It is exhilarating. When you dive an unknown mark that is just a trace on an echo sounder you don’t know what you are going to find. The hydrographic report said ‘mark 50metres long by seven metres wide, ‘possibly a submarine.’ We dived and I was wondering what it would be, thinking that it may be a trawler, but it was a submarine” says Brian. “All the features of the wreck fit the description of a G class submarine and the G7 is the only one that is missing.”

“The brass edging is clearly visible on the periscope, indicating a British vessel,” says Brian. “They were made of brass to prevent it affecting the magnetic compass.”

He adds: “The Norwegians salvaged a conning tower - the raised platform - from the G8 sister ship which is an exact copy.”

Damage to the craft- which is a designated war grave - indicates that the submarine struck a mine.

Many vessels sunk during conflict are classed as war graves, in particular those in which bodies remain.

“We don’t go into it, or remove artefacts, we just look and photograph it.”

In the gloomy conditions, often experienced at these depths, the divers fix strobe lights to the bottom of a ‘shot line’ that is deployed by the boat to guide them to the wreck and provide a safe route back to the surface.

“When you descend to these depths and see the darkness of the conditions it takes a while to adjust to it. As your eyes adjust to the light you start to see further,” says Brian, whose son Andrew shares his dad’s passion for wreck diving. “He is my diving buddy,” says Brian. Artefacts found on and around the wrecks are left in place. “Marine Quest has a general policy that we don’t recover anything - the only time we do is when we are trying to identify a vessel. Generally, we look but do not touch,” explains Brian.

Recovered artefacts have to be reported to the Receiver of Wreck, an official who deals with the law surrounding wreck and salvage. It is given a unique number and attempts are made to find the owner.

Finds whose owners cannot be found are usually donated to museums. Brian and Andrew were among a team who recovered a bell inscribed Silvio Hull 1880, from an as yet unidentified vessel off the north-east coast. “It is unlikely to be the Silvio as the Silvio is reported scrapped in 1912 and differs in size from the wreck. It was common for bells to be reused on different ships.”

The bell will be donated to a museum. The team also recovered an old-fashioned copper diving helmet from the wreck of an unidentified steam yacht . This is also destined for a museum.

This type of diving is called mixed gas diving, using equipment known as rebreathers. “You take a breath of air and then blow it back into a container and re-breath it so you are not wasting the gas by blowing it back into the water,” says Brian. “The exhaled air passes through a chemical scrubber that removes the carbon dioxide. The rebreather tops up the oxygen level .” The method allows a gas supply of up to ten hours.

Brian - who is certified to dive depths of up to 100metres - has also explored destinations including the Red Sea, the waters off Norway and the South China Sea, where he dived the wrecks of Second World War casualties HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Repulse.

One of the highlights of his diving career was a visit to Chuuk Lagoon, also known as Truk Lagoon - a sheltered body of water in the central Pacific. Considered the most formidable of all Japanese strongholds in the Pacific, an attack by America left the lagoon littered with wrecks of war and merchant ships.

“It was incredible, alive with the coral and fish,” says Brian, whose wife June does not share his pastime. “I get seasick on boats,” she laughs, while admitting to worrying about her husband and son. The couple’s daughter Dawn also used to dive but has a demanding career and can no longer accommodate it.

Wrecks are teeming with life, covered with sea anemones, coral, starfish, sea urchins and other ocean dwelling plants and creatures. Crabs, lobsters, basking sharks and a spectacular sun fish are among those Brian has encountered.

A qualified instructor, Brian teaches with York Sub Aqua Club which gives people the chance to try the activity.

At 67, he has no plans to hang up his diving suit. “One of the people I dive with is 73 and still going strong, so I will carry on as long as I can - I really love it,” he says.

York Sub Aqua Club: York-diving.co.uk T: 07866 832942

Brian’s films can be viewed on YouTube.