Paul Vassallo's incredible feat of snaking out of one of the portholes to escape with his life after his ship hit a mine during the World War I was recalled when deep sea diver and documentary maker Emi Farrugia dived for the first time on the wreck.

The ill-fated HMS Russell hit a mine on April 26, 1916 and her wreck lies in deep waters, some 115 metres down, about six kilometres off Delimara. She had turned turtle and took 20 minutes to sink leaving 126 dead. Another 625 were saved.

Apart from Mr Farrugia, the dive team consisted of 18 British divers from Starfish Enterprise and a German diver.

Starfish Enterprise is a group of technical divers who go on such dives as a hobby but with a professional approach, with techniques and dive gear that go beyond the scope of recreational diving.

The Russell expedition had been on the team's mind for the last three years.

A previous attempt in September 2001 had failed to materialise, but this time round all went well. The expedition cost the team about Lm13,000.

The guest of honour on board the mv Princess Duda, which took the divers to the spot where the Russell sank, was Lawrence Vassallo, 80, Paul's son. Like his father, he spent a lifetime in the Royal Navy.

HMS Russell became a flagship of the Grand Fleet in 1914 with the sixth battle squadron and moved to the third battle squadron to take part in northern patrols.

She joined the Channel Fleet in November 1914 and after bombarding the coast of Belgium was sent to the Dardanelles. She stayed at Mudros as support alongside HMS Hibernia in November 1915 but eventually took part in the evacuation from the Dardenelles on January 7, 1916.

Mr Farrugia said the divers split into two teams and each dived twice on the Russell, with one team going down while the other took up support duties. Support duties are extremely important for safety reasons. Any other way would have put the divers at great risk, not only at depth but also on the long decompression times that were four to five hours long.

"The dive on the Russell is the Everest of wreck-diving in Malta because of the great depth at which it lies and the awkward position in which it lies.

"Such expeditions are followed up by articles in international diving magazines and footage of the dives is included in documentaries on WWI. The part played by Malta in WWI is retold through such documentaries. As a team, we logged 12 man-hours of diving and seven days of decompression time.

"The Russell is upside down but one can swim underneath the whole wreck. The stern is blown off - this is where Russell had hit the mine.

"Within three days, in the same mine field, two other boats met their dreadful end: the Nostortium sloop and the Aeugusa, both of which had gone out to pick up survivors," Mr Farrugia said.

Mr Vassallo recounted his father's story: "When my dad, who worked as a cook and a steward depending on the exigencies of the Navy, came to know that the Russell was going to be in the Mediterranean, he contacted his girlfriend and future wife Gorgina Ritchie from Vittoriosa to say that he intended to marry her a week after landing in Malta.

"But instead, he found himself at Bighi hospital. As things turned out he got married two years later.

"When the Russell got to Malta, she had to stay outside Grand Harbour awaiting clearance but at about 6.15 a.m. she hit a mine.

"My dad was close to a refrigerator and he broke one of the portholes to escape from the doomed ship."

Although Mr Vassallo had at times doubted his father's tale, evidence from the wreck seems to suggest that this escape was possible. The survivors were picked up by salvage boats.

Mr Vassallo Sr managed to escape with his life twice more during wartime, but both times during World War II - the first from the HMS Kelly and the second from HMS Calcutta, both of which were hit by enemy fire.

Theresa Telus, leading the Starfish divers, said a wreck of this sort interested divers because the dive was beyond the reach of a lot of people.

"It is extremely interesting for archaeologists and others who are keen on the history of war, particularly WWI.

"Environmentalists would also want to know what kind of marine life exists at that depth. It is quite amazing how many people are interested in seeing the footage of such wrecks," Ms Telus pointed out.

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