AN intrepid couple are helping give peace to families of military casualties of the world wars by discovering ship wrecks.

Amateur scuba divers Barbara and Steve Mortimer, of Mary Tavy, formed their advanced diving group Gasperado which specialises in diving on sunken ships, usually warships or submarines lost in battle.

This can lead to greater protection from looting of artefacts through official war grave designation by governments — which is welcomed by descendants of casualties.

They undertake deeper dives than the average sport or leisure dives, sometimes in difficult conditions, which require technical dives, by highly experienced divers using sophisticated equipment.

The wreck hunters group is often commissioned by marine and military historians internationally to confirm the position and state of a reported war wreckand gather evidence.

They need the support of their own or external expertise in photography and marine and miliary archaeology on such commissions.

Barbara said: ‘We formed the group and moved to the South West because we were travelling so much to the Devon and Cornwall coasts from a long way away to dive on ship wrecks, many of our group don’t live in Devon because their experience and knowledge is the key to our diving, rather than the location.

‘We carry out specialised diving with specific aims, such as confirming the location and exact nautical position of ship wrecks which would have been reported as claims during conflicts, often WW1, by allied or enemy forces. There might be doubt about these claims during wartime as either side might use it as propaganda. Or it’s merely the normal ‘fog of war’ or confusion of battle which leads to lack of evidence.

‘We have proved that some wrecks are not what they were originally thought to be and that includes video or photographic evidence using clever photographers and video operators. We can be very lucky in finding clear evidence such as a name on the ship or on a bell or some other artefact. That’s especially exciting.’

One of the biggest finds was earlier this year of the torpedo gun boat HMS Jason which sunk after hitting a mine in 1917, with the loss of 25 crew, in 93 metres deep off the Isle of Coll. The MOD is expected to grant it war grave status.

Barbara joined others on a team of experts hunting the ship which was known to have sunk in the area, but had not yet been confirmed. She said: ‘The wreck was ‘hidden’ from sonar largely behind a rock and needed diving to confirm. When the first divers down sent up the float with the rope attached which signalled it had been found, there were cheers all round on the dive boat. There was lots of evidence such as clothing and bowls and plates, one of the bowls had a naval insignia on the bottom.’

The risks of diving in conditions most divers would not consider were highlighted during a dive on a US destoyer sunk by a German U-boat. The current was very strong and Barbara, on the surface safety boat, was ‘ very relieved’ when her husband surfaced safely.