ACTUALITES PLONGEE
Settle, plongeur « inspirant » est décédé
L’un des plongeurs-démineurs les plus décorés de Grande-Bretagne d’après-guerre, l’adjudant plongeur Terry Settle, est décédé à l’âge de 76 ans.
The Daily Telegraph carried an obituary by military historian Capt Peter Hore RN, who wrote that Settle was “remembered equally for his cool head as for his inspirational leadership”.
Settle est né le 2 février 1945 à Epping, Essex. Son père, plongeur de la Royal Navy, avait contribué au dégagement du canal de Suez en 1942/43.
Settle a rejoint la marine en tant que jeune matelot en 1960. Avec la frégate Berwick he took part in the Indonesia-Malaysia confrontation of 1963-66 and, with the frigate Ajax, le retrait britannique d'Aden en 1967.
Over 25 years working as an explosive-ordnance clearance diver his awards culminated in the Queen’s Gallantry Medal (QGM), and also included three Commander-in-Chief’s commendations for bravery and expertise, while in 1980 he was awarded the British Empire Medal for military service.
Le QGM a fait suite à un exploit exceptionnel en septembre 1984, lorsque Settle a dirigé une équipe de plongée pour enquêter après qu'un certain nombre de navires eurent été touchés par des mines qui auraient été posées par la Libye dans le golfe de Suez.
Son vaisseau, le chasseur de mines Gavinton, found an unidentified object half-buried in mud at 42m at the exit of the canal, wrote Hore. In poor visibility Settle photographed and surveyed the mine and used airbags to tow it into shallower water. Suspecting it to be a new type of Soviet mine, he obtained a Soviet spanner from the Egyptian navy and used it to deactivate the device, which contained 600kg of explosives.
Cinq mois plus tard, dans le golfe Persique, lors de la guerre Iran-Irak, l'Irak a heurté le superpétrolier Bourse L with an Exocet missile 2m above the waterline. The device ended up in the forward tank, which contained 23,000 tonnes of crude oil, but failed to explode. When asked if he would be able to investigate within three weeks, Settle replied: “Twelve hours max.”
The oil was pumped out but, with France’s Exocet manufacturer uncooperative, Settle had to make his own assessment on rendering the missile safe. He arranged its lifting from the bottom of the tank and disposed of it in deep water.
4 Avril 2021
Also in 1985, Settle’s Fleet Clearance Diving Team worked to clear the Grand Harbour in Valletta of wartime ordnance – though the divers had to conceal their identities because Malta’s prime minister Dom Mintoff had ordered British forces off the island.
Ils ont réussi à retirer de grandes quantités d’armes et d’engins explosifs et à démanteler des épaves, souvent dans des conditions difficiles et dangereuses – avec Mintoff comme observateur occasionnel.
Settle later became an instructeur at the Defence Explosive Ordnance Disposal School. He retired from the Navy in 1995, but ran his own health & safety consultancy called Settle For Safety. He died on 2 March, leaving his wife Margaret and two sons.
