Diver tells of fatal U-boat mission
Michael Hanrahan smiles for the camera shortly before he went on the fatal dive off the coast of Co Donegal.
Thursday October 04 2007
A deep-sea diver told yesterday how he tried to save the life of a colleague who died during an expedition off Malin Head in Co Donegal.
Michael Hanrahan (45), from Glendoher Park, Rathfarnham, Dublin, is survived by his wife Maire and by their children Ian, Stephen, Orla and Aine. His body was recovered yesterday.
Mr Hanrahan, a diver with almost 30 years experience, was a member of a four-man team filming the wreck of U-boat 778, some 16 miles off the Co Donegal coast.
He got into difficulties on Tuesday afternoon as the divers were preparing to surface. He was the camera operator and was with divers Geoff Millar, Bernard Kelly and Paul Lewis, all of them from Derry and members of the Dive North Technical Diving Club.
"I entered the water about half an hour after them because I was the acting safety diver," said Mr. Lewis. "I got to him and tried to get him to take air from the spare tank. He had lost his mouthpiece.
"He seemed as if he had taken a seizure. . . . There was nothing we could do."
