The family of a Kings Bromley man say they are “over the moon” after his part in scuba diving history was commemorated.
Carl Spencer died in May 2009 while he was leading a team visiting the wreck of the Britannic – the Titainic’s sister ship.
But the father-of-two has now been remembered in a move his widow Vicky Ann Spencer-Kibble said was an “epic achievement”.
In 1998 a bronze plaque was placed on the wreck off Kea in Greece in honour of Frenchman Jacque-Yves Cousteau, who discovered its resting place in 1975.
But it has been discovered that a second copy of the plaque was made – and scuba diver Dean Martin has embarked on a mission to get every person who has dived down to the Britannic to sign it.
Carl’s signature was the only one missing, but it has now been lasered on to join the names of the others who have made the journey down to the wreck.
Vicky said:
“Legends are born out of the blue and my late husband Carl would absolutely love this.
“What an epic achievement – thank you to everyone who has made this happen.
“To know that Carl is continuing to help inspire the next generation to continue what he started is a true honour and he would have loved that.”
Vicky Ann Spencer-Kibble
Vicky and Ben were shown the completed plaque at the recent Go Diving Show in Coventry.
Martin Parker, managing director of AP Diving, helped complete the task of obtaining all of the signatures.
“The plaque lived in our conference room or a few years and we took it to dive shows in the UK, France and Germany to allow divers to sign it before going back to Dean.
“One name though was sadly missing – that of Carl Spencer.
“Carl’s humble demeanour and quick wit won over everyone he met and in the process he created and helped to organise some extremely successful expeditions to the Britannic.
“The pride shown by everyone who signs the plaque is something to behold, but we did notice that no-one put their signature in the middle of the plaque.
“With Vicky’s permission and help, we have now lasered his signature onto the plaque – right in the middle.”
Martin Parker
