“Noun. Good sense and sound judgement in practical matters.” Concise Oxford Dictionary. Tenth edition. Oxford University Press. 1999.

100 years ago

HMS Formidable, 15,000 tons, was torpedoed by U24 and sunk in Lyme Bay in 1915 with the loss of 547 lives. Captain Silas Oates planned to recover scrap metal from the wreck which lay in 168 feet of water about 20 miles from Start Point with his heavy vessel Salvos I. Captain Oates had previously attempted to salvage the submarine M1 but was prevented by the Ministry of Defence because it was a war grave.

150 years ago

The famous Whitstable diver John Pearce had a close call with death in 1865. He was working at about 100 feet on the wreck of the Mindora in the channel four miles off Dover. He was wearing the original open helmet and he fell down the side of the ship. The helmet flooded instantly. The attendant in the boat above realised something was wrong and hauled Pearce to the surface “more dead than alive”. However, “with the aid of some stimulants”he survived to tell the tale.