Credit River - Basilisk Traditional Geocache

This cache has been archived.

Middle Earthlings: Sure was a fun series for all who placed, and found. Archiving to make way for a whole new series!

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Hidden : 8/27/2013
Difficulty:
2 out of 5
Terrain:
4.5 out of 5

Size: Size: other (other)

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Geocache Description:

PLEASE NOTE: THE BASILISK MEANS KING IN GREEK MYTHOLOGY, AND IS CONSIDERED THE KING OF SNAKES AND THE MOST POISONUS CREATURE ON EARTH. YOU ARE LOOKING FOR A SNAKE CONTAINER. There have been replacements placed nearby. They are NOT the cache. Please look a little harder ON LAND.

Credit River - Shipwreck Series

Basilisk
 June 1, 1940



There are many shipwrecks around the world. Some very famous and others not so. Each however has it’s own story to tell. As you travel along the Credit River doing this series of caches, we have highlighted a number of these shipwrecks. During low water levels on these parts of the Credit River, you need to be careful in a canoe or kayak so as you don’t wind up in your own shipwreck. Besides the many large rocks along the way, there are also some other obstacles such as dams which should be avoided. All of the geocaches in this series have been placed by tubing, inflatable boat or on foot by walking in the water along the Credit River. Whichever way you choose to search for these caches, use caution and common sense.
More information about this series can be found here: Credit River - Shipwreck Series

Basilisk
HMS Basilisk was a B-class destroyer built for the Royal Navy around 1930. Initially assigned to the Mediterranean Fleet, she was transferred to the Home Fleet in 1936. The ship escorted convoys and conducted anti-submarine patrols early in World War II before participating in the Norwegian Campaign. Basilisk was sunk by German aircraft during the Dunkirk evacuation in 1940.The ship was ordered on 4 March 1929 from John Brown & Company at Clydebank, Glasgow, under the 1928 Naval Programme. She was laid down on 19 August 1929, and launched on 6 August 1930. As the eighth RN ship to carry this name. Basilisk was completed on 4 March 1931 at a cost of £220,342, excluding items supplied by the Admiralty such as guns, ammunition and communications equipment. After her commissioning, she was assigned to the 4th Destroyer Flotilla with the Mediterranean Fleet until 1936. The flotilla was reassigned to the Home Fleet in September 1936. The ship became the emergency destroyer at Devonport in March 1939 and was assigned to the 19th Destroyer Flotilla when World War II began.

Basilisk spent the next two months escorting convoys and patrolling in the English Channel and the North Sea. The ship and her sister Blanche were escorting the minelayer Adventure on the morning of 13 November in the Thames Estuary when they entered a minefield laid the night before by several German destroyers. Adventure and Blanche both struck mines; the latter lost all power and later capsized whilst under tow. Basilisk continued to escort convoys and patrol until April 1940 when the Norwegian Campaign began. On 24 April, the ship, together with the destroyers Wren and Hesperus, escorted the battleship Resolution to Narvik on 24 April. In early May, she escorted the troopship Empress of Australia to Norway. Basilisk supported the Allied landings on 12–13 May at Bjerkvik during the Battle of Narvik.

The ship was transferred from the Western Approaches Command on 30 May to support the evacuation from Dunkirk. She made two trips to Dover during the following day and evacuated a total of 695 men.Basilisk returned to La Panne to load more troops on the morning of 1 June and was attacked three times by German bombers. One bomb from the first wave detonated inside the No. 3 boiler room, killed all of her boiler and engine room personnel, fractured her steam lines and knocked out all her machinery. Near misses from the same attack buckled the sides of her hull and her upper deck. The ship's torpedoes and depth charges were jettisoned to reduce topweight and the French fishing trawler Jolie Mascotte attempted to tow Basilisk. A second attack caused no further damage, but caused the French ship to drop the tow. The third attack around noon sank Basilisk in shallow water at 51°08′16″N 02°35′06″E. Jolie Mascotte and the destroyer Whitehall rescued eight officers and 123 crewmen from the ship. Whitehall then destroyed the wreck with gunfire and torpedoes.

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

Fanxr fvggvat nzbat gur ebpxf.

Decryption Key

A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M
-------------------------
N|O|P|Q|R|S|T|U|V|W|X|Y|Z

(letter above equals below, and vice versa)


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