Tributes are paid to Devon U-boat diver

BBC News Devon: Tributes are paid to Devon U-boat diver
Roger Dadds, 66, was on a dive to explore the wreck of a German U-boat off Salcombe with members of the Plymouth Sound dive club on Saturday.

He got into difficulties after making a "rapid ascent" from a depth of about 60m (197ft). He was taken to hospital in Dorchester, Dorset, where he died.

Mark Prior, from the club, said Mr Dadds would be "very sadly missed".

Mr Prior said Mr Dadds was recovered by the dive group's boat after he rose to the water's surface very quickly and was found unconscious.

'A big dive'

After a mayday was issued, he was transferred to a nearby frigate, HMS St Albans, were he was given first aid. A rescue helicopter from Portland then airlifted him to hospital.

Mr Dadds that because of the depth of the U-boat, the party knew it was "quite a big dive".

But he added that Mr Dadds was a "very, very experienced diver and had done more than 4,000 dives".

Mr Prior said: "He was very well known and everyone is deeply shocked.

"All of us in the dive club have been inundated with phone calls and e-mails from people who have known him from all over the country.

"There will be a memorial service at some stage, but at the moment it's very early days to be thinking about that."