Deep Wreck Mysteries is a series of four half-hour documentaries which will reveal the unknown world of wrecks off the north coast of Ireland including the tragedy of the sinking of HMS Curacoa which collided with the Queen Mary liner in October 1942. Some 338 of the 439 crew onboard lost their lives including local man William James 'Paddy' Houston.

Dennis Hearn of Crawley, Sussex, now aged 86, and his fellow survivor, Ken Huntley, are travelling to Northern Ireland next week to visit HMS Caroline, the sister ship of the Curacoa, to relive their experiences on a ship that is as close to the Curacoa as can be found anywhere.

Dennis always wanted to get in touch with the family of his friend 'Paddy' Houston but for one reason or another time passed and he wasn't able to follow this up. Dennis said: "Now that I'm having the opportunity to visit Belfast to film for the UTV documentary, it would be great if I could finally meet up with any relatives of my long lost friend.

"At the time HMS Curacoa sank, we would have been around 20 years of age. 'Paddy' was a cook on board and he was from Belfast."

The two mates used to spend their runs ashore having a few beers and visiting the local dance halls when the ship was based in Belfast in the weeks leading up to the disaster. Dennis added: "I recall meeting Paddy's mother at the family home — in the Bellevue or Cave Hill area of the city. I can last remember seeing Paddy at the rail of the Curacoa as the ship started to sink beneath the waves."

The Queen Mary was en route for Scotland from the US carrying over 10,000 American troops. Her main defence against the threat of U-boats was her speed which, combined with her following a zig zag course, rendered her practically immune to attack by submarines. But it was this speed and need to zig zag that led to the disaster.

As she came upon the slower Curacoa, on escort duty as an anti-aircraft cruiser, steaming in a straight line, it was not clear which ship should give way to the other. Both stuck to their courses and only when it was too late did the Curacoa realise she was going to be hit. Like a knife through butter, the 82,000 ton liner sliced right the way through the 4,000 ton cruiser — the two stricken halves sank in a very short time. For the crew of the Curacoa absolute chaos ensued, as they struggled to save themselves. For Dennis this was particularly traumatic as his 'oppo' 'Paddy' Houston couldn't swim. He never saw him again."

The ship was thought lost forever until recent hydrographic surveys of the seabed some 50 miles out into the Atlantic found the two halves of her wreck. Using remote operated technology, the first pictures of her for over 60 years have been beamed back to the surface showing only too graphically the damage sustained in the collision.

This will be a fascinating documentary series for UTV viewers and hopefully there will be a resolution for Dennis and he will actually get to meet some of 'Paddy's' family. They will also meet for the first time one of the American GIs who witnessed the whole event from the Queen Mary itself.

Their testimony, all these years later, should be the highlight of the series.

The other subject in the series deals with the sinking of the battleship HMS Audacious in October 1914. This programme asks the question — how can such a state-of-the-art battleship be sunk by such a simple piece of technology as a mine? This was an incident which had ramifications into how the Royal Navy conducted its operations for the rest of the war. With the underwater conditions off the north coast of Ireland providing some of the best diving anywhere, the series will open a window on some now forgot 10 episodes of history.

Deep Wreck Mysteries, which is being produced by Mallinson Sadler Productions, will be shown on UTV in the New Year