Lillian report

Independence II trip to the Lillian 9-9-2007

All week the weather was looking like I would miss my second try at getting on the Lillian this year. Capt Dan decided to call it at the dock and we were all glad he did because the seas were nearly flat with only some 2-3 foot long period swells for most of the day.

The visibility below the thermocline at 85 feet was about 25-30 feet and gave me the chance to spot the boilers and engines on the way down the line and get a little orientation. The wreck was wire dragged so the wreckage is very broken down and spread out over a huge area which is what makes this a great lobster wreck. The temp was 47 on the bottom where I hit a max depth of 152fsw. I headed over to the boilers and the huge engine which must come 30 feet off the bottom. There were some semi intact pieces that gave some relief to the otherwise low lying collapsed hull plates. In one of these little cubby holes I found what I think was a porthole (it was brass and round?). I had to take off my deco bottles and other gear to squeeze in but it wasn’t budging easily. I think it was the backside of the backing plate, so it must have still been attached and with not much room to work I pressed on. I found the edge of wreckage and swam up and down checking out the wreck and picking up the scallops that were in the sand. There were large winter flounder everywhere and they were literally bouncing off me as I landed on them while I was picking up scallops. I took a leisurely return route and spent some time poking around the engine and boilers again before heading up at the 40 minute mark.

I caught up with “go long” Rob at 20 feet and spent my hang admiring his catch. He had 2 goodie bags bulging with scallops and some good sized lobsters. Back on the boat it was time for lunch! While the other divers were enjoying their second dive I was enjoying fresh sushi. I am convinced there is nothing better than fresh caught scallops. I took a couple of fresh slices of pineapple and squeezed it into a zip-lock bag with the scallops and let it marinate on ice for some delicious pineapple scallop ceviche.

In addition to the pile of lobsters and scallops that came up Charlie found a nice brass cage lamp. The Lillian is another great NJ wreck and didn’t fail to produce.

Thanks to Mark Clark for all pictures.

SS Carolina trip report

SS Carolina trip report: Sept. 2-3 2007

The lifeboats were crowded, and a great wailing of women’s voices rose. There was praying and pleading. The negroes thought we were going to use them for target practice. –Dr. Frederick Körner boarding officer on the U-151 on the sinking of the SS Carolina

The SS Carolina was a 380’ passenger-freighter and the last of six ships sunk on “Black Sunday” by the U-151. The 3 steam vessels and 3 schooners sunk on June 2^nd, 1918 accounted for 14,518 tons of shipping lost. Today the Carolina is one of the best wreck dives off the New Jersey coast where she rests in 240 fsw. I first dove this wreck last year and have been dying to get back.

The weather pushed our departure time on the Independence II back to 0600 on Sunday morning and we cast off the dock just as the sun was peaking over the horizon. Once over the wreck it was nice to see blue water as Billy G. headed down the shot to tie in. He had us in no time and we quickly geared up to go diving. Capt. Dan had found a stash of china last year and was hoping to get back to his hotspot. I headed in with Dan Martinez and it was like we had just jumped into the Caribbean. Descending further we passed through a cloudy haze at the thermocline around 100’ but the visibility opened up again below about 120’. On the bottom we found we had been tied into the starboard side of the wreck in between the boilers and the stern. Touching down on the bottom (44^oF) we did a quick orientation before heading on our mission to try for a porthole we had found last year that we thought was loose. With the vis in the 50 foot range it didn’t take long to find it. I swam over a HUGE monkfish and instinctively went for my knife before deciding that KEEP SWIMMING was the appropriate action. We found the spot we were looking for and quickly went to work clearing debris out from the beautiful artifact and Danny whipped out his hammer but we soon found the backing plate was still in fact solidly attached to a hull plate. Not wanting to waste precious time I headed forward towards the boilers noting some china shards and brass pieces all over the place. I got to the engine and found a huge lobster that was easily 10-12 pounds tangled in fishing line. I grabbed it (I could barely hold it because my hand hardly went around the carapace) without really thinking but I decided to go for karma points and cut it free before turning back towards the anchor line. I managed to inadvertently find Capt Dan’s china hole without realizing it at the time. I still had a few minutes left so I decided to take off my stage bottles and give a shot of squeezing in. No dice. It was a very tight fit and I later found out that the wreck collapsing this year left a hull plate blocking most of the opening that was more open last year. It was still very impressive to see such a large pile of china. The deco was very pleasant above 70’ in the warm clear conditions and the time actually went quickly watching the schools of small skipjack tuna swimming around us.

Afterwards we discussed strategies for getting the china out. Billy, who was diving a sidemounted Prism (very cool rig) said he would give it a shot at getting stuck in there. Not only did he succeed in getting in the hole and bagging up a few intact dishes (he said most of them were broken) he also found a nice deadlight panel that he shot to the surface. He was also gracious enough to share his booty with the rest of us. The china from the hole was first class china with nice gold trim but does not have the New York and Porto Rico Steamship Company crest. John Bridge did find a broken vegetable dish with the crest.

The second dive was Monday morning and most divers were again productive. Danny brought up another plate (mostly intact) and a nice brass doorlock along with some tiles. Mark Dolphin got a piece of a porcelain sink that has a very cool nautical pattern on it. For my dive I went forward again and explored around the boilers which are an impressive sight in themselves (there are four). I cut my dive short so we could get out of dodge and tuck tail to the incoming weather. The line had been let slack so I could pull and it now had good scope that as luck would have it went forward down the centerline of the wreck. So as I ascended I got to see a good portion of the wreck which was very cool and a perfect end to another great trip.

Check out:

Black Sunday

Christina Young's pictures of the Carolina and more

Raiders of the Deep

Fishing for deadlights on the Carolina