Thanks to Mark Clark for all these pictures...
Dave O showed up late Saturday and slept on the roof...
Capt. Dan takes us to the wreck
Mark and Terry ready to tie in
After dive 1
Capt. Terry hard at work
Danny going to get his window
Mark and Terry with brass window
Back in Montauk after a fun and safe Doria trip
Andrea Doria on the
For the second dive we weren’t playing around and I headed in armed with a bag of tools and Fat Max (thanks Mark) and Danny was following with the video camera in tow. I hit the wreck unclipped Fat Max and dropped over the side to my target. After messing around for a couple minutes I ascertained that this porthole wasn’t as ready to leave as I hoped. Also the way it was sitting I couldn’t get any good leverage on it (plus dropping my hammer into the wreck didn’t help). Not wanting to waste a good dive, I cut my losses and headed off to the glow of video lights to see what Danny was up to. On the way back I circled back to pick up Fat Max (I left him at the job site). Ascending up the deck I looked down and spotted my hammer in a crack and I thought I could reach it. I got my shoulder down and was reaching and realized it was just out of reach. I went to back out and nothing. I was stuck on something but couldn’t tell what. I signaled Danny to come over and check it out but he didn’t realize I was stuck so he just videotaped my misfortune. Finally I just pushed myself straight down and twisted and freed myself. My manifold must have just got lodged in a corner funny somehow. We headed up to an uneventful deco with no current.
After the second dive the mal de mer returned with a vengeance and I tried to get some rest up before the last dive in the morning. Alas it was not to be. If my impressive chum slick was any indication of my hydration level I figured it best to sit the last one out. However everyone else did the dive in perfect conditions and Danny was successful in returning for his brass window, as was Terry. Dan also said he spotted a wine bottle an intact glass out of reach inside a crack in the wreck near the tie in.
The conditions on this trip really were incredible. Both days the seas were flat and the current was minimal to none along with the good visibility on the wreck it was definitely a trip of a lifetime. Although more experienced Doria divers will say how much the wreck has changed and collapsed it is, but being a first timer and not knowing the difference it is still very impressive. The Andrea Doria might not be the “Mt Everest of shipwreck diving” anymore but I would say it is still a milestone dive for those willing to put in the effort to dive her.
Pictures to come...
For more info and pictures check out AUE's impressive virtual Doria museum
7-19-2007
This past week I was in Chicago for work and got a little free time to visit the U-505 at the Museum of Science and Industry. The U-505 was captured by the US Navy off the coast of Africa on June 4th, 1944. Besides the obvious historical attraction of being the only WWII German submarine on US soil, the U-505 has a special connection to East Coast wreck diving. Being a Type IX-C u-boat, the U-505 is the same build as the U-853 and the U-869 which are both accessible to divers on the East Coast of the US. Having dove the U-869 I have been trying to work in a trip to Chicago to visit this sub for a while.
To those not familiar with Chicago I must first say that Chicago's public transportation system is pretty well organized and even has an online trip planner which is kind of like Mapquest for public transportation (I hope SEPTA is taking notes). If you are traveling to Chicago: http://tripsweb.rtachicago.com/
This made getting to the Museum from O'Hare airport a snap, and a train and bus later I was excitedly buying my ticket.
I only had a couple hours to kill so I made a b-line directly to the sub. The Museum did look like it has a lot to offer although mainly to the younger crowd. They did have a very interesting flight exhibit complete with planes.
The route to the sub starts with a hallway of WWII era military (mostly Navy) recruiting posters and sets the mood to remind us that 60 years ago the Germans were attacking us right off our own shores.
I have been to the Becuna exhibit at Penn's Landing but being in the water (and right next to the Olympic) it does not really prepare you for the first time you walk into the exhibit hall housing the U-505. The entire submarine is on display in a huge room and really gives you a feeling to the size of these "iron coffins". The rest of the exhibit is done very nicely and includes videos and displays that chronical the capture and return of the U-505 to US soil for study. I found it particularly interesting that since it was so crucial that the Germans not know the US had captured the sub (so they did not know we had cracked their codes), each crew member involved was signed to secrecy under the penalty of death, and the German POW's were not allowed to write family members of their whereabouts which was in violation of the Geneva Convention.
U-505 (the pictures don't do it justice)
Independence II trip out of Cape May to the liner Northern Pacific
The Northern Pacific was a 509' passenger liner that caught fire and sank while being towed for a retrofit in 1922. Today she lies upside down in 145 fsw ~30 miles off of Cape May, NJ. We were tied into the wreck at the main break which is I believe about midships. The sand is about 140' and it is possible to get a little deeper inside the wreck. The visibility was a very nice 40' or so, and gave a great overview of the layout of this huge wreck. The bottom temp was about 50 degrees. The wreck rises 20-30' off the bottom and access is easy at the break. I ran my reel inside and was able to penetrate ~150 feet into the wide open interior. I was scanning the bottom (formerly the ceiling) for artifacts but it was quite silty including several large mounds of mud. Caution was necessary to avoid siltout and my line even became buried at one point.
Outside the wreck again I did a little tour of debris field that is off one side of the wreck. I noticed a couple scallops and several big blackfish. I came across a nice fluke and as I reached for my knife I quickly remember I didn't bring the big one. I remembered hearing that if you hold your open bag in front of the fish's face and slap its tail it will swim into your bag. Well this big flattie must have seen that trick because he had no trouble sidestepping into open water, and my heart sank as I watched my dinner swimming away. My half hour was soon up and was not nearly enough time to see much of this huge wreck.
The seas held out and most everyone did 2 nice dives. Just goes to show you can't listen to NOAA. Other divers were more successful in gathering dinner and a bunch of scallops and several lobsters were boated. I would have to say the Northern Pacific is another "don't miss" wreck!
The USS St Augustine and the USS Moonstone share an eerily similar history. Both were former luxury yachts, both built in 1929, and both later purchased and commissioned into the US Navy to help patrol the Eastern Sea Frontier in WWII. The similarities don’t stop with their fruitful careers (the Auggie was instrumental in an attack on the U-701), but also in their demise. Both ships sunk serving as convoy escorts off the coast of
This week we were originally scheduled to do an overnight expedition to the
On site Dave O tied into the top of the port side depth charge rack in the stern. Visibility on the bottom was 30-40 feet and coming down on the stern facing forward the navigation was a snap. I passed Dave and Mark who were inspecting a piece of the stern and headed forward to check out the wreck. The Moonstone was only 171’x26’ which is small enough to see the whole wreck, but large enough that there are plenty of features and nooks to explore… in a summary a perfect wreck. Rounding the bow and coming to the impressive forward 3” deck gun I began to wish I had packed my camera as this is quite a picturesque wreck. I took my time poking around and by the time I got back to the stern I wished I had more time. I took a last look at the full depth charge rack (they held 8 depth charges) and noticed at least one depth charge lying in the sand off the wreck before heading up. A great dive on a great wreck!
Suggested reading: Shipwrecks of DE/MD
Well I got my porthole from the Ayuruoca (see report from 6/24 below) cleaned up. It didn't look so great when it was "fresh", but a little soak in acid, some grinding and buffing and she shined up quite nicely. If anyone has swing plate #10 from the Oil Wreck maybe we can work out a deal... ;-)
Before
#10Kendall Bedford has long been a valuable asset to our dive team. Although until now she has been too young to actually dive she has been a real trooper in providing surface support... not many other 11 year old girls would carry stage bottles through snow and ice to the water for us on training dives in January... Well now she is 12 and her diving career has begun. I was fortunate to attend her first day of open water checkout dives on July 7, 2007. Until I get her report, I'll let the pictures do the talking...
1st descent
Landing on the platform
Ok
Danny demos reg recovery
Kendall does reg recovery
Mask clearing
2 generations of Bedford divers
Dutch Springs new firetruck driver
Bill feeds the fish
Kendall and Danny look for crayfish
Kendall checks out the van
Some weightbelt issues
Ascent after a successful first diveI got to join a group of 12 divers from the Diversion Dive Club on a trip today. I arrived at the
For the second dive we headed in to the Lana Carol. This was my first time on this wreck which is a scallop boat that foundered in 1976, now sitting in 85 fsw. The visibility was 15-20’ and there was a sharp thermocline at about 50’. I did a tour around the perimeter of the wreck looking for lobsters and only spotted a few smaller bugs in harder to reach spots. There were quite a few nice sized seabass hiding in the washout under the stern. I came back up on the deck of the wreck in the stern and I peaked in a hatch in the deck and inside was a huge lobster. It must have been pushing 10 lbs if not bigger. I don’t usually try too hard for bugs but because it’s a small wreck and I still had plenty of time I decided to give it shot. I got up to my waist in the hatch and it was quickly apparent why this lobster is as big as it is. After a tour out in the sand looking for fluke or my favorite, monkfish, I headed up the line empty handed. In all the other divers did much better than I and about 7 lobsters, some seabass, some tog, and a bag of mussels were boated for the day.
Independence II –6-24-07 - Ayuruoca (Bridge) dive report
Today I joined a group of 10 divers from Diver’s Den on a trip to one of New Jersey’s best wrecks. The more we dive the Oil Wreck this year the more apparent it is how much she has changed since last year. After seeing how much the stern section has broken down and opened up it was decided to hit the bow section of the wreck and see if the bridge superstructure had also undergone a facelift. We were soon tied into the top of the bridge at ~135 feet courtesy of Capt. Terry Martzall and the divers were off. Coming down the line on my dive I was surprised to see the wreck materializing below me at about 115’. The visibility on top of the wreck was quite nice and probably pushing 20’ with lots of ambient light. Arriving at the railing it didn’t long to see that the bridge has been altered just as much as the stern. The top deck which used to be perfectly level is now lying at about a 45 degree angle. I dropped down one deck level and looked for someplace to enter the wreck but due to the collapse most of the corridors that used to be wide open now fade down to low ceilings. I decided to drop down another deck level and look for something a little more accessible. Dropping down to about 150 feet the visibility also dropped down to maybe 10 feet or less. Here the decks were not collapsed as much so I tied off my reel and I was able to easily swim into the wreck even with two stage bottles. Looking around inside it looks like walls have been collapsing as you could easily cut in between rooms this way and that. About 30 feet inside I came across a large porthole backing plate just like the one Capt Dan recovered a few weeks ago. It was lying loose on a piece of the steel wall. There are still many backing plates on the Oil Wreck because they were sealed with lead and very difficult to recover. Until now.
With the deteriorating condition of the wreck they are now falling off the walls and easier to get. After some miscommunication via light signals with my buddy (I might as well have tried to build a fire and send smoke signals) to come help me lug it outside the wreck so I could shoot it to the surface I put my bag on it inside to lift it. I was a little stupid here as I didn’t tie my choker on that well and had a length of rope that was too long and let the bag hit the ceiling of the wreck. So I had to alternate between pushing the bag down to get past obstructions on the ceiling and dragging the porthole and plate all while trying not to lose sight of my line. Finally I got it out and wished it well on its way to the surface.
What a great weekend of diving!
2/4/1942
“So hot was the explosion that Winter ordered the U-103 backed away. Several of his men were allowed topside to see the results. What they saw must have sickened them. The India Arrow was engulfed with flames and the men were burning.” - From Torpedo Junction
Coming back across the hull my light caught a reflection off something in the hull and sure enough one of those round things. I brushed some of the sand and growth off to reveal a perfect porthole.
We got back near the tie in and it was easy enough to swim right inside the wreck past a huge set of bollards that loomed on the deck overhead. I did a quick look to see if I could get to that porthole but there was a bulkhead preventing access but low and behold there was another porthole just before it with the swing plate hanging down. The glass was missing and the backing plate was brass but solidly enough attached that it was more work than I was interested in.
Heading forward it didn’t take long to come across several brass cage lamps, one with the glass globe still intact. At this point I am now zipping about like a kid in a candy store with a huge smile on my face. I through the lamps in my bag and put them by the tie in so I wasn’t dragging them through the wreck. Back inside and forward and I came to the engine and boilers which were truly impressive. Being inside this wreck was just incredible. It was so wide open and the ceiling (keel) so high that it was like being in a huge dark cathedral. Here and there rust holes allowed emerald green light to filter through and at points along the center line you could look port and starboard and see out both sides of the wreck. After passing the boilers the wreck is broken and I came out here and reluctantly headed back to the anchor line on the outside of the wreck and had to keep reminding myself to leave the scallops littering the white sandy bottom alone.
On my second dive I took my camera but it was giving me too many problems. That’s why the pictures you see are pretty terrible. So I headed forward toward the break again. I found a couple more portholes with the glass in them but again they need work. It was another awesome dive on this awesome wreck. I can’t wait to go back to the India Arrow.
