|
 Gary
and I have always loved wreck diving. Gary took me on my first ocean
dive, after my checkout dive back in 1972, on the wreck of the
Washingtonian. At first, I wasn’t that impressed with the wreck. I’m
sure I imagined descending in clear water to 90 feet and seeing a fully
intact ship. The Washingtonian was a 407 foot-long freighter
carrying a cargo of sugar from Honolulu that sank in a collision with
the Elizabeth Palmer. Built in 1914, she was in service for less
than a year before her sinking in January 1915. The majority of the
wreck consists of scattered hull plates, many of which allow divers to
cruise under and through the wreck. By the end of the dive, I was hooked
and spent the next 5 years exploring the many wrecks that decorate the
bottom of the ocean between New Jersey and North Carolina.
We lived in Maryland and just getting to the dive
boat was sometimes tough. Often we would leave our house the night
before, drive 3 or 4 hours to the marina and sleep in the back of our
van in order to be ready to load the dive boat at 6:00 am. In most
cases, the boat trip added another 3 hours to the journey. The boat
captains used Loran C and side-scanning sonar to find the wrecks and we
frequently ended up running in slow circles before the anchor was
finally dropped. If we were very lucky, we were greeted with calm seas
but the North Atlantic is not always that cooperative and many divers
spent time hanging over the railing, especially when we began that slow
circling part of the search.
The diving was challenging and in those days dive
equipment was not close to the technology of today. We had single hose
regulators and air pressure gauges but we depended totally on watches
and U.S. Navy dive tables for our dive planning. The biggest advance in
that 5-year period was the invention of a Bottom Timer – basically a
stopwatch enclosed in a housing that was manually wound before the dive
and then activated by the water pressure when you started your descent.
We considered it very “high tech”. Our Buoyancy Compensation Devices
(BCD) were rubber horse-collar type vests made by Rubber Fabricators and
inflated either by a mouth tube or a CO2 cartridge. We dove with twin
72 cu. Ft. tanks and the backpacks were steel bands and straps. Wetsuits
were needed year-round because the water on the bottom never warmed up
enough to go without them. Around 1975 we moved on to dry suits. Along
with the warmth came the ease of an inflator hose that hooked into the
suit and let us get rid of the horse collar life vests. The biggest
disadvantage was the addition of the 36 pounds of weight it took to sink
us with our suits on. We sometimes carried tools (to pound out
portholes) and always attached a reel loaded with sisal rope for an up
line. At the end of a dive, the sisal was tied firmly to a section of
wreckage and the divers unreeled the line until arriving at the first
deco stop. The line was left intact until reaching the surface and
making sure the dive boat was exactly where we expected it to be.
In 1977, we had an opportunity to leave the cold
waters of the Northeast coastline for the tropical, clear waters of
Guam. It didn’t take much convincing for us to pack up our house, sell
the car, motorcycles and motor home and head west. We found some time to
make our first shore dives from the beaches of Hawaii and as soon as we
arrived on Guam we visited the local dive shop to find the best dive
spots. We were really thrilled to discover that Guam had its share of
wrecks, some accessible from the shore and others a short boat ride
away.
There are five galleon shipwrecks below the waters
around Guam. The wrecks of the Tokai Maru and the SMS Cormoran,
in Apra Harbor, grabbed our souls and we dove them day and night as
often as we could. The Tokai Maru, sunk by a torpedo in 1943, is
a large ship, over 440 feet long. She rests in 120 feet with an 85
degree list to port. The shallowest part of the ship is the upper
forward bridge area at a depth of 40 feet. The cargo holds contains
remains of truck frames, beds, scrap steel, and misc objects. The engine
room is huge, and both of her engines, catwalks, and panels are intact.
The after deck house in the stern of the vessel contains at least 4
depth charges, which are plainly visible from the top of the structure.
The Cormoran is a 320 foot auxiliary cruiser, built in China and
part of the Russian fleet. Taken by Germany, it was put into service in
WWI. It was blown up on purpose in 1917 in an effort to avoid capture.
The Cormoran lies on its starboard side between 70-120 feet and
actually touches the Tokai Maru underwater.
For many wreck divers, Truk Lagoon, now known by
its original name as Chuuk, is considered the ultimate dive. Truk was an
easy journey from Guam by air. The first time we made the trip, we
realized that it was indeed the ultimate. The wrecks of Truk Lagoon
cover many diverse interests. The history buff can visualize the years
that these huge ships sat intact and full of equipment, supplies and men
working the thunderous engines. Divers can cruise the decks of the
ships and see the colorful soft corals that cover the ships. The wrecks
serve as artificial reefs to the many varieties of sea life that inhabit
the lagoon and are an underwater photographer's dream.
Each wreck has its own history and its own unique
structure. The cargo varies as widely as the fish swimming through the
holds -- ammunition, periscopes, airplane engines & frames, jeeps,
tanks, china and other artifacts litter the decks and quarters. Medicine
bottles hold their magic elixir in the operating rooms below the deck.
Telegraphs, covered in marine growth stand ready to signal the next
direction to the navigators.
It would be hard to pin down any wreck in Truk
Lagoon as a favorite but the Shinkoku Maru comes close. The wreck
is loaded with outstanding soft coral growth and anemone. The bow gun
is covered with soft & hard coral of every color imaginable. Tiny,
brightly colored fish swarm over every inch of the ship. The bridge
still holds three engine telegraphs on the bridge and the sick bay
contains two operating tables and many medicine bottles. The most
popular wreck in Truk Lagoon, the Fujikawa Maru is also a
spectacular dive. An abundant growth of soft & hard corals, anemones, &
crinoids make the ship & particularly the bow & stern guns very
photogenic. All the holds contain cargo but a unique attraction lays in
hold #2. There you will find five relatively untouched and intact Zero
fighters.
We started diving in Truk Lagoon in 1978 and have
made many trips over the years. Divers only began diving the wrecks
around 1973. In 1978 it was still virgin diving. A dive permit, issued
by the local Chief of Police, was required as soon as you arrived on
island. The rules about collecting artifacts were strictly enforced and
luggage was frequently searched before being loaded on to the airplane
for departure. Since that time, many of the small artifacts have
disappeared – either pilfered by visitors or moved to remote parts of
the wrecks by local dive guides for safekeeping. It’s sad to realize
that this underwater museum has lost so many of its treasures.
During our early visits, many of the wrecks were a
wonderland with thick stalks of soft coral blooming in every color
imaginable. Many hatchways and open areas were completely blocked by
growth and it was challenging to find a way inside the wreck without
disturbing the beautiful scenery. Over the years, the coral growth has
thinned – possibly a result of the huge numbers of divers who visit or
maybe just a natural phenomenon. Visitors still have an opportunity to
see some of the beauty but not in its original form. With the popularity
of Tech Diving, many of the deeper wrecks in the lagoon are more
accessible but we always stuck with the no decompression limits on our
trips – a smart option since there were no recompression chambers on
island in those early days.
Back here in Southwest Florida, we still feel the
lure of the wrecks. We have yet to dive some of the more well-known Gulf
wrecks such as the Fantastico, the Baja California or the
Bay Ronto but we have explored the smaller wreck of the Pegasus
and several shrimp boats that litter the bottom. The wrecks of the
Duane, the Eagle and the Spiegel Grove in the Florida Keys are ones that
we enjoy diving. They don’t have the mystery and allure of “natural
wrecks” since there is very little to find as far as artifacts or
souvenirs but they have enough to satisfy our exploratory desires. On
our calendar for the coming year is one of the newest artificial
reef/wrecks – the Oriskany. Now that will be an adventure!
Of course, the technology has improved greatly. At
our age, and no I’m not telling, we don’t think Tech Diving is in our
future but we do have the comfort of modern equipment to make our diving
easier and safer. The warmer climate of Florida definitely improves our
chances of having a great dive and despite the number of dives we have
under our belts, we realize that we have only touched the surface in
terms of new adventures. |
