I live in NYC, and I love diving locally. So I thought that I would share the video that I made last weekend.
Not only do we live on the edge of a vibrant marine ecosystem, we have some of the most historic wrecks around. For 500 years, New York has been a major shipping hub. Unlike some deep water ports, we have the New York Bight - a triangular wedge of ocean bottom extending many miles out to sea at diveable depths between the New Jersey and Long Island shores.
Many non-divers or warm water divers are incredulous when I tell them that I love to dive locally. Sure, Bonaire is beautiful, but I've seen enough Parrot fish at this point. How awe-inspiring and sobering is it to be able to visit the remains of a freighter that was sent to the bottom of the ocean by a German U-Boat just a few miles from shore, and still be back in time for lunch? Instead of waiting all year for a trip or two to the Caribbean, it's so nice to be able to just head out and dive when you get a chance.
There are plenty of dives in this area that are at recreational depths. OK, it's not 3 mm shorty temperature water, but if you dress appropriately for the conditions and you stay comfortable. You wear a ski jacket and long underwear at Killington, and you wear a dry suit here. It's not gin-clear cave vis, or even Caribbean vis, but with some exceptions, the visibility is generally fine for seeing big stuff like the wreck itself, and once you start seeing all of the little critters that are everywhere, you realize that 80 foot vis is not necessary to have a great time in the ocean.
Last weekend's dive was to the wreck of the Tolten. Knowing her story makes the dive even more memorable.
It was Die Glückliche Zeit, the “happy time” for the German U-boats that prowled our shores early on in the second world war. Before effective antisubmarine defenses were developed, these subs struck frequently and successfully, sending many allied ships and their crew to the bottom of the ocean. On March 13, 1942, the 280 foot freighter Tolten joined that sad list.
The ship was originally Danish, then reflagged as a Chilean vessel after Denmark fell to the Nazis. Chile was officially neutral, and the Tolten’s captain had followed the practice of running fully lighted to signify that neutrality, which would have meant that U-boats would not consider her a target. However, just outside New York harbor, a US Navy patrol boat ordered her to run in blackout conditions.
The Chilean captain of Tolten complied with this order, and in the darkness Captain Otto von Bulow of the U-404 found the freighter with a torpedo. The explosion was deadly, sending the Tolten to the bottom in six minutes, with only one of the 28 crew members surviving. Von Bulow survived the war, and later noted that he was not able to identify the ship before the attack.
Today the Tolten lies in 95 feet of water, about 16 miles southeast of Point Pleasant Beach, NJ. Although the wreckage is not intact, the massive boilers, the (spare) propeller, the prop shaft and the steering quadrant all make for dramatic scenery.
Not only do we live on the edge of a vibrant marine ecosystem, we have some of the most historic wrecks around. For 500 years, New York has been a major shipping hub. Unlike some deep water ports, we have the New York Bight - a triangular wedge of ocean bottom extending many miles out to sea at diveable depths between the New Jersey and Long Island shores.
Many non-divers or warm water divers are incredulous when I tell them that I love to dive locally. Sure, Bonaire is beautiful, but I've seen enough Parrot fish at this point. How awe-inspiring and sobering is it to be able to visit the remains of a freighter that was sent to the bottom of the ocean by a German U-Boat just a few miles from shore, and still be back in time for lunch? Instead of waiting all year for a trip or two to the Caribbean, it's so nice to be able to just head out and dive when you get a chance.
There are plenty of dives in this area that are at recreational depths. OK, it's not 3 mm shorty temperature water, but if you dress appropriately for the conditions and you stay comfortable. You wear a ski jacket and long underwear at Killington, and you wear a dry suit here. It's not gin-clear cave vis, or even Caribbean vis, but with some exceptions, the visibility is generally fine for seeing big stuff like the wreck itself, and once you start seeing all of the little critters that are everywhere, you realize that 80 foot vis is not necessary to have a great time in the ocean.
Last weekend's dive was to the wreck of the Tolten. Knowing her story makes the dive even more memorable.
It was Die Glückliche Zeit, the “happy time” for the German U-boats that prowled our shores early on in the second world war. Before effective antisubmarine defenses were developed, these subs struck frequently and successfully, sending many allied ships and their crew to the bottom of the ocean. On March 13, 1942, the 280 foot freighter Tolten joined that sad list.
The ship was originally Danish, then reflagged as a Chilean vessel after Denmark fell to the Nazis. Chile was officially neutral, and the Tolten’s captain had followed the practice of running fully lighted to signify that neutrality, which would have meant that U-boats would not consider her a target. However, just outside New York harbor, a US Navy patrol boat ordered her to run in blackout conditions.
The Chilean captain of Tolten complied with this order, and in the darkness Captain Otto von Bulow of the U-404 found the freighter with a torpedo. The explosion was deadly, sending the Tolten to the bottom in six minutes, with only one of the 28 crew members surviving. Von Bulow survived the war, and later noted that he was not able to identify the ship before the attack.
Today the Tolten lies in 95 feet of water, about 16 miles southeast of Point Pleasant Beach, NJ. Although the wreckage is not intact, the massive boilers, the (spare) propeller, the prop shaft and the steering quadrant all make for dramatic scenery.
