Dixie Arrow in 2008

[Drewski]

Hi All:

The Dixie Arrow is probably one of the best known wrecks dived from Hatteras Island. Roughly 30 miles south of the inlet, she sits in 90 FT of water on a hard sand bottom. Conditions are usually tropical, with 100+ FT visibility and 75+ degree water temperature in the summer and fall.

Sunk in March, 1942 by the U-71, the Dixie Arrow was an 8,000 GT tanker more than 460 FT in length. The knife edge bow is somewhat intact, with large bulkheads near it. A broken debris field extends to the stern, approximately 200 FT away. Three large boilers, an auxiliary boiler and a huge steam engine sit at the stern.

Schools of sand tiger sharks, some longer than 10 FT, make this wreck their home in the summer. It's not unusual to see more than 20 sharks on a single dive.

This short video shows a shark in the debris field, followed by areas of the bow section. This is 2008 footage, so it's not all that good (my second dive with a camera).

[vimeo]9197154[/vimeo]

This is an easy wreck to dive, but be mindful of the long swim between the bow and stern sections. Know the location of where your boat is anchored and how long it will take you to get back to it.

ENJOY!

Andy

 

[packman]

The Dixie Arrow is a cool wreck and on my "get back to" list. It's made even better by the story behind its sinking.

 

[BadabingM3]

Dove this wreck several times when I was stationed at Langley AFB, VA. back in the '90's. Such a great dive. Never saw sharks but the water was allways clear with 100+ vis easy. Best thing I liked about Diving Hatteras was the fact I could 4x4 on the beach, sleep, hit the Bear through's and camp all night, dive the next day at Teacher's Layer and sleep on the beach the following night for another day of diving. Great times!

Cheers,
Rob

 

[Akyla]

Drewski is correct about the Dixie being a very popular site and that is some nice video even if it was early footage for him.

I think the Dixie Arrow is such a good dive due to a number of factors and he hit upon a few. The location just 15 miles south of the Hatteras sea bouy make it a fairly short run and the DA is on the way back from the deeper sites further offshore. The spot where the wreck sits is almost always in the blue water during the summer and just inside the really stiff current if the Gulf Stream is running hard. The dive boats can often slug it out to the DA even if it is fairly rough and a great dive is the reward.

The size and structure of the site is visually very interesting and holds a lot of bait fish making it a prime spot for sea life. Over the years we have seen some incredible stuff at the DA to include manta, cow nose and eagle rays, octopus, lots of different sharks and there are often very large schools of fish feeding on the baitfish. We have even seen pilot whales here, you never know what is going to swim past.

Unfortunately, the days of camping and sleeping on the beach seem to be over. The rules have been changed by the NPS. Rob, when you come down again you will have to stay in one of the campgrounds...