Trip Report Iron Bottom Sound (Solomon Islands -- Feb 2024)

[Kay Dee]

Well, as usual, things are confusing. I've got four sets of data points:

1) Wikipedia - 2 x 5" / 38 cal guns, 2 x twin 40mm AA guns, 2 x twin 20mm AA guns
2) Navsource - 2 x 5" / 51 guns, 2 x twin AA 40mm guns, 2 x twin 20mm AA guns
3) Neil's Diagram - 2 x 5" guns, 2 x 3" AA guns, 2 x 20mm Oerlikon AA cannons
4) Neils' Document - 2 x 5" / 38 cal guns, 4 x 3" dual purpose AA guns, 8 x 20mm Oerlikon AA cannons

According to Neil's document, there was a 3" dual-purpose gun at the fore-deck area that was removed in the 70s but the tub remains. He also mentions that the "four 20mm Oerlikons that were on top of the bridge were removed at some point...." Also, at amidships are two 3" dual-purpose guns. He also mentions two 5" guns at the stern along with a 3" gun.

The only thing I know for sure is that there are two 5" guns (caliber either 38 or 51 -- I'm guessing 38). If I ever go back, I will probably spend another dive or two on this wreck with a tape measure trying to figure out exactly what is what.

If you have more info, I'd love to incorporate it. I'm going to review my post and photos and try to make sense of all the above and make any corrections.

- brett

Hi Brett,

Well, not so confusing.

First re your points 3 and 4 above (1 and 2 are just plain wrong, which is no fault of yours). 3 is what can probably be seen on the wreck today (although a few more 20mm's were visible back in the 90's). 4 is what she was fitted with when sunk.

Now they say a photo (or four) is worth a thousand (or four thousand?) words, so see below. (Hope you don’t mind me using two of yours as comparison examples.)

*The historical photo was taken on 2 January, 1943 (3 months before her demise) and shows position of all guns. 8 x 20mm, 3 x 3”, 2 x 5”. No Bofors at this time, and highly unlikely they were put on ‘somewhere’ in interim prior to sinking, and as I said previously on all my dives on her (many) I never saw any. (Bow 3” removed by salvors circa 1970’s, four 20mm atop fwd superstructure - which was standing when I last dived her - have simply collapsed down onto deck over the years.)
*The three inch in your photo matches a 3” / 50 (7.62cm).
*The five inch (K'wha port side aft) in my photo matches an historical image of a 5” / 51 (12.7cm).
* The gun the diver is swimming past in your photo is a 'decayed' 20mm (see below).

Now a couple of questions re your collage towards bottom of your K’wha page, with photos that you say are from the stern of K'wha, going clockwise from top left;
#3” gun (is that the one from the very stern, or one from amidships, as it ‘looks’ from one of your (5”) photos that the raised stern 3” enclosure has collapsed; has it?)
#3” shells (rear end of) in ready-use 'locker'
#5” gun (same port side one as in my photo)
#5” gun
#Now this looks suspiciously like (is) a 20mm gun sans collapsed / rotted away shield (see an ID point in sketch below). But, given there were no 20mm on the very stern, is it one from either side just abaft the ER skylights, or a 'misplaced' photo from one of the 20mm’s on the bow?

EDIT. The historical pic of Kanawha I posted was 3000 x 1170 @ 72dpi, but after posting I see that this site has shrunk it to only 800 x 315. If you dont have that one yourself I can send it high res, marked or unmarked.

Best fishes,
KD (aka Kevin Denlay)

 

[beldridg]

Hi Brett,

Well, not so confusing.

First re your points 3 and 4 above (1 and 2 are just plain wrong, which is no fault of yours). 3 is what can probably be seen on the wreck today (although a few more 20mm's were visible back in the 90's). 4 is what she was fitted with when sunk.

Now they say a photo (or four) is worth a thousand (or four thousand?) words, so see below. (Hope you don’t mind me using two of yours as comparison examples.)

*The historical photo was taken on 2 January, 1943 (3 months before her demise) and shows position of all guns. 8 x 20mm, 3 x 3”, 2 x 5”. No Bofors at this time, and highly unlikely they were put on ‘somewhere’ in interim prior to sinking, and as I said previously on all my dives on her (many) I never saw any. (Bow 3” removed by salvors circa 1970’s, four 20mm atop fwd superstructure - which was standing when I last dived her - have simply collapsed down onto deck over the years.)
*The three inch in your photo matches a 3” / 50 (7.62cm).
*The five inch (K'wha port side aft) in my photo matches an historical image of a 5” / 51 (12.7cm).
* The gun the diver is swimming past in your photo is a 'decayed' 20mm (see below).

Now a couple of questions re your collage towards bottom of your K’wha page, with photos that you say are from the stern of K'wha, going clockwise from top left;
#3” gun (is that the one from the very stern, or one from amidships, as it ‘looks’ from one of your (5”) photos that the raised stern 3” enclosure has collapsed; has it?)
#3” shells (rear end of) in ready-use 'locker'
#5” gun (same port side one as in my photo)
#5” gun
#Now this looks suspiciously like (is) a 20mm gun sans collapsed / rotted away shield (see an ID point in sketch below). But, given there were no 20mm on the very stern, is it one from either side just abaft the ER skylights, or a 'misplaced' photo from one of the 20mm’s on the bow?

EDIT. The historical pic of Kanawha I posted was 3000 x 1170 @ 72dpi, but after posting I see that this site has shrunk it to only 800 x 315. If you dont have that one yourself I can send it high res, marked or unmarked.

Best fishes,
KD (aka Kevin Denlay)

This is very helpful.

1) Do you mind if I use the diagram you created with gun positions (with credit of course)? I'll DM you with my email address for the higher res.

2) In terms of the photos, going clockwise from top left as you did:

Top Left - That is, without a doubt, at the very stern in a raised enclosure (see below photo and note) in between the 5" guns at the stern.
Top Right - Yes, makes sense. These look too small to be 5"
Middle Right - Yes, 5" on the port side stern
Lower Right - Yes, again, 5" at the stern
Lower Left - If you look closely, you can see the downline in the background which was (from memory) on the port side close to the skylights so I think you are right in terms of it being a 20mm.

I will make some corrections and additions to the post as soon as I get a chance. Thanks again for the detective work.

In terms of the Top Left photo, here was a photo that was taken a few seconds prior which shows the barrel of the 5" gun and you can see the raised platform and the 3" barrel off to the right. I took the photo with that diver maybe 2 photos later.


Regards,

- brett

 

[Kay Dee]

Brett, sent you the historical photo/s earlier today.

So re that aft 3"; have it and its raised stand collapsed over on an angle then? ('Seems' its enclosure / raised stand - just visible at the edge of a couple of your 5" photos - is over on an angle / collapsed down , whereas if you look at the 5" I posted above it is raised and level.) Has it collapsed down toward deck then, or just sorta seems that way in the photos?

Below a painting which has K'wha in mid-background (center left) attempting to escape Tulagi harbour.

 

[beldridg]

Brett, sent you the historical photo/s earlier today.

So re that aft 3"; have it and its raised stand collapsed over on an angle then? ('Seems' its enclosure / raised stand - just visible at the edge of a couple of your 5" photos - is over on an angle / collapsed down , whereas if you look at the 5" I posted above it is raised and level.) Has it collapsed down toward deck then, or just sorta seems that way in the photos?

Below a painting which has K'wha in mid-background (center left) attempting to escape Tulagi harbour.

Cool painting. I might even have that book somewhere.

I would say that the 3" stern gun platform is still "mostly" upright although starting to sag. Here are a few other photos from a few different angles.

The port side gun is just off to the right in this photo:

In this photo, again, you can see the port side 5" gun on the right and the 3" gun platform in the background:

And here is a view that is slightly closer to it:

Regards,

- brett

 

[Centrals]

USS Atlanta (CL-51) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

@Kay Dee
Certainly know much about this wreck.

USS Atlanta Project | GUE

www.gue.com

 

[beldridg]

I just published my last post in the series on wrecks in Iron Bottom Sound. This one is on the Japanese I-1 Submarine. It has a fascinating history and, according to many accounts, played a role in the eventual assassination of Admiral Yamamoto. The post includes historical photos, an account of the history and photos I took on the dive. I also built a photogrammetry model of the entire wreck.

I-1 Submarine & Admiral Yamamoto’s Demise (Solomon Islands — 90 fsw)

Introduction On Thursday, April 18 1943, during Operation Vengeance, United States P-38 aircraft launched from the Solomon Islands shot down the aircraft carrying the Commander-in-Chief of the comb…

wreckedinmyrevo.com

Here is the "top-down" view of the wreck. Stern is on the right, the bow is splayed open onto the reef. Note that this wreck is within recreational diving limits.

Regards,

- brett

 

[beldridg]

USS Atlanta (CL-51) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

@Kay Dee
Certainly know much about this wreck.

USS Atlanta Project | GUE

www.gue.com

There was a team that just dove it a couple weeks ago.

- brett

 

[Heat Miser]

Hi Brett,

Im off to Solomons in September and wanted to thank you, your Trip report was perfect for Gas planning and knowing what to expect. Thanks!

Regards
Greg

 

[beldridg]

Hi Brett,

Im off to Solomons in September and wanted to thank you, your Trip report was perfect for Gas planning and knowing what to expect. Thanks!

Regards
Greg

Have a great trip and let us know how it goes!

- brett

 

[Albanese]

Hi Brett,

Well, not so confusing.

First re your points 3 and 4 above (1 and 2 are just plain wrong, which is no fault of yours). 3 is what can probably be seen on the wreck today (although a few more 20mm's were visible back in the 90's). 4 is what she was fitted with when sunk.

Now they say a photo (or four) is worth a thousand (or four thousand?) words, so see below. (Hope you don’t mind me using two of yours as comparison examples.)

*The historical photo was taken on 2 January, 1943 (3 months before her demise) and shows position of all guns. 8 x 20mm, 3 x 3”, 2 x 5”. No Bofors at this time, and highly unlikely they were put on ‘somewhere’ in interim prior to sinking, and as I said previously on all my dives on her (many) I never saw any. (Bow 3” removed by salvors circa 1970’s, four 20mm atop fwd superstructure - which was standing when I last dived her - have simply collapsed down onto deck over the years.)
*The three inch in your photo matches a 3” / 50 (7.62cm).
*The five inch (K'wha port side aft) in my photo matches an historical image of a 5” / 51 (12.7cm).
* The gun the diver is swimming past in your photo is a 'decayed' 20mm (see below).

Now a couple of questions re your collage towards bottom of your K’wha page, with photos that you say are from the stern of K'wha, going clockwise from top left;
#3” gun (is that the one from the very stern, or one from amidships, as it ‘looks’ from one of your (5”) photos that the raised stern 3” enclosure has collapsed; has it?)
#3” shells (rear end of) in ready-use 'locker'
#5” gun (same port side one as in my photo)
#5” gun
#Now this looks suspiciously like (is) a 20mm gun sans collapsed / rotted away shield (see an ID point in sketch below). But, given there were no 20mm on the very stern, is it one from either side just abaft the ER skylights, or a 'misplaced' photo from one of the 20mm’s on the bow?

EDIT. The historical pic of Kanawha I posted was 3000 x 1170 @ 72dpi, but after posting I see that this site has shrunk it to only 800 x 315. If you dont have that one yourself I can send it high res, marked or unmarked.

Best fishes,
KD (aka Kevin Denlay)

My friend from Merrimack New Hampshire just passed away. He was coin dealer and spoke about your diving expertise quite often. Well done ! John Albanese