Name your best or favorite wreck dive

[octotat]

Even if it is a ship, if it was intentionally sunk as an artificial reef, is it technically a wreck?
Or is a wreck only something that made it to the bottom as the result of accident or combat.

It's still a wreck! Whether sank by an engineers explosives or those dropped by a bomber, both were intentionally sunk, both had histories and should be considered a wreck.

 

[wedivebc]

Even if it is a ship, if it was intentionally sunk as an artificial reef, is it technically a wreck?
Or is a wreck only something that made it to the bottom as the result of accident or combat.

And where would you classify the Yukon that sank the night before being sunk intentionally

cheers,

 

[ShakaZulu]

I'd say it's a wreck, probably the best on for me so far...........Yukon in San Diego.

http://www.cawreckdivers.org/Wrecks/Yukon.htm

 

[wedivebc]

I'd say it's a wreck, probably the best on for me so far...........Yukon in San Diego.

http://www.cawreckdivers.org/Wrecks/Yukon.htm

So who should I book with to go out there? I sailed on her for about 6 years.

cheers,

 

[Tobagoman]

I have to agree with AquaRock, the 1867 wreck of the steamer HMS Rhone off of Salt Island in the Virgin Islands is fantastic. Everytime I approach the open hatch where Jaqueline Bissett swam out of in the transparent t-shirt in the movie "The Deep" it brings me a smile of remembrance. It's also a picturesque wreck with plenty of marine life and great relief.

 

[taopitek]

My favorite is the B-36 off San Diego in nearly 270' of water. It crashed on 8/5/1952 when the right wing caught on fire. Dave Franks stayed at the helm to steer it off shore keeping it from crashing into the city. During my research I became friends with some of the survives and there families. The one most notable was Don Maxion one of the flight engineers and the youngest aboard 26 at the time of the accident. On Oct.5th 2002 he died a week later I took his wife, son, daughter and grandson back out to the site for a private service. I also took his ashes along with a duck pin that the Navy had given to him for being plucked out of the ocean and tucked them safely next to his bud Dave Franks who stayed at the helm so that Don and the rest of the crew could live to tell the story. Over the years I have been diving this monster of the sky I have become emotionally evolved with the B-36 resting in 267'. The B-36 had a wing span of 230' the length was 162'.
It had 6 prop engines pushing and 4 jets burning. I return to the site very often to pay my respect to the crew that remains and homage to this Goliath of the sky. Supper cool dive.

 

[Mandy3206]

I have to say that with my limited wreck experience, the Stavronikita is the best I've done.

It's a 385 ft long greek freighter that was torpedoed in WWII, it manage to get to the coast of Barbados WI and sit in port for many years, in 1975 the goverment of Barbados asked ther owners for the port fees and the owners just let them keep the ship.

It was stripped and prepared for sinking in 65 ft deep water leaving the mast 20 ft above water, but when the charges blew, it drifted a few yards before it settled in an upright position with the prop at 135 ft deep and the bow at 85 ft deep, with the mast now sitting 20 ft below water.
It has started to collapse and some prefer not to penetrate it, it's a very safe dive (it was prep before sinking) and everytime I go to Barbados, I just dive the wreck, I've done it 4 times now and haven't seen all.

My avatar is the ascent rope tied to the mast of this magnificent wreck dive.

 

[fpsndiver]

Although I was debating in my own mind....RMS Rhone or Normannia.....I am quite sure that I enjoyed the Normannia more. Probably because it is here in my own backyard.

The Normannia was a Danish Freighter that sank in 1924. The Normannia encountered a storm that her structure couldn't handle. She began to take on water faster than her pumps could push it out. The water eventually flooded the engines and the pumps, and all had to abandon ship. Nobody died, everyone was saved by 2 different ships...the Mallory and the Charles Harwood. The Normannia was carrying a load of Mohagonay Wood as her official cargo. She was also smuggling beer from Cuba. Several bottles may or may not have been found (I can neither confirm or deny this vicious rumor) , but the bottles are etched with "Cerveceria La Tropical, Habana". Normannia lies about 42 nm from Masonboro Inlet (Wrightsville Beach, NC) and lies in 120fsw. I have done maybe 25 dives on the Normannia, most of which were decompression dives, and everytime it has been awesome. I also had a near death experience (not decompression illness related) out there in 2004........long story, but obviously we made it back.

Will attach pics from Normannia. The pictures show my buddy Jeff, Me and a Nurse Shark at the stern, a barracuda on my 20 ft. stop, and a view of the stern which includes the prop, rudder, and fantail.

Tom

 

[Drewski]

Although not all that glamorous, I'd say LST-471 off Rodanthe beach, just north of the Rodanthe fishing pier in the Outer Banks of NC.

This is a beach dive in about 20' of water. During September, the Gulf Stream used to push in shore and 100' of visibility was not uncommon (1984 or so). The wreck was somewhat intact with a number of easy penetrations and LOTS of fish. Just an easy, cheap, relaxing dive with no one else around...

It's been 20+ years since I was last on it, so check with local dive shops for recommendations. Click here for a shop who's owner used to be my dive buddy.

 

[ukwreckdiver]

My favourite wrecks (in no particular order)

Any of the seven remaining German Fleet wrecks in Scapa Flow
The Pilsudski (Polish liner off the Yorkshire coast)
The Oslofjord (another liner, in 12m of water off the River Tyne)
The Shuna (Sound of Mull)
HMS Port Napier (Isle of Skye)