Top 10 wreck dives in the world?

[dab]

My top ten shipwrecks (only true shipwrecks included) - in no particular order

1. Gunilda (Lake Superior)
2. Carl D. Bradley (Lake Michigan)
3. USS Saratoga (Bikini)
4. Andrea Doria
5. USS President Coolidge
6. Corneila Windiate (Lake Huron)
7. USS Monitor (North Carolina)
8. San Francisco Maru
9. Kamloops (Lake Superior)
10. Empress of Ireland

 

[Ste Wart]

I'd go Yongala over Thistlegorm anyday. I dived the Yongala in 2002 and it's still my number 1 dive.

I dived the thistlegorm in 2008, felt it was a huge letdown. Maybe it's over-hyped, but even my GF found it a dull dive.

Still I need to do the Sara, Coolidge, anything in Truk or Scapa before I could say what the best wreck dive is.

 

[jago]

I have noticed one thing. Very few wrecks are in countries which have not adopted English as the official language (mostly arabic countries). Coincidence or non-mediatization of "foreign" wrecks ? Nothing against Englishs and Americans. I would be surprised not to make a similar observation in non-English-speaking forum.

 

[=C=]

I have noticed one thing. Very few wrecks are in countries which have not adopted English as the official language (mostly arabic countries). Coincidence or non-mediatization of "foreign" wrecks ? Nothing against Englishs and Americans. I would be surprised not to make a similar observation in non-English-speaking forum.

Soooo what do you think a French list would look like? Le Rubis on the list? Some of the Gonzo/Malta wrecks?

 

[jago]

I don't want a French list, I just wish a top ten wrecks list which won't be ethnocentrist whatever is the language of the list. I have the right to have dreams. ;(

 

[Kevrumbo]

My Favorite List of WWII Indo-Pacific Wrecks I've dived on,
(a lot are in Truk Lagoon):

Shinkoku Maru (Truk)
Fujikawa Maru (Truk)
San Francisco Maru (Truk)
Nippo Maru (Truk)
Hoki Maru (Truk)
Heian Maru (Truk)
Kansho Maru (Truk)
Yamagiri Maru (Truk)
Kiyosumi Maru (Truk)
Rio de Janeiro Maru (Truk)
Aikoku Maru (Truk)
HMS Hermes Aircraft Carrier (east coast Sri Lanka)
HMAS Perth Light Cruiser (Sunda Strait Indonesia)
IJN Iro Oiler (Palau)
IJN Irako Transport (Coron Philippines)
USS Rochester/USS New York Heavy Cruiser (Subic Bay Philippines)
HIJMS Akitsushima Sea Plane Tender (Coron Philippines)
HIJMS Fumitsuki Destroyer (Truk)
HIJMS Oite Destroyer (Truk)
HMS Repulse Battlecruiser (off Kuantan Malaysia)
HMS Prince of Wales Battleship (off Kuantan Malaysia)
USS Houston Heavy Cruiser (Sunda Strait Indonesia)

WWII Capital Ships, Transport & Tanker Wrecks still on the wish list:
SS President Coolidge Transport (Vanuatu)
USS Mississinewa Oiler (Ulithi Lagoon)
Prinz Eugen Heavy Cruiser (Kwajalein Atoll)
USS Saratoga Aircraft Carrier (Bikini Atoll)
USS Arkansas Battleship (Bikini Atoll)
HIJMS Nagato Battleship (Bikini Atoll)
HIJMS Haguro Cruiser (Malacca Strait, off Penang Malaysia)
HNLMS De Ruyter Cruiser (Java Sea Indonesia)
HNLMS Java Light Cruiser (Java Sea Indonesia)
HNLMS Kortenaer Light Cruiser (Java Sea Indonesia)
HMS Exeter Heavy Cruiser (Java Sea Indonesia)
USS Lagarto Submarine (Gulf of Thailand)
USS Aaron Ward Destroyer (Tulagi, Guadalcanal)
USS Kanawha Oiler (Tulagi, Guadalcanal)
Kuretake Maru (Balikpapan Indonesia)
Sumanoura Maru (Balikpapan Indonesia)
Tatsukami Maru (Balikpapan Indonesia)
Tsuruga Maru (Balikpapan Indonesia)
Nana Maru (Balikpapan Indonesia)

(Extremely Deep, 100m or more):
USS Flier Submarine (Balabac Strait Philippines)
USS Atlanta Lt Cruiser (Guadalcanal)
HIJMS Yamashiro Battleship (Surigao Strait Philippines)

 

[Centrals]

My WWII Capital Ships, Transport & Tanker Wrecks still on the wish list:
USS Flier(Balabac Strait Philippines)
HIJMS Yamashiro Battleship (Surigao Strait Philippines)

1)Armed guards were also on board when NG dived the Flier in that stretch of water.
2)Could well be her sister ship Fuso instead!

 

[vladimir]

I have noticed one thing. Very few wrecks are in countries which have not adopted English as the official language (mostly arabic countries). Coincidence or non-mediatization of "foreign" wrecks ? Nothing against Englishs and Americans. I would be surprised not to make a similar observation in non-English-speaking forum.

I don't want a French list, I just wish a top ten wrecks list which won't be ethnocentrist whatever is the language of the list.

We're assembling a list! If the Francophones can't contribute some names from outside the Anglosphere, what hope do we have of getting a less "ethnocentric" list?


But perhaps it's because the British and American navies have spent the most recent centuries sinking ships and spreading the language. If the Japanese prevailed in WW II, we'd probably still go to Truk, but the official language might be Japanese. I guess scuba divers in 1,000 to 600 B.C., say, would have concentrated more on wrecks in Phoenician-speaking areas. Most of us would put our cultural biases aside to dive a Phoenician, Dutch, French, Russian, Chinese, etc. wreck, especially if it's intact and lying in 40 meters or less of clear tropical water. Oh, yeah--English-speaking divemasters would be nice.

 

[jago]

The Haven (Genoa Italian) The Rubis (Var France) The Togo (Var France) The Torpilleur 178 (Var France) I don't know enough D-Day wrecks but I think some of them could be included in this list.

 

[Rhone Man]

I have noticed one thing. Very few wrecks are in countries which have not adopted English as the official language (mostly arabic countries). Coincidence or non-mediatization of "foreign" wrecks ? Nothing against Englishs and Americans. I would be surprised not to make a similar observation in non-English-speaking forum.

Great point. Martinique is a bit of a Caribbean wreck diving Mecca, but because it doesn't show up on English language search engines, you never hear about it.