Trip Report Vis, Croatia Wreck Diving (May 2022)

[beldridg]

The wreck of the Brioni is up next. She was a large combined cargo/passenger ship that was also used in wartime. It is a massive wreck that lies between 150 and 200 feet deep. I only had time to explore the rear half of the ship and need to return to see the rest.

Brioni (Vis, Croatia — 150/200 fsw)

For such a large, prominent wreck, there is actually very little known about the Brioni. The book, Treasures of the Adriatic, has some information about the ship which is summarized below: It was a…

wreckedinmyrevo.com

BTW - I will take a quick break from Croatia posts to post details of a brand new airplane wreck that we found on Sunday this week in Southern California. It is an exciting one.

- brett

 

[BoltSnap]

to post details of a brand new airplane wreck that we found on Sunday this week in Southern California. It is an exciting one.

Looking forward to this post also. Excellent job!

 

[beldridg]

The B-17G Flying Fortress is probably the most interesting and "coolest" wreck in Vis, Croatia. It is, by far, the largest most intact airplane wreck that I have ever dove. It is truly amazing and has a great history that is detailed in Treasures of the Adriatic. I have summarized the history and provided a lot of photos and information on the dive at the post below. Enjoy!

B-17G Flying Fortress (Vis, Croatia — 235 fsw)

The B-17 is truly an amazing wreck — it is, without a doubt, the largest and most-intact airplane I have ever dove. B-17 Flying Fortress First, a little bit about the B-17 as an airplane. The…

wreckedinmyrevo.com

PS - This is likely the last post I will publish on the wrecks in Croatia. I dove two additional wrecks (Teti and Fortunal) but I have other projects to work on.

- brett

 

[BoltSnap]

@beldridg

Thank you so much for your sharing with us your adventures. I enjoyed it very much and read every single report you announced here including your new airplane wreck in CA.

 

[wnissen]

Super, super cool!

My impression was that at least for B-24s, that only a couple of planes in any given formation had the precision bombsight. The others would fly real tight (their only defense, especially out of fighter escort range) and drop when the lead aircraft dropped. My namesake was a B-24 bombardier but he rarely talked about it.

 

[beester]

Very nice write up beldridg. Just came back from a week diving in that area. We were a GUE group and we did only 1 longer dive per day. We dived the Brioni twice, B-17 twice, B-24 tulsamerican and the Ursus.

Was very nice reading your diving reports. We encountered a lot of current coming from the undersea mount going over the wreck as well, and even had to scooter up to ascend the first part. B-17 we managed to do some nice bottom times (35-40 min), as well as the Brioni. Visibility for us was very very good (red sea levels, 100ft plus) and we took some very nice pics.

The B-17 was very special, there was a flak helmet in the cockpit and a parachute behind the copilot seat, another parachute was hanging out from the ball turret. I've once dived another B-17 in Calvi harbor (Corsica) but it was much less pristine than this wreck which basically landed on the 72m bottom (1 wing still on the landing gear).

Anyway you are totally right that it's a fantastic spot to dive. Thanks for your reports, they were a joy to read.

 

[beldridg]

@beldridg

Thank you so much for your sharing with us your adventures. I enjoyed it very much and read every single report you announced here including your new airplane wreck in CA.

You are very welcome. I'll have a trip report for Malta coming up next.

- brett

 

[beldridg]

Super, super cool!

My impression was that at least for B-24s, that only a couple of planes in any given formation had the precision bombsight. The others would fly real tight (their only defense, especially out of fighter escort range) and drop when the lead aircraft dropped. My namesake was a B-24 bombardier but he rarely talked about it.

Interesting, I'll need to research that. I'm supposed to dive another B-24 this week in Malta. Really looking forward to it.

- brett

 

[beldridg]

Very nice write up beldridg. Just came back from a week diving in that area. We were a GUE group and we did only 1 longer dive per day. We dived the Brioni twice, B-17 twice, B-24 tulsamerican and the Ursus.

Was very nice reading your diving reports. We encountered a lot of current coming from the undersea mount going over the wreck as well, and even had to scooter up to ascend the first part. B-17 we managed to do some nice bottom times (35-40 min), as well as the Brioni. Visibility for us was very very good (red sea levels, 100ft plus) and we took some very nice pics.

The B-17 was very special, there was a flak helmet in the cockpit and a parachute behind the copilot seat, another parachute was hanging out from the ball turret. I've once dived another B-17 in Calvi harbor (Corsica) but it was much less pristine than this wreck which basically landed on the 72m bottom (1 wing still on the landing gear).

Anyway you are totally right that it's a fantastic spot to dive. Thanks for your reports, they were a joy to read.

Thanks! Yeah, I noticed the helmet on the pilot seat as well. I _think_ one of my photos my have that in it. There are definitely more wrecks to dive there.

- brett

 

[BoltSnap]

You are very welcome. I'll have a trip report for Malta coming up next.

- brett

Malta?? I can't wait to read that.

I hope that one day you can come here in Libya to dive and explore.