BIKINI ATOLL: Wrecks

History

USS Arkansas, a Wyoming-class battleship was the third ship of the United States Navy named in honour of the 25th state.

Arkansas was launched on 14 January 1911 sponsored by Miss Nancy Louise Macon of Helena, Arkansas, daughter of Congressman Robert B. Macon. The ship was commissioned at the Philadelphia Navy Yard on 17 September 1912, Captain Roy C. Smith in command.

Arkansas served in both World Wars. She was part of the U.S. battleship squadron attached to the British Grand Fleet during World War I, Battleship Division Nine. During World War II she escorted convoys in the Atlantic and bombarded shore targets during the invasions of Normandy, Iwo Jima and Okinawa. She was sunk by the underwater nuclear test BAKER at Bikini Atoll in 1946.

World War I

On 6 April 1917, the United States entered World War I on the side of the Allied and Associated Powers. The declaration of war found Arkansas attached to Battleship Division 7 (BatDiv 7) and patrolling the York River in Virginia. For the next 14 months, Arkansas carried out patrol duty along the east coast and trained gun crews for duty on armed merchantmen.

In July 1918, Arkansas received orders to proceed to Rosyth, Scotland to relieve Delaware. Arkansas sailed on 14 July. On the eve of her arrival in Scotland, the battleship opened fire on what was believed to be the periscope wake of a German U-boat. Her escorting destroyers dropped depth charges, but scored no hits. Arkansas then proceeded without incident and dropped anchor at Rosyth on 28 July. Throughout the remaining 31/2 months of war, Arkansas and the other American battleships of BatDiv 9 in Rosyth operated as part of the British Grand Fleet as the 6th Battle Squadron. The armistice  ending World War I became effective on 11 November. The 6th Battle Squadron and other Royal Navy units sailed to a point some 40 mi (64 km) east of May Island at the entrance of the Firth of Forth. Arkansas was present at the internment of the German High Seas Fleet in the Firth of Forth on 21 November 1918.

World War II

The outbreak of war in Europe in September 1939 found Arkansas at Hampton Roads, preparing for a Naval Reserve cruise. She soon got underway and transported seaplane mooring and aviation equipment from the naval air station at Norfolk to Narragansett Bay for the seaplane base that was to

be established there. While at Newport, Arkansas took on board ordnance material for destroyers and brought it back to Hampton Roads. Arkansas departed from Norfolk on 11 January 1940, in company with Texas and New York, and proceeded thence to Guantanamo Bay for fleet exercises. She then participated in landing exercises at Culebra that February, returning to Norfolk. Following an overhaul at the Norfolk Navy Yard (18 March-24 May), Arkansas shifted to the Naval Operating Base (NOB), Norfolk, where she remained

until 30 May. Sailing on that day for Annapolis, the battleship, along with Texas and New York, conducted a midshipman training cruise to Panama and Venezuela that summer. Before the year wasout, Arkansas would conduct three V-7 Naval Reserve training cruises, these voyages taking her to Guantanamo Bay, the Canal Zone, and Chesapeake Bay.

Over the months that followed, the United States gradually edged toward war in the Atlantic; early the following summer, after the decision to occupy Iceland had been reached, Arkansas accompanied the initial contingent of Marines to that place. That battleship – along with New York and Brooklyn – provided the heavy escort for the convoy. Following this assignment, Arkansas sailed to NS Argentia, Newfoundland for the Atlantic Charter conference between President Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, which took place onboard HMS Prince of Wales. During the conference, Arkansas provided accommodations for the Under Secretary of State, Sumner Welles, and Mr. Averell Harriman from 8–14 August 1941.

The outbreak of war with the Japanese Attack on Pearl Harbor found Arkansas at anchor in Casco Bay, Maine. On 14 December, she sailed to Hvalfjordur, Iceland. Returning to Boston via Naval Station Argentia on 24 January 1942, Arkansas spent the month of February carrying out exercises in Casco Bay in preparation for her role as an escort for troop and cargo transports. On 6 March, she arrived at Norfolk to begin overhaul. The secondary battery was reduced to six 5 in (130 mm)/51 cal guns.[1] Underway on 2 July, Arkansas conducted shakedown in Chesapeake Bay, then proceeded to New York City, where she arrived on 27 July.

The battleship sailed from New York on 6 August as flagship of Task Force 38 (TF 38), a convoy of 12 transports – with 14 destroyers – bound for Greenock, Scotland. Two days later, the ships paused at Halifax, Nova Scotia, then continued on through the stormy North Atlantic. The convoy reached Greenock on 17 August, and Arkansas returned to New York on 4 September. She escorted another Greenock-bound convoy across the Atlantic, then arrived back at New York on 20 October. With the Allied invasion of North Africa, American convoys were routed to Casablanca to support the operations. Departing from New York on 3 November, Arkansas covered a convoy to Morocco, and returned to New York on 11 December for overhaul.

On 2 January 1943, Arkansas sailed to Chesapeake Bay for gunnery drills. She returned to New York on 30 January and began loading supplies for yet another transatlantic trip. The battleship made two runs between Casablanca and New York City from February-April. In early May, Arkansas was dry-docked at the New York Navy Yard, emerging from that period of yard work to proceed to Norfolk on 26 May.

Arkansas assumed her new duty as a training ship for midshipmen, based at Norfolk. After four months of operations in Chesapeake Bay, the battleship returned to New York to resume her role as a convoy escort. On 8 October, the ship sailed for Bangor, Northern Ireland. She was in that port throughout November, and got underway to return to New York on 1 December. Arkansas then began a period of repairs on 12 December. Clearing New York for Norfolk two days after Christmas of 1943, Arkansas closed the year in that port.

The battleship sailed on 19 January 1944 with a convoy bound for Northern Ireland. After seeing theconvoy safely to its destination, the ship reversed her course across the Atlantic and reached New York on 13 February. Arkansas went to Casco Bay on 28 March for gunnery exercises, before she proceeded to Boston on 11 April for repairs.

On 18 April, Arkansas sailed once more for Bangor, Northern Ireland. Upon her arrival, the battleship began a training period to prepare for her new role as a shore bombardment ship. On 3 June, Arkansas sailed for the French coast to support the Invasion of Normandy. The ship entered theBaie de la Seine on 6 June, and  took up a position 4,000 yd (3,600 m) off “Omaha” beach. At 0552,

Arkansas’ guns opened fire. During the day, the venerable battleship underwent shore battery fire and air attacks; over ensuing days, she continued her fire support. On 13 June, Arkansas shifted to a position off Grandcamp les Bains. VCS-7, a US Navy Spotter Squadron flying Supermarine Spitfire VBs and Seafire IIIs, was one of the units which provided targeting coordinates and fire control.[3]

On 25 June, Arkansas dueled with German shore batteries off Cherbourg, the enemy repeatedly straddling the battleship but never hitting her. Her big guns helped support the Allied attack on that key port, and led to the capture of it the following day. Retiring to Weymouth, England, and arriving there at 2220, the battleship shifted to Bangor on 30 June.

Arkansas stood out to sea on 4 July, bound for the Mediterranean Sea. She passed through the Strait of Gibraltar and anchored at Oran, Algeria on 10 July. On 18 July, she got underway, and reached Taranto, Italy on 21 July. The battleship remained there until 6 August, then shifted to Palermo, Sicily on 7 August.

On 14 August, Operation Anvil – the invasion of the southern French coast between Toulon and Cannes, began. Arkansas provided fire support for the initial landings on 15 August, and continued her bombardment through 17 August. After stops at Palermo and Oran, Arkansas set course for the United States. On 14 September, she reached Boston, and received repairs and alterations through early November. The yard period completed on 7 November, Arkansas sailed to Casco Bay for three days of refresher training. On 10 November, Arkansas shaped a course south for the Panama Canal

Zone. After transiting the canal on 22 November, Arkansas headed for San Pedro, California. On 29 November, the ship was again underway for exercises held off San Diego, California. She returned on 10 December to San Pedro.

After three more weeks of preparations, Arkansas sailed for Pearl Harbor on 20 January 1945. One day after her arrival there, she sailed for Ulithi, the major fleet staging area in the Caroline Islands, and continued thence to Tinian, where she arrived on 12 February. For two days, the vessel held shore bombardment practice prior to her participation in the assault on Iwo Jima.

At 0600 on 16 February, Arkansas opened fire on Japanese strong points on Iwo Jima as she lay off the island’s west coast. The old battlewagon bombarded the island through 19 February, and remained in the fire support area to provide cover during the evening hours. During her time off the embattled island, Arkansas shelled numerous Japanese positions, in support of the bitter struggle by the marines to root out and destroy the stubborn enemy resistance. She cleared the waters off Iwo Jima on 7 March to return to Ulithi. After arriving at that atoll on 10 March, the battleship rearmed, provisioned, and fueled in preparation for her next operation, the invasion of Okinawa.

Getting underway on 21 March, Arkansas began her preliminary shelling of Japanese positions on Okinawa on 25 March, some days ahead of the assault troops which began wading ashore on 1 April. The Japanese soon began an aerial onslaught, and Arkansas fended off several kamikazes. For 46 days, Arkansas delivered fire support for the invasion of Okinawa. On 14 May, the ship arrived at Apra Harbor, Guam, to await further assignment.

After a month at Apra Harbor, part of which she spent in drydock, Arkansas got underway on 12 June for Leyte Gulf. She anchored there on 16 June, and remained in Philippine waters until the war drew to a close in August. On 20 August, Arkansas left Leyte to return to Okinawa, and reached Buckner Bay on 23 August.

Post-war

After a month spent in port, Arkansas embarked approximately 800 troops for transport to the United States as part of Operation Magic Carpet to return American servicemen home as quickly as possible. Sailing on 23 September, Arkansas paused briefly at Pearl Harbor en route, and ultimately reached Seattle, Washington on 15 October. During the remainder of the year, the battleship made three more trips to Pearl Harbor to shuttle soldiers back to the United States.

During the first months of 1946, Arkansas lay at San Francisco, California. In late April, the ship got underway for Hawaii. She reached Pearl Harbor on 8 May, and stood out of Pearl Harbor on 20 May, bound for Bikini Atoll, earmarked for use as target for atomic bomb testing in Operation Crossroads. On 1 July, the Arkansas was exposed to an air burst in ABLE, but survived with extensive shock damage to her upperworks, while her hull and armored turrets were little damaged. On 25 July, the battleship was sunk by the underwater nuclear test BAKER at Bikini Atoll. Unattentuated by air, the shock was “transmitted directly to underwater hulls”, and Arkansas, only 250 yards from the epicenter, appeared to have been “crushed as if by a tremendous hammer blow from below”. It appears that the wave of water from the blast capsized the ship, which was then hammered down into the shallow bottom by the descent of the water column thrown up by the blast.

Decommissioned on 29 July, Arkansas was struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 15 August. The ship lies inverted in about 180 feet of water at the bottom of Bikini Lagoon. You can see more images on this link 

Diving

The Arkansas is totally upside down max depth 52m deck round 46m. The Bridge has mostly been crushed under the hull. A very interesting dive as this is a world war I Battleship. Its unique side mounted guns are easily identified.

History

Nagato,  launched November 9 1919, was a battleship of the Imperial Japanese Navy, the lead ship of her class. She was the first battleship in the world to mount 16 inch guns, her armour protection and speed made her one of the most powerful capital ships at the time of her commissioning. She was the flagship of Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto during the attack on Pearl Harbor. She saw action only once, during the Battle of Leyte Gulf, due to the Japanese Navy’s strategy of keeping major units in reserve for a decisive battle.

World War II

At the outbreak of World War II, Nagato, under the command of Captain Yano Hideo, and her sister ship Mutsu formed Battle Division 1. Nagato was the flagship of the Combined Fleet, flying the flag of Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto. On December 2, 1941 Nagato sent the signal that committed the Carrier Strike Force to the attack on Pearl Harbor and Japan to the Pacific War.

On February 12, 1942 Admiral Yamamoto transferred his flag to the new battleship Yamato.

Nagato sailed with the Yamato, Mutsu, Hosho, Sendai, nine destroyers and four auxiliary ships as Admiral Yamamoto’s Main Body during the Battle of Midway in June 1942 but saw no action. She returned survivors of the aircraft carrier Kaga to Japan.

In 1943, under the command of Captain Hayakawa Mikio, Nagato was based at Truk in the Caroline Islands. After the evacuation of Truk in February 1944, she was based at Lingga near Singapore.

Leyte Gulf

In June 1944 she took part in Operation A-Go, an attack on Allied forces in the Mariana Islands. In the battle of the Philippine Sea on June 19, 1944 she came under air attack but was not damaged. In October 1944 she took part in Operation Shō-1, an attack on the Allied landings at Leyte. On October 24, 1944 in the battle of the Sibuyan Sea Nagato was attacked by several waves of American dive-bombers. At 14:16 she was hit by two bombs dropped by planes from Franklin and Cabot. The first bomb disabled a number of guns and damaged the air intake to the No. 1 boiler room, stopping one shaft for 25 minutes until the air intake was cleared. The second bomb hit the canteen and forward radio room, killing 52 men and wounding 106. On October 25 the Central Force (including battleships Yamato, Nagato, Kongō, and Haruna), navigated the San Bernardino Strait and headed for Leyte Gulf. In the battle off Samar, Nagato engaged the escort carriers and destroyers of the US Task Group 77.4.3. At 06:01 she opened fire on St. Lo, the first time she fired her guns at an enemy ship, but missed. At 06:54 the destroyer Heermann fired a spread of torpedoes at Haruna; the torpedoes missed Haruna and headed for Yamato and Nagato on parallel courses. The two battleships were forced to turn away from the action to the north for 10 miles (16 km) until the torpedoes ran out of fuel. After returning to the action, Nagato continued to engage the American carriers, firing 45 16.1 inch  and 92 5.5 inch  shells.

At 09:10 Admiral Takeo Kurita ordered the fleet to break off the engagement and head north. At 10:20 he ordered the fleet south once more, but as the fleet came under increasingly severe air attack he ordered a retreat again at 12:36. At 12:43 Nagato was hit in the bow by two bombs but the damage was not severe.

As it retreated on October 26, the Japanese fleet came under continuous air assault. Nagato was attacked by dive-bombers from Hornet and hit by four bombs, suffering 38 killed and 105 wounded. In the course of the day she fired 99 16.1 inch  and 653 5.5 inch  shells. On November 25, 1944 Nagato arrived at Yokosuka, Japan for repairs. Lack of fuel and materials meant that she could not be brought back into service, and in February 1945 she was reassigned as a coastal defense ship. In June 1945 her secondary and anti-aircraft armament were moved ashore. On July 18, 1945 she was attacked at Yokusuka by fighter bombers and torpedo bombers from Essex, Randolph, Bennington, Shangri-La and Belleau Wood and hit by three bombs, one hitting the bridge

and killing her commanding officer, Rear Admiral Otsuka Miki.

Bikini Atoll

On August 30, 1945, following the Japanese surrender, Nagato, the last surviving Japanese battleship, was boarded and secured by American sailors from the USS Horace A. Bass (LPR-124).

In March 1946 she was taken to Bikini Atoll for Operation Crossroads, a series of atomic bomb tests. She was in such poor repair that on the way she had to be towed to Eniwetok Atoll for emergency repairs.

In the first test (ABLE, an airburst) on July 1, 1946 she was 1,640 yards from ground zero and was not severely damaged. In the second test (BAKER, an underwater explosion) on July 25, 1946 she was severely damaged, eventually capsized and sank five days later.

You can see more images on this link

Diving

Lying completely upside down hull accessible from right side of wreck as you swim towards the bow (port side access)

Bridge broken off and intact on sand

Stern guns accessible

Bow guns also accessible (end caps on them)

Top of hull 34m

Sand 54m

History

USS Anderson, a 1570-ton Sims class destroyer built at Kearny, New Jersey, was commissioned in May 1939. She served in the Atlantic and Caribbean area into April 1940, then transited the Panama Canal to take up duties in the Pacific. With several other ships, she was sent back through the canal in June 1941 to reinforce the Navy’s forces in the North Atlantic. During the last months of the year, both before and after war formally began with Germany on 11 December, she escorted convoys to and from Iceland, took part in anti-submarine actions, and carried out patrols.

Anderson returned to the Pacific in early 1942 and remained in that ocean for the rest of her service. She accompanied the carrier Yorktown in the south Pacific in March and April, was part of USS Lexington’s ‘s screen during the Battle Of the Coral Sea in early May and was back with Yorktown a month later for the Battle of Midway. When the carrier Hornet was sent to join in the Guadalcanal campaign, Anderson went along and generally operated with Hornet until her loss in the late October 1942 Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands.

For the rest of the Guadalcanal Campaign, and beyond, Anderson remained in the south Pacific, screening heavy ships, escorting convoys, bombarding the enemy ashore and carrying out patrols. She returned to the U.S. for overhaul in March 1943 and went north for Aleutians’ operations during July-September. The destroyer’s next assignments were to support the invasions of the Gilbert Islands in November 1943 and the Marshalls in early 1944. She was hit by Japanese coast-defense gunfire while bombarding Wotje on 30 January. Further damaged by grounding two days later, Anderson was under repair until mid-June 1944. July-November 1944 was spent with the Seventh Fleet, including participation in landings at Morotai and Leyte. During the latter operation, on 1 November, she was hit by a Japanese suicide plane and again had to return to the U.S. for repairs.

Back in service in the Spring of 1945, Anderson was assigned to the North Pacific theatre, where she participated in a number of bombardments and anti-shipping sweeps. Following Japan’s surrender, she took part in occupation activities for a few months before steaming eastward across the Pacific to San Diego, California. In early 1946, Anderson voyaged back to Pearl Harbor, where she stayed until May, then proceeded on to the Marshall Islands for use as a target ship in the upcoming “Operation Crossroads” nuclear weapons tests. USS Anderson was sunk on 1 July 1946 by the “Able” atomic bomb explosion at  Bikini Atoll.

You can see more images on this link 

History

After shakedown in the Atlantic  and Caribbean Lamson departed in June 1937 to spend 2 years in the Pacific. Sailing to Pearl Harbour in 1939 she would continue training operations for another 2 years in Hawaii.

She was returning to Pearl Harbor from patrol duty during the Japanese attack on the 7th of December 1941. After a search for the Japanese task force, the destroyer patrolled Hawaiian waters departing Pearl Harbor 6 January 1942. USS Lamson was then assigned to the South Pacific.

During early March she arrived in the Fiji Islands to assist keeping the South Pacific supply lines open. After 6 months of patrol and screening operations, Lamson saw action 22 October when, she attacked Japanese picket boats. She made a coordinated attack beating off enemy air raids and sank two enemy craft.

On 30 November, Lamson assisted in the battle of Tassafaronga only to return back to the South Pacific for the next 8 months screening convoys in Guadalcanal

Arriving in PNG in August 1943. After 2 months of escort duty, Lamson joined three other destroyers 29 November and penetrated 160 miles into enemy territory to bomb Madang, the main Japanese naval base on New Guinea. On 15 December she engaged in preinvasion bombardment of Arawe, New Britain,

After a brief overhaul and training at Pearl Harbor, Lamson arrived at Eniwetok 8 August. For the next 2 months she engaged in patrol duty.

Departing 25 October, Lamson steamed to the Philippines  to serve as picket, patrol and screening ship for the massive Leyte assault. Throughout November the destroyer beat off numerous suicide plan attacks aimed at convoys bringing supplies to the Philippines. While screening a convoy off Ormoc Bay (in Leyte, Phillipines), Lamson downed two “Dinahs” (Mitsubishi Ki-46 Japanese plane) before a third crashed into her superstructure, killing 25 of the destroyer’s crew and injuring 54 others.

She arrived at the Puget Sound Navy Yard on the 16th January 1945 for extensive repairs. Returning to Eniwetok ( atoll in the South Pacific) 10 May, Lamson operated for the rest of the war on patrol and air-sea rescue work off Iwo Jima island. sailing back to San Diego on 29 November. Lamson arrived at Bikini Atoll later in May 1946 to participate in Operation Crossroads. The destroyer was sunk in Test Able, the atomic explosion 2 July 1946.

You can see more images on this link 

Diving

Sitting upright in 49m of water slightly listing to port. 42m to the deck. Viz tends to be excellent on the wreck. Not a lot of penetration opportunities.

Awesome torpedo launchers, midships, AA guns, Stern depth charge deployers and a rack of depth chargers on the port deck.

History

USS Apogon (SS-308), a Balao-class submarine, was a ship of the United States Navy named for the apogon, a group of large-headed salt water fishes with oblong compressed bodies found in tropical or subtropical waters. The original name planned for the ship was Abadejo, but the name was changed on 24 September 1942 before the keel was laid down.

Apogon was laid down on 9 December 1942, by the Portsmouth Navy Yard in Kittery, Maine; launched on 10 March 1943; sponsored by Mrs. Thomas Withers, the wife of Admiral Withers; and commissioned on 16 July 1943, Lieutenant Commander Walter Paul Schoeni in command.

World War II

After loading fuel and provisions, Apogon got underway on 3 November for her first war patrol. Her patrol area comprised the waters within a 60-mile (110 km) radius of Moen Island and those along the shipping lanes between Truk and Kwajalein. The submarine was acting in support of Operation Galvanic, the seizure of the Gilbert Islands.

After a brief stop at Johnston Island on 5 November to top off her fuel tanks, Apogon continued on to her assigned area. During this patrol, she sighted four contacts deemed worthy of torpedo expenditure and actually attacked three. The only major damage she inflicted occurred on 4 December, when the submarine sank Daido Maru, a former gunboat. On 18 December, she ended her patrol and moored at Midway Atoll.

Following a refit there, Apogon proceeded to Pearl Harbor on 26 December for further repairs and training. She left Hawaii on 15 January 1944 for her second patrol, this time in waters surrounding the Mariana Islands. On 1 February, Apogon made the only attack of the patrol. She sighted a six-ship convoy and, soon thereafter, opened fire. The crew heard an explosion and saw their torpedoed target burst into flames. Ten minutes later, the lookout saw about 50 feet of the Japanese ship’s stern sticking out of the water, and this soon disappeared. Apogon then attacked another Japanese auxiliary. Although Apogon claimed to have sunk both ships, she was not officially credited with having destroyed either. Apogon ended her patrol after 50 days and returned to Pearl Harbor on 9 March.

Apogon moored beside Bushnell on 10 March to commence refit. The submarine was drydocked at the Pearl Harbor Navy Yard from 15–19 March for the installation of two new propellers. After additional training exercises, she got underway on 2 April.

On 12 July, Apogon and her wolf pack consorts spotted a nine-ship Japanese convoy sailing with approximately six escorts. The submarines immediately began preparing an attack. The leading Japanese ship of the center column of the formation apparently sighted the wake of Apogon’s periscope and turned back to ram the submarine. As Apogon was turning to port to bring her stern tubes to bear, she was struck on the starboard side by the freighter. About eight feet of the main periscope and periscope shears were torn off, and the radar masts were bent and put out of commission. As a result, Apogon prematurely ended  her patrol to return for repairs. She arrived at Midway on 22 July, where crews installed additional bracing on the periscope shears before the submarine proceeded on to Pearl Harbor.

Having reached Pearl Harbor on 26 July, Apogon was dry-docked. Both tail shafts were replaced and realigned, and the periscope, periscope shears, and the radar masts were replaced. The three main engines were also overhauled. On 12 September, Apogon was underway on yet another wartime patrol. She headed for the Kuril Islands area. The submarine claimed to have sunk a Japanese patrol craft on 23 September, but this kill was not confirmed. Four days later, she sank Hachirogata Maru. Following this sinking, she rescued two Japanese survivors. The next month proved fruitless, and Apogon arrived at Midway on 28 October, ending her fifth patrol.

After a month of refit, Apogon commenced her sixth patrol on 20 November, again sailing for the Kuril Islands. The only action of this patrol was an attack on a tanker, which the submarine hit and damaged with a torpedo. On 5 January 1945, Apogon arrived in Pearl Harbor for a brief stay before getting underway on 7 January for the Mare Island Naval Shipyard, Vallejo, California to undergo a major overhaul.

Apogon began her eighth and final patrol on 7 August. She was assigned to the Marcus Island area. She made no attacks during this patrol because the Japanese capitulated on 15 August. Apogon returned to Pearl Harbor on 2 September and then continued on to San Diego, where she arrived on 11 September. Apogon was placed in reserve and decommissioned there on 1 October.

Operation Crossroads

In January 1946, the submarine sailed for Pearl Harbor where she was to undergo preliminary work and tests in preparation to be used as a target in atomic bomb testing. Following completion of this refitting, Apogon arrived at Bikini Atoll on 31 May. She was sunk at Bikini during atomic bomb test “Baker” on 25 July 1946. Her name was struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 25 February 1947

More images can be seen on this link 

Diving

Sitting upright, slightly listing to starboard

Minimal Penetration areas. Opening on port side (very narrow) going into Torpedo room

41m to deck level

50m to the sand

History

Pilotfish departed for the Pacific via the Panama Canal. She reported to Commander in Chief, Pacific Fleet 10 April and joined Submarine Division 202, Submarine Squadron 20.

On 16 May, Pilotfish departed on her first patrol in company with Pintado (SS-387) and Shark (SS-314). This patrol was begun in the area west of the Mariana Islands. After a week the group sailed to an area south of Formosa  and patrolled across a probable route of reinforcement or retirement of the Japanese forced engaged in the Battle of the Philippine Sea . This proved fruitless and Pilotfish set course for Majuro Atoll, Marshall Islands, arriving 4 July.

Pilotfish departed on her second war patrol in the Bonin Islands area 27 July. She performed lifeguard duty in addition to offensive patrol. She returned via Midway to Pearl Harbor, 14 September.

Pilotfish departed 14 October via Midway Island on her third war patrol, again in the Bonins area. On 31 October she torpedoed and damaged a 4,000-ton cargo ship. On 2 November Pilotfish proceeded to the Nansei Shoto area for the balance of the patrol. After 57 days of patrol, she returned to Midway Island, arriving 10 December.

On 20 January 1945 Pilotfish departed on her fourth war patrol, in company with Finback (SS-230) and Rasher (SS-269). The group proceeded via Saipan to theEast China Sea area, where a long patrol brought no contacts but a hospital ship and small craft. Pilotfish returned to Pearl Harbor, 25 March.

On 21 May Pilotfish departed for her fifth patrol. She spent fifteen days on lifeguard duty off Marcus Islands, then proceeded to Tanapag Harbour Saipan. On 20 June Pilotfish left for the second half of her lifeguard patrol in the vicinity of the Japanese Home Islands. Pilotfish arrived Apra Harbour, Guam, 14 July.

On 9 August Pilotfish departed on her sixth patrol, again to lifeguard duty. Only two days had been spent in the patrol area, southeast of Japan, when on 15 August the “Cease Firing” order arrived. Pilotfish remained on station off Kii Suido for continued lifeguard duty, and neutrality patrol. On 31 August Pilotfish rendezvoused with other ships and proceeded to Tokyo Kaiwan in order to participate in the initial occupation of Japan and the formal surrender ceremonies. The afternoon of 31 August all submarines of the formation moored alongside Proteus (AS-19) in Yokosuka Naval Basin.

On 3 September, Pilotfish got underway for Pearl Harbor and San Fransisco.

By directive dated 1 July 1946 Pilotfish was to be disposed of by use as a target for the Operation Crossroads. She decommissioned 29 August 1946

Pilotfish received five battle stars for WWII service.

Diving

Quite a different dive to that of Apogon. She is more broken up and you can see more detail of the sub.

History

The Prinz Eugen was an enlarged Admiral Hipper-class heavy cruiser which served with the Kriegsmarine of Germany during World War II. She was named after Prince Eugene of Savoy (Prinz Eugen in German). Prinz Eugen was the third ship of the Hipper-class heavy cruisers. Like her sister ships, Admiral Hipper and Blücher, she was built in the mid-1930s. During the planning and design stage, she was known as “Kreuzer J” (Cruiser J). Her keel was laid at the Krupp Germania shipyard in Kiel on 23 April 1936, and her full cost would be 104.5 million Reichsmarks. Prinz Eugen was launched on 22 August 1938 and commissioned on 1 August 1940. Considered a “lucky ship”, she survived to the end of the war (although she participated in only two major actions at sea).

The ship sank following Operation Crossroads, a nuclear weapon test at Bikini Atoll in 1946.

Early war

Prinz Eugen suffered repeated damage before deployment. On 2 July 1940, the ship suffered minor bomb damage from RAF bombers. A year later on 23 April 1941, the ship struck a magnetic mine.

Operational history

Unternehmen Rheinübung

On 24 May 1941, Prinz Eugen fought alongside the battleship Bismarck in the Battle of the Denmark Strait against the British battlecruiser HMS Hood, hitting her three times and starting a huge fire. Doubt had been cast on whether or not Prinz Eugen struck Hood, citing that Hood was not her target. However Prinz Eugen‘s Gunnery Officer, Paul Schmallenbach, rejects this, confirming Prinz Eugen‘s target was also Hood.[2] Prinz Eugen‘s war diary, as recorded by Captain Brinkmann, observed:

Both ships initially fire at Hood. The semaphore order from Fleet: “Engage opponent farthest to the left”, was not instituted until after the 6th salvo, with a target shift to King George [the Germans mistakenly identified Prince of Wales as King George]. After the impact of 05:57 of the 2nd salvo from Prinz Eugen, a rapidly spreading fire at the level of the aft mast was observed.

Prinz Eugen also damaged the British battleship HMS Prince of Wales, hitting her four times. Hood was sunk during the engagement while Prince of Wales was damaged, but managed to hit Bismarck‘s forward fuel tank, and the German squadron was still shadowed by other British warships.

Later that day, owing to fuel loss, Bismarck was forced to abandon her commerce raiding mission so Prinz Eugen was detached to continue commerce raiding on her own while Bismarck made for France. Prinz Eugen escaped the British ships, and headed south to rendezvous with the tanker Spichern and prepare for eventual commerce raiding in the Atlantic. After encountering engine problems related to her condensers not working well in the warm waters, the ship made for a French port on 29 May. After narrowly avoiding several British heavy units which were looking for Bismarck, Prinz Eugen arrived at Brest, France on 1 June 1941. The port was regularly attacked by RAF Bomber Command, and on the night of 1 July, Prinz Eugen was hit by a single bomb on the port side behind the bridge. The bomb detonated in the forward main  artillery command center, killing 60 of the crew.

Operation Cerberus: The Channel Dash

After the loss of Bismarck, Hitler banned further Atlantic surface raids. Fearing an Allied invasion of Norway, he wanted all capital ships back in home waters. Together with the battlecruisers (or battleships) Scharnhorst and Gneisenau, Prinz Eugen made the “Channel Dash” — Operation Cerberus — back to Germany on 11–12 February 1942.

Prinz Eugen left Germany for Norway in February 1942. On 23 February, she was torpedoed by the British submarine HMS Trident, destroying her stern. After some preliminary patch-up repairs in Trondheim, the cruiser returned to Kiel on 16 May to receive a new stern. Prinz Eugen was not operational again until January 1943. Two attempts to relocate to Norway, where she could threaten Allied convoys, failed and she was assigned instead to training duties in home waters.

Baltic deployment

From August 1944 onward, Prinz Eugen was deployed to shell advancing Soviet troop concentrations along the Baltic coast and to transport German refugees to the west. On 15 October 1944, she collided with the light cruiser Leipzig in heavy fog in the Baltic Sea, nearly cutting the smaller ship in two. For 14 hours, the two ships drifted, locked together, until they could be separated.  Prinz Eugen was repaired at Gotenhafen (Gdynia) and continued her tasks of shelling Soviet land forces for 26 days during the siege of Danzig, and evacuating German refugees. On 29 March 1945, she left Gotenhafen for the last time with a load of refugees, reaching Swinemünde on 8 April. The ship then departed for Copenhagen, arriving on 20 April 1945. Lack of fuel meant that she could not leave port again.

After the war

Surrender

At the end of the war, she was one of only two operational German cruisers left (the other was the light cruiser Nürnberg), and was surrendered to British forces in Copenhagen on 8 May 1945. On 26 May, Prinz Eugen left Copenhagen with Nürnberg, and sailed to Wilhelmshaven under escort by the British. Prinz Eugen arrived on 28 May, remaining in dry dock until December 1945. On 5 January 1946, the ship was handed over to the United States Navy.

USS Prinz Eugen

She was awarded to the United States and commissioned into the US Navy as the unclassified miscellaneous vessel USS Prinz Eugen (IX-300). Her very large GHG passive sonar array was removed and installed on the submarine USS Flying Fish for testing. There are some evidence that American interest in magnetic amplifiers increased again after findings in investigations of the fire control system of Prinz Eugen. After examination and tests, she was allocated to the target fleet for the Operation Crossroads atomic bomb tests. She survived the Able and Baker tests (July 1946), but was too radioactive to have leaks repaired. In September 1946, she was towed to Kwajalein Atoll and capsized on 22 December 1946 over Enubuj reef, where she remains to this day . In 1978, her port propeller was salvaged and is preserved at the German Naval Memorial at Laboe.

Prior to the atomic tests, the ship’s bell was removed by US sailors. The bell currently resides at the Navy Museum’s new Cold War gallery located at the Washington DC Navy Yard.

Tradition

After the annexation of Austria in 1938, some former Austrian naval officers were reactivated and served with the Kriegsmarine. The naming of the ship was a tribute to the maritime tradition of the Austro-Hungarian Navy. On 21 November 1942, Prinz Eugen was presented the bell of the Austro-Hungarian dreadnought Tegetthoff (scrapped in Italy in 1924) by the Italian naval attaché assigned to Berlin. The four main gun turrets were named after the Austrian towns of Graz, Braunau, Innsbruck and Wien (Vienna).

You can see more images of this amazing wreck

Diving the Wreck

Being such a shallow wreck you can really appreciate the expanse of the ship. The whole part of interest is on the port side of the ship. Lying almost completely upside down there is still so much to see. Bridge area in the midships lies on the sand. Plenty of penetration options just be mindful tha