Down too long in the midnight sea…

Got to dive the “last armored cruiser”, the USS SAN DIEGO, off the Independence II.  Since the only other time I was here didn’t work out too well I was excited to get to see the wreck proper.  We had a full boat but it seemed like everyone managed to find a bunk or deck space to nap on the relatively long haul to the wreck.  Two other boats were on the wreck but the Lockness guys were kind enough to let Bill head down their line with our chain so he could tie in.  Conditions were consistent with what they’ve been in the past couple weeks with the string of hurricanes… nice on top, slop on bottom.  Oh well, the SAN DIEGO comes 30-40 feet off the bottom so it was kind of a “choose your own adventure” type of dive.  On top of the wreck it was about 20 feet of bright vis and warm.  Dropping down it got darker and colder and I found the bottom when I hit it (and still could’nt see it).

The wreck is turning into swiss cheese and there are holes opening up everywhere.  After an outside tour I ducked into a smallish hole that opened into a pretty big open area.  I spotted a large shell casing and excitedly went to check it out.  Turning my light I looked up for the first time and was shocked that the whole “wall” I thought was in front of me was in fact stacks of crated munitions.  Several fallen crates were on the “floor” (wreck is upside down), in various states of decay revealing the big shells inside.  Very cool!

With so much to see and so much penetration potential, I have to say I was pretty impressed by the SAN DIEGO!