The Trip Out And Arrival.
On a cold damp Sunday morning I left the familiar suburbs of
Hull for the beginning of a true adventure of a lifetime. When I
first committed myself to joining my brother's expedition to dive
Bikini Atoll I didn't actually know exactly where the Atoll was.
Nor did I realise just how much travelling was involved in getting
there. Bikini Atoll is a part of the Marshall Islands in the
Pacific Ocean. The area, called Micronesia, is made up of lots of
Island chains of which the Gilbert Islands and the Ellis Islands
are part.
Getting there started with a damp morning at Manchester Airport
and a quick hop down to Heathrow. Next stop was San Francisco then
on to Honolulu in Hawaii for our first overnight stop. Next we
continued to Majuro the capital of the Marshall Islands and the
only International airport. During this flight you cross the
International Date Line so you actually arrive the day after you
set off even though the flight time is only 5 hours from Honolulu!
Majuro is the largest Atoll in the Marshalls but you can drive
from one end to the other in about 25 minutes and it is only ¾ of
a mile wide at it's widest! We had another overnight stop here and
were lucky enough to have a full afternoon to adjust to the time
difference and to have a bit of a snorkel around the lagoon. The
marine life was amazing. I'd never seen so many colourful fish.
Early the next morning we boarded our last aircraft for the final
leg to Bikini. The last leg was on the Marshall Islands own
airline which I can only describe as being like an inter island
bus service.
The airline has a very strict policy on weight allowance and
sets a limit on 280 lbs per passenger. This is for you and your
baggage! Now if you are a nice slim or petite diver then this
shouldn't cause too much of a problem, if on the other hand you
are built like me then you would only be allowed to have a bag
weighing 35lbs. (Must go on a diet!) Once you have paid your
excess baggage allowance you board the aircraft and pass into a
different world! The aircraft hops from one atoll to the next in
much the same way that a bus does around the cities of the UK.
Bikini is the second stop after the first stop on the Atoll of
Kwajalien. This Atoll saw some fierce fighting during the war in
the pacific between the US and Japan and is still a large US
Military outpost. It is also the place where the nearest
Recompression Chamber is to Bikini. The US Military runs the
Airport with help from some token Marshallese officials. It is a
pretty intimidating place with typical US overkill on security. As
you leave Kwajalien you fly directly past the rusting hulk of the
Prinz Eugen.
The airfield at Bikini is actually on the next Atoll and when I
say airfield that is exactly what I mean. Bikini airport is
basically a wooden shack on the edge of a cleared field. Talk
about culture shock!! The Resort Manager, Tim Williams and his
other crewmembers greet you. They unload the aircraft and transfer
your luggage to the jetty and onto the landing craft to take you
across the lagoon and to the final destination BIKINI ATOLL!
(Total flying time is 30 hours!) Left Hull 5am Sunday 2nd November
arrived Bikini 11.30am Wednesday 5th November.
The Atoll is exactly how you would picture a tropical island to
look like. It is covered with palm trees and the sand is a lovely
shade of gold. After a quick sandwich lunch we were shown to our
accommodation. Luxury it isn't but comfortable it is. The
structure of the Island is solely geared up for diving. Everyone
who lives on the island has something to do with diving. The
island only has 15 permanent residents and they are all male! The
females in our group were going to have to be well watched by
their partners!
Tim Williams the resort manager and head dive guide is an ex US
Army Ranger and you notice straight away that his style is very
much still of a military fashion. His diving credentials are
damned impressive. The type of diving you do on Bikini is
potentially pretty hazardous and consequently his strong influence
has maintained a very high safety standard. Every dive you do is
to beyond 40 metres and most are slightly over 50 metres. 63% of
my total time in the water was spent decompressing.
Each day starts at 7am with breakfast followed by the first
dive briefing at 8am. The briefings are amazing and loaded with
information about the ships you are about to dive on. You are also
given a minimum run time for your deco stops. Even if your
computer clears you are still told to do the minimum deco schedule
given to you in the briefing. Once you have taken all your notes
you are minibused down to the pontoon and you transfer to the Dive
boat. Everyone puts their kit together and checks their kit out
then once you give the good to go signal you set off for the dive sites. All the wrecks you dive in the lagoon are no more than
25 minutes away from the pontoon so during the trip out you are
told to drink plenty of water and start to kit up.
What happened at Bikini Atoll?
After the war, in December of 1945, President Harry S. Truman
issued a directive to Army and Navy officials that joint testing
of nuclear weapons would be necessary "to determine the
effect of atomic bombs on American warships." Bikini, because
of its location away from regular air and sea routes, was chosen
to be the new nuclear proving ground for the United States
government.
In February of 1946 Commodore Ben H. Wyatt, the military
governor of the Marshalls, traveled to Bikini. On a Sunday after
church, he assembled the Bikinians to ask if they would be willing
to leave their atoll temporarily so that the United States could
begin testing atomic bombs for "the good of mankind and to
end all world wars." King Juda, then the leader of the
Bikinian people, stood up after much confused and sorrowful
deliberation among his people, and announced, "We will go
believing that everything is in the hands of God."
 While the 167 Bikinians were getting ready for their exodus,
preparations for the U.S. nuclear testing program advanced
rapidly. Some 242 naval ships, 156 aircraft, 25,000 radiation
recording devices and the Navy's 5,400 experimental rats, goats
and pigs soon began to arrive for the tests. Over 42,000 U.S.
military and civilian personnel were involved in the testing
program at Bikini.
The nuclear legacy of the Bikinians began in March of 1946 when
they were first removed from their islands in preparation for
Operation Crossroads. The history of the Bikinian people from that
day has been a story of their struggle to understand scientific
concepts as they relate to their islands, as well as the
day-to-day problems of finding food, raising families and
maintaining their culture amidst the progression of events set in
motion by the Cold War that have been for the most part out of
their control.
The two atomic bomb blasts of Operation Crossroads were both
about the size of the nuclear bomb dropped on Nagasaki, Japan.
Eighteen tons of cinematography equipment and more than half of
the world's supply of motion picture film were on hand to record
the Able and Baker detonations, and also the movement of the
Bikinians from their atoll.
About The Ships
USS SARATOGA.
Commissioned in 1927, an American aircraft carrier 880 feet in
length and weighs 39,000 tons, it rests in Bikini's lagoon at a
depth of 55metres. Her bridge is easily accessible at 13metres,
her deck at 32metres, and the hanger for the Helldivers at
43metres. These Helldivers and bombs are still on display complete
with all dials and controls. Saratoga had a fuel capacity of
63,200 barrels of fuel oil, 249 barrels of diesel oil, and 132,264
gallons of gasoline. Fuel and ammunition loads during test BAKER
were 10% of capacity and 67% capacity respectively. She was
reported sunk by the Japanese seven times during World War II. She
received seven battle stars.
Eight hours after the waves created by the atomic Baker blast
rolled over her, New York Times correspondent Hanson W. Baldwin
wrote this epitaph as he watched the Saratoga sink slowly beneath
Bikini's lagoon:
 "There were many who had served her in the
observing fleet and they fought with her through the long hot
hours as the sun mounted. Outside the reef...the observing ships
cruised, while the Sara slowly died. There were scores who wanted
to save her-and perhaps she might have been saved, had there been
a crew aboard. But she died a lonely death, with no man upon the
decks once teaming with life, with pumps idle and boilers dead.
From three o'clock on she sank fast, her buoyancy gone, as the
fleet kept the death watch for a 'fighting lady.' The Sara
settled-the air soughing from her compartments like the breath
from exhausted lungs. At 3:45 p.m. the starboard aft corner of her
flight deck was awash; then the loud speakers blared: 'The water
is up to her island now; the bow is high in the air.' She died
like a queen-proudly. The bow slowly reared high; the stern sank
deep, and, as if striving for immortality, the Sara lifted her
white numeral 3 high into the sun before her bow slipped slowly
under. Her last minutes were slow and tortured; she fought and
would not sink, but slowly the 3 was engulfed by the reaching
waters, the tip of her mast was the last bit of Sara seen by
man."
Unless, of course, you are a diver fortunate enough to
be visiting Bikini Atoll! The USS Saratoga is the largest diveable
vessel in the world, and the only aircraft carrier available for
diving. 880 feet long. (3 buoys: bow, stern and bridge).
HIJMS NAGATO.
The Japanese Flagship to the Japanese Navy, she was Admiral
Isoroku Yamamoto's floating fortress during Japan's World War II
attack on Pearl Harbor and was a treasure to the Japanese forces.
Japanese Naval historian Masanori Ito wrote:
"When World War
II began, the Japanese Navy-the third most powerful in the
world-included some of the mightiest ships in naval history and
was a force worthy of the pride and trust of the Japanese people.
Then, in less than four years, this great war machine fell from
glory to oblivion. Of ten battleships riding in Hiroshima Bay in
December of 1941, nine were sunk. The lone survivor, the Nagato,
died at Bikini as a target in an atomic bomb test."
The
32,720 ton battleship is at rest upside down in 57metres of water;
her bridge is accessible at 45 metres, the hull and monstrous
props at 32 metres. The Nagato was built by Kure Naval Dockyard,
launched on Novemver 9, 1919, and completed on November 25, 1920.
She was reconstructed in 1934 -1936, with torpedo bulges, increased
elevation for main armament, aircraft crane, etc. After this
refit, Nagato had 10 Kampon boilers, driving 4 sets of Kampon
turbines developing 82,300 shaft horsepower (shp) for a speed of
25 knots. Her fuel bunkerage was now 5,650 tons of oil, giving her
a radius of 8,650 nautical miles at 16 knots. Her new dimensions
were 725' 9" long at the waterline, 113' 6" beam, 32'
2" draught. Her normal displacement was 39,130 tons, 42,850
tons at full load. She carried a crew of 1,368. In June 1944 she
was known to be fitted with radar.
By October 1944 her armament
consisted of 8 x 16"/45, 18 x 5.5"/50 [guns that were
later removed], 8 x 5"/40, and 98 x 25mm AA guns. Her
displacement had by now increased to 43,581 tons full load, and as
a result her maximum speed was 24.98 knots. By the end of the war
she had had her main mast and funnel removed for camouflage
purposes, as she was holed up in Sagami Bay near Yokosuka.
Fuel
and ammunition loads during both ABLE and BAKER tests were,
respectively, 15% and 10% of capacity. She is upside down in the
water and an incredible dive with her four massive screws
appearing like an underwater Stonehenge. 708 feet long.
USS ARKANSAS
A 29,000 ton American battleship that survived two world wars
had a fuel capacity of 37,779 barrels of fuel oil, 119 barrels of
diesel oil, and 4,000 gallons of gasoline.  The Arkansas took part
in the Presidential Naval Review in the Hudson River, October 14,
1912 and then carried President William H. Taft to the Panama
Canal Zone for an inspection of the unfinished canal. On April 22,
1914, she assisted in the occupation of Veracruz, Mexico. In
December of 1918 she formed part of the escort carrying President
Woodrow Wilson to France. In World War II, the Arkansas escorted
convoys across the Atlantic. She remained in European waters for
the invasion of Normandy where she performed yeoman service at
Omaha Beach, the bombardment of Cherbourg and the invasion of
southern France. She then moved to the Pacific to participate in
action at Iwo Jima and Okinawa.
The Arkansas, at rest almost
completely upside down in Bikini's lagoon in 55 metres of water,
received four battle stars for her service in World War II and was
sunk by BAKER. 562 feet long.
USS CARLISLE.
A merchant craft named after a county in Kentucky, she had fuel
capacity of 9,695 barrels of fuel oil and 375 barrels of diesel
oil. She made three voyages to the west coast from Hawaii and
Japan and shorter passages among South Pacific islands. She sits
upright on the bottom and is guarded by a magnificent school of
skip jacks; and there is almost always a shark siting on this
ship.
The ABLE blast split her open so she makes for a sensational
penetration dive. Fuel and ammunition loads during test ABLE were
95% of capacity. The Carlisle was sunk by the ABLE blast. 426 feet
long.
USS LAMSON.
 The American destroyer Lamson received five battle stars for
service during World War II. She was used to search for Amelia
Earhart in 1937 in the Marshall and Gilbert Islands. She was
deployed from Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, in the
unsuccessful search for the Japanese Task Force that bombed Pearl
Harbor and later served throughout the Pacific until the end of
the war. Her fuel capacity was 3,600 barrels, her diesel oil
capacity was 110 barrels, and she was at 50% capacity for both
fuels and ordnance when she was sunk by ABLE. Her hull provides a
great example of the power of a nuclear explosion as it is
horribly twisted and damaged. She is a Bikini divemaster favorite.
341 feet long.
USS APOGON.
An American submarine with normal fuel capacity of 54,000
gallons, and an emergency load of 116,000 gallons. She made eight
war patrols sinking three Japanese vessels totaling 7,575 tons.
Her first patrol was out of Pearl Harbor in November of 1943. She
later patrolled from Majuro to Midway and was part of Operation
Galvanic during the invasions of Tarawa and the Gilbert Islands.
Working off Formosa, she ran in a wolf-pack known as the
"Mickey Finns" that sunk 41,000 tons worth of Japanese
vessels toward the end of the war. She received five battle stars
and was sunk by BAKER. She now appears perfectly upright as if
ready to drive away on the bottom of Bikini's lagoon.
The Diving.
The type of diving we would be doing on Bikini is of a pretty
technical nature and in accordance with that we had all completed
the BS-AC Extended range Divers course. You have to be a minimum
of a Dive Leader or equivalent. Once we had all shown our
qualification books and shown our insurance certificates we
started to get into the nitty gritty of the diving. The first
thing we were told is that our first dive was a bit of a test to
see how we would all cope with multi-level staged decompression.
Due to the remote location and the fact that there is only one
flight a week to the island the guides like to make sure for
themselves that the guests are actually capable of diving to the
level of their qualification. From their own experiences they have
occasionally been fooled by some people's qualifications and had
to deal with uncomfortable situations. They state straight away
that there is no room for error and that ego's count for nothing
there. You can have every qualification going and all the
experience in the world but as far as they are concerned they
actually want to see just how capable a diver you are.
Kit configuration is a big factor in influencing the guides as
to your abilities. Everyone in our group was kitted up with wings
and twin-sets. I'd done my Extended Range Diving course with Jack
Ingle and had set my kit up in accordance with his recommendations
and found it pretty much the same as the guides set-ups. They even
had little compact mirrors so that they could do their own bubble
checks!
Each dive you carry a back gas of 21% and you decompress using
a 75% mix of Nitrox. The deco gas is fed down onto a deco trapeze
where there are bars at 9, 6 and 3 metres. It is an amazing set up
when you first see it. There are hoses all over the place but its
set up in such a way that everyone has enough room to spend as
long as necessary decompressing.
Dive 1. Wednesday afternoon. USS Saratoga, check-out dive.
As checkout dives go this will take some beating! You jump off
the back of the boat and swim forwards underneath the hull. As you
look down you see an aircraft carrier. The mooring line is
attached to the top of the superstructure. Using the
superstructure as a reference you descend to the flight deck at 32
metres. Once everyone was there we made our way across the flight
deck to the port side. As you fin across the flight deck the first
thing you notice is just how massive a ship it is.
Once you get to the side you swim forward along the side
passing all the guns. Each gun is there and intact and some still
have ammo still in the racks ready to be loaded! When you get to
the last gun you come back up onto the flight deck and cross back
to the starboard side where you make your way back to the bridge.
There is still a forklift truck chained to the deck as you cross!
Back at the bridge you see one of the most photographed guns in
Bikini. The Saratoga was originally fitted with 3 turrets of twin
5in guns but two were removed prior to her sinking. It is quite a
sight to see these guns pointing up in defiance of the way the
ship was used during the test!
Using the bridge as a reference you start your ascent in
accordance with the run time given to you during the briefing. As
you move upwards the guides take you on a couple of swim throughs
where you see the control room and one of the communication rooms.
Once you get to the relevant time you move from the bridge to the
deco station where you simulate the deco time given to you
earlier. Everyone had cleared long before we moved across but we
had to show our ability to safely carry out a long staged
decompression.
Dive 2. Thursday morning. USS Lamson.
This wreck is amazing! As soon as you leave the surface you see
the whole ship! Resting upright on the seabed at 48 metres is a
WW2 Destroyer! There is a mooring line but due to the fact that
there are no currents you don't need to use them. I was first in
and as soon as I looked down there were about a dozen grey tip
reef sharks moving around the wreck. I'd never seen sharks before
so like an over eager kid I inverted myself to fin down as quickly
as I could. The deck is at 43 metres but it seemed to take for
ever to get down amongst the sharks.
Once down there I looked up to see where the rest of my group
were to see everyone else taking their time getting down to the
ship. As I got my breath back I started to feel a bit sick and
immediately thought about getting out. Not really an option from
43 metres and had I gone up then everyone else in my group would
have had to abort. The rule is one up then all up so I promptly
decided to throw up through my regulator. Yuk!
You can comfortably make your way round the whole deck area in
a 30-minute bottom time. As you move round towards the stern you
come across two rows of depth charges. No one knows what depth
they are set to but as they have been there for over 50 years
without going bang the opinion is that they are not going to blow.
None the less it is a very eerie sight. Again the ship is covered
with guns and ammunition including 3 torpedoes still in their
launchers. And yes they are still live! Due to the ships all being
classed as archaeological sites all the artifacts are still there.
That means that the telegraphs the compass binnacle and various
other shiny bits are all there to be seen. In fact there is so
much brass around that it becomes pretty much irrelevant and
nothing special!
For most of the dive we had the company of the reef sharks.
They even followed us up the mooring line to the deco station and
swam around us there.
Dive 3. Thursday afternoon. USS Saratoga.
Again using the bridge for reference you descend down to the
flight deck to the forward elevator shaft. Once we were all
together we made our way down into the hanger deck.  There is a bit
of ambient light but you do need a torch to see the inside. As you
follow the line laid for reference you first come to some 500lb
bombs which are like everything else still live. Then you see some
larger 1000lb bombs with the arming devices still on them. No one
was brave enough to touch them. Then you come to the most amazing
sight - 3 pretty much intact aircraft. The wings are folded up,
the glass is still in the cockpit, the controls are still there
and the guns are still in the wings. The wheels are still there
and still inflated!
As you move further through you come to the air launched
torpedoes. There is a fair bit of damage around this part and some
of the torpedoes are in a very strange position. As you move
further aft you get to the mid section of the flight deck that has
collapsed into the ship. Here you leave the hanger and move back
along the deck to the bridge which again is used as a reference to
deco on. In total we spent 25 minute inside the wreck at 45
metres.
Dive 4. Friday morning. USS Arkansas.
Again as soon as you go under you see the ship. As with the
other battleships the Arkansas is upside down so you see the keel
first. Using the mooring line for reference you make your way over
the side and down to the sea bed. Once there you again wait for
the group to congregate and then start the dive.
You pass a row of side mounted 6in guns before you penetrate
into the ship and have a look round the aircastle. (The area where
the ships seaplane was stored) You then pass into a winch room and
then come out above the forward gun turret. Even though we were
deeper than 50 metres and slightly narked were simply overawed by
the sight of the guns. They are HUGE! You can comfortably get your
head inside the barrel.
You move further forward to the bow passing the anchor chains
which are just dangling away. As you swim along the seabed and
away from the bow and turn around the sight is simply beyond
words. As you look up you see the bow of a battleship. Its shear
size is mind-blowing! Even though it is slightly damaged the
impact it has is stunning. Using it as a reference you ascend up
to the keel. As you make your way along to the mooring line there
are a couple of ruptures in the hull. In one of these there is
still some fuel oil. You can put your hand in and touch it. Like a
big kid I did this and got blathered in it. It wasn't until we had
got back aboard the boat that I realised just how much it smells.
I wasn't very popular with the other guys on the boat and was
unceremoniously hosed down with the fire hoses! Everyone had there
own words to describe the view of the bow. I chose the word
spiritual!
Dive 5 Friday afternoon. HIJMS Nagato.
Like the Arkansas the Nagato is upside down but with a slight
slant to port. Again as you go down the hull there is a swim
through into a machinery space where you see light bulbs still
intact and other artefacts just laying there. Again you come down
the ship to the seabed where you move aft to the rear gun turret.
These guns are again breathtaking and again you can comfortably
get your head in and if you are a bit smaller than me, your
shoulders too!
The stern section has snapped off so there is a bit of damage
around the area but once you start your ascent you see yet another
amazing sight! The Nagato had 4 propellors and 2 rudders. They are
all still there and the sight just blows you away! They are
massive. When you see them you realise the immense power that
these ships engines must have had. Each blade is bigger than me. You ascend using a different mooring line which is attached to one
of the prop shafts. Again an incredible if not slightly ghostly
dive.
Dive 6 Saturday morning. USS Carlisle.
This is a slightly different dive as the ship you go down to is
a transport ship and so has very little in the way of munitions to
see. The two forward holds are open and you can get into them
where there is again an amazing amount of stuff to see. You can
get round the whole ship in one dive. There is a porcelein toilet
just forward of the superstructure which makes an amazing photo…….
There is also the ships compass binnacle and the telegraph just
gleaming away! There is one small gun mounted on the fo'c'sle but
other than that it is an average dive by Bikini standards.
Dive 7 Saturday afternoon. USS Saratoga.
This single dive is the best dive you could ever imagine. Again
using the bridge for reference we descended down to the flight
deck of the Saratoga. Once there we made our way across the deck
to the port side and down to one of the massive anchors. The shear
size of the anchor alone is stunning.
Then we made our way round to the hawser on the bow. I tried to
get into the hole but the guide pulled me out and gestured that I
needed to go on a diet! As part of the dive brief I had been asked
to wait at that point of the bow whilst all the other divers in my
group made their way to the seabed to take photo's. Apparently I
was there to give a true perspective on the size of the bow. I
hovered at 36 metres whilst they all dropped to the seabed. It was
a funny sight looking at all those divers way down on the seabed
and still having the bow above me.
After a minute or two I was getting bored so I dropped down to
join them and then I turned around………………!!!! There
simply isn't a word in the English language to say just how
spectacular a sight it is when you are at 55 metres and looking up
at the bow of an Aircraft carrier. Only when you are down there do
you realise just how much of a behemoth this ship is. It is
actually bigger than the Titanic and it is still in one piece! I
would trade this one dive for all the other dives I have done
collectively!
After looking mesmerised for a short while we continued back
along the hull to where the starboard anchor chains are and then
turned 90 degrees to swim off to two aircraft that were blown off
the flight deck during the blast. They are both upside down and
are both fully armed up with bombs and torpedoes. Again we had
sharks for company. After a few minutes taking photos again we
turned back to the Saratoga and made our way up to the flight deck
again.
We had done a long time at serious depth and had a hell of a
lot of deco to do. All the way through the 60 minutes of stops we
all looked at each other and realised how privileged we had all
been to witness the best sight anywhere in the world of wreck
diving.
Once back on the boat the guides all had wry smiles on their
faces as they knew how much we had all been stunned by the sights
we had just seen. Everyone of us agreed that if there is such a
place as divers heaven then we had all just been there!
Dive 8 Sunday morning. HIJMS Nagato.
The fact that we dived on the Nagato early on a Sunday morning
had a bit of significance to the American guides. The attack on
Pearl Harbor had been early on a Sunday morning in early December
1941. This ship was the command centre for that very attack. We
went down to the forward bridge where Admiral Yamamato planned and
co-ordinated one of the bloodiest and most ruthless of military
operations of the 20th century.
The morning was a bit overcast so the ambient light was way
down on what we were used to. The bridge section looks ghostly and
haunting and made me feel quite uneasy. I was probably narked but
I had the willies down there. The bridge lays out to the side of
the ship and after a look around you come back to the hull and
move forward to the forward gun turrets. Again the size of these
guns is mind blowing. Also the fact that as you look up you
realise that you've got thousands of tonnes of battleship above
you! Erie!
Using the anchor chains for reference we made our way up the
hull and into the ship for a swim through. This is a pretty long
swim through and you need to have spot on buoyancy and correct
finning to be allowed to do it. We were lucky to get the chance.
Some of the passages you pass through are a bit of a squeeze. Well
it is a Japanese ship and they aren't known for being the largest
of people! If you are bit on the broad side then there is a hell
of a lot of wriggling to get into some of the compartments. After
10 minutes inside we came out and made our ascent up the mooring
line. On the whole a haunting dive that leaves a lasting
impression for all the wrong reasons……
Dive 9 Sunday Afternoon. USS Saratoga.
This dive is called the "haunted house". Again it is
a swim through the hanger deck. This time though you enter from
the aft elevator. There is less room as you move further aft and
have to dive in single file using cave diving techniques. The
brief we were given was comprehensive and helped us all to enjoy
the dive. We passed so many artefacts that it would be impossible
to remember them all. Some of the highlights were some rockets,
tools and yet more bombs and torpedoes. Some of the light fittings
are still intact and the bulbs are even still there and in perfect
working order!
As you get to the stern part of the hanger deck it is a bit
smashed up so you have to make your way out of a bomb elevator
shaft and across to the other side and back in through a
ventilation shaft on the port side. This side is just like being
inside a huge cavern! Again the size of this monstrous ship is
breathtaking. It took us 15 minutes to make our way forward to the
forward elevator shaft to start our ascent. We saw enough bombs,
rockets and torpedoes to start a war! And they are all still live!
I'm ex forces so being around live ammunition is nothing new to
me. The other divers though had never seen live ammo before so
were all a bit wobbly when we got back aboard the boat. Over 30
minutes inside a wreck with over 50 metres of viz. What more can I
say?
Dive 10. Monday morning. USS Lamson.
This was a real treat for us. The guides were happy for us to
just "have at her". They told us that we had 40 minutes
of bottom time and could go wherever we wanted on the wreck. My
buddy is a very keen photographer and likes to spend his dives
with his camera glued to his mask. I on the other hand like to get
about and see as much as I can so although we were never out of
each others sight we were effectively solo diving. This dive was
the most relaxing underwater experience I've had. I went about the
wreck just admiring the marine life and the shear abundance of
colour.
The only problem with this dive was the fact that 40 minutes
wasn't enough. I had 60 minutes of stops to do again so
reluctantly we left the bottom to start our deco.
Dive 11. Monday afternoon. USS Apogon.
This dive had the best viz of the week. The Apogon rests gently
on the seabed. She is hardly in the sandy bottom as she still has
air in her ballast tanks. As you leave the surface you see whole
of the submarine resting there and intact. A lot of the wood on
her outer casing is still there! We started at the stern on the
seabed where you can get under her propellors and under her aft
hydro-planes. One of her stern torpedo tubes is open and you can
look inside and touch the warhead of a live torpedo just ready to
fire!
As you fin along the hull towards the fin (Americans call the
conning tower the "fin") again there are guns that are
intact and all other bits you would expect to see on an
operational WW2 Submarine. The periscope is there, the radar is
there, the radio antenna is there, it is amazing looking at all
the gadgets on the bridge. You can get onto the forward part of
the fin and get to where the captain would have stood whilst
fighting the ship. The compass and telegraph are all still there.
As is the TBT. (Target bearing transmitter.)
We carried on forward to the bow passing over the forward gun
and the rest of the deck. The forward hatch is open and you can
see right into the forward torpedo room. There is so much shiny
stuff in there that I had to turn my torch down! You can't get
into it without getting out of your kit and pulling it down after
you so you just stick your head in and drool! There are a couple
of torpedo's still in their racks and other bits just laying
there. Again as we moved back to the mooring line there was an
abundance of marine life that simply dazzled us with colour.
Dive 12. Tuesday Morning. USS Saratoga.
It's perhaps appropriate that our last dive was on the Lady
Sara' (The nickname given to the Saratoga by the US sailors during
WW2.) This dive was supposed to be down to the propellers and
stern of the ship. Things didn't go to plan though. As soon as we
dropped in I knew something wasn't right. On all the other dives
the flight deck was visible immediately, this time it wasn't. I
stopped at 30 metres to wait for the rest of the group to get to
me. The mooring line had snapped! The guide sent off his DSMB to
let the boat know there was a problem so that the other team
didn't follow us in.
 Fortunately an Aircraft carrier leaves one hell of a shadow so
it wasn't that hard to see it in the distance. We all made our way
over to the ship and waited for the other team of divers to join
us. Once we were all together the guides continued with the plan
but bypassed the dive to the props and the stern. Again we went
inside the hanger deck but along the more central part of the
cavernous deck. There was again so much to see. Some very personal
items just lay there and you very easily realise that this ship
was once almost a floating city. Rich and myself were taken to a
part of the ship seldom visited. We went right into the
companionways where once the ships crew would have worked and
lived.
Reluctantly our time was up once again. As we started our
ascent we again used the bridge for reference. This time we were
all told to do an extra long and gradual deco as we would be
flying in a little under 24 hours. Our first stop was at 30 metres
so we all congregated on the flight deck for one last time before
moving up the bridge. We all moved in and out of the bridge taking
one last look at all the rooms and artefacts. As I came out of the
wheelhouse I saw something that will live with me forever! Right
in front of me were two Eagle Rays. I've already said that the bow
of the Saratoga is like heaven; well those two Eagle Rays are the
angels in heaven. All the other divers just turned and saw them
flying along so effortlessly and so gracefully.
Summary.
The whole week was one astonishing experience after another.
The diving is so utterly amazing that words could never do it
justice. I would recommend that anyone who is serious about their
diving and wants to see things that are about as rare as they come
to start to save their money and embark on a true adventure of a
lifetime! The ships are gradually decaying away, so start saving
NOW! I guarantee it will be money well spent!
Some photographs here.
Acknowledgements:
Thanks to the following for historical information and
photographs:
Bikini Atoll Web
site
Department of
The Navy, Naval Historical Centre, Washington DC.
Other Links:
Scuba Safaris
UK Specialist dive organisation
Dive Girl
The first, and so
far the only Bikinian woman to dive on the ships of Bikini Atoll
tells her unique story.
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