Reef/Cave video- Bikini Atoll

[Loneshark]

Originally Posted by B

Thank you for sharing it with us and all the information afterwards.. really interesting and I am actually quite envious you got to go there..

Green Incoming..

B x

Thank you!
x

[The Purist]

Originally Posted by Loneshark

Actually a popular misconception. The "shadow" seen in the column of water is the hole left in the column as the USS Arkansas capsizes. It does not flip end over end, as is commonly stated.

Chris

There's also tales that the Lamson was dived after Alpha (the air burst) and was found to be laying on its side, but supposedly Baker (the submerged blast) then turned it upright as it is today. Know if there's any truth in that one?

BTW - how much longer do you think the Sara will last in its intact state? The flight deck seems to be collapsing down into the hanger and I remember hanging in the hanger watching an enormous plate on the starboard side flapping gently in the surge. The forward section seems to be more stable, but if the flight deck drops into the hanger the range of dives on offer would certainly change.

[Honza]

Chris, I sure enjoyed your video, report from Bikini. I dove Saratoga back in 1979, unfortunately, we were not equipped for any real deep explorations, diving it from 17' Boston whaler on single tank.

[Loneshark]

Originally Posted by The Purist

Chris

There's also tales that the Lamson was dived after Alpha (the air burst) and was found to be laying on its side, but supposedly Baker (the submerged blast) then turned it upright as it is today. Know if there's any truth in that one?

BTW - how much longer do you think the Sara will last in its intact state? The flight deck seems to be collapsing down into the hanger and I remember hanging in the hanger watching an enormous plate on the starboard side flapping gently in the surge. The forward section seems to be more stable, but if the flight deck drops into the hanger the range of dives on offer would certainly change.

Hi ABLE blast, the air drop, did indeed sink the USS Lamson, And according to reports from divers at the time (though the vis was particularly bad!) the ship was lying on it's side.
Now the ship is upright, adjacent a coral pinnacle. The teory is that Baker blast shifted the wreck upright. It may have done, though I suspect over time, the ship slid down the reef and righted itself, which may have been started as a result of the blast...
I have dived the slope adjacent the wreck, and found debris scattered here, so it would seem the wreck was on the reef and slid off, at some time.

The Saratoga suffered from some fairly large collapses last year. This has, in my opinion, been accelerated by bubbles from diver penetrations into the hanger deck. Originally 3 planes were clearly visible in the hanger. When I left, the ceiling had come down to within inches of the 1st plane, and it is expected to crush the last intact plane within a couple of years at most. The decks below the hanger deck are reasonbaly sound. The aft section of the flight deck is collapsing to one side. The bow section, forward of the elevator, is most intact and structurally sound. I would imagine this will last longest, and is still standing 20m pround of the sea bed.
The two anchor chains fell off the fairlead in November last year, after a period of large swells.

[Loneshark]

Originally Posted by Honza

Chris, I sure enjoyed your video, report from Bikini. I dove Saratoga back in 1979, unfortunately, we were not equipped for any real deep explorations, diving it from 17' Boston whaler on single tank.

Hi, Nice pic! The bridge has certainly deteriorated a lot since then. Did you dive as part of the Parks Dept survey?

Would have loved to dive it back then (but I would only have been 10!) It certainly is a fantastic wreck, and one of the best for long penetrations.

Thanks for sharing

[Honza]

Originally Posted by Loneshark

Hi, Nice pic! The bridge has certainly deteriorated a lot since then. Did you dive as part of the Parks Dept survey?

No Chris, I was on support vessel for the scientists working on Bikini and Eneu Islands, we just sneaked away during lunch breaks to see if we can even find Sara, not easy from 17' whaler, but it was the oil slick which helped us to find it. THe Parks Survey was done years after I left the Marshalls. We were based in Kwajalein, dove wrecks there too, but in my opinion, Truk is better, much better, although my times there also go back 20 years...
Here is the bow of Prinz Eugen from Kwaj, as you said, it too was part of the atomic bomb tests.

[MattS]

Originally Posted by Loneshark

On a flight back from Bikini, th epilot took us over the German cruiser Prinz Eugen, which capsized whilst being towed in to Kwajalein. Tricky one to dive, unless you know someone at the Ronald Reagan Star wars base there...!

I managed to pull a few strings and had pretty much arranged a dive on the Eugene...Then some tw*ts flew an airliner into the WTC!

This is as close as I got to her.