Today, on board the Independence II and we were bound for the wreck of the USS San Diego. I have only dove this wreck two times, a long time ago, 28 years ago on July 22, 1989. The USS San Diego was an amored cruiser that is believed to have been sunk by a mine laid by the German U-156 on July 19, 1918. Next July it would be 100 years since its sinking. The wreck is turtled and has substantially broken apart from what I recall the last time I dove this wreck. There are portions of the hull moving with the current waiting to collapse at any given time.
My old log book stated that the wreck was intact and that I penetrated the wreck. I noted that the visibility was good and that it was a great dive! It was also my 1st decompression dive and I wrote that my decompression hang was long...25 minutes. This was in the day when I dove air and I do not believe we even used O2 for Deco. Well today was no different, it is still a great dive and I still had to decompress but, my decompression was not long at all given Deco gas and Nitrox.
The visibility was about 20-25' with lots are particulate matter in the water column especially near the areas that divers were stirring up inside the wreckage. The first thing I noticed upon descent was that the relief while being about 30', it seemed less than what I recall, and as stated before, the wreck is broken up quite a bit. The wreck is covered in some larger mussels that were providing great habitat for the abundant sea bass and tautog. There certainly was a lot of fish on this wreck. We were anchored in the stern area so I swam toward the bow and could easily see torpedo heads and large ammunition shells. I did my best to shoot a few photos but, I knew the particulate matter would interfere. I enjoyed my dive so much that I did not feel cold or even check the water temp on the bottom.
I think that everyone on board today had a great dive and we all are anxious to return this summer or at least during the 100th anniversary of the sinking!
