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Dive Report: Cities Service Empire
Date: Sunday Morning June, 17, 2001
Boat: Selah
Captain: Mike Barnette, Mike Rodriguez
By: Mike Rodriguez
Four of the "usual suspects" arrived in Cocoa Beach the day before to dive an
"unknown" wreck in 300 feet of water which we finally identified as the historically-significant Pan Massachusetts. It
would be hard to top that dive, but we did our best Sunday morning on the Cities Service Empire, another historic WWII
shipwreck.
The Cities Service Empire was a 465 foot long tanker built in 1918. It was named after
it's owner, the Cities Service Oil Company. In 1942, during World War II, the ship
was en-route from Texas to Philadelphia full of oil when it was torpedoed by U-128,
the same U-Boat that sank the Pan Massachusetts, about 30 miles off Cape
Canaveral, Florida. The first torpedo hit the starboard side of the ship at the stern
damaging the ship's rudder and screw and rendering it unmaneuverable. The second
torpedo hit the ship starboard amidships and sank it. The Empire came to rest upright
in 240 feet of water pointing just east of due north.
The day before we found dark, cold water on the bottom with moderate visibility and
strong surface current. This dive would be similar, though the surface current
diminished significantly overnight. After a long boat ride, we finally reached the site of
the wreck and found it on the bottom finder. A cooperative fishing boat captain who
had visited our website and knew of our recent activity in the area gave us room to set
up and asked for copies of our video. When my buddy and I were ready and the boat
was in position, we dropped into the water and headed down.
My buddy and I passed through the "Nasty, Grungy, Stuff" (NGS) layer that's been
plaguing our dives for several weeks, then we saw the sand as we stopped our
descent. The NGS layer blocked a lot of the sunlight, so it was dark on the bottom
with the temperature around 60F. The stern of the ship came into view within two
minutes after we dropped, and I easily tied in the line. I looked up from where I tied
in just above the rudder and saw the end of the large deck-gun jutting out over the sand.
My buddy moved to the upper deck to take video of the gun and I couldn't resist
swimming up and sitting on it waving as he taped.
I got off the gun and swam forward along the starboard side, then dropped into the
engine room for a look around. The large engine and boilers are exposed through the
collapsed skylights, so entry is easy. From under some debris, a crab looked up at me
and raised its claws in defense as I approached. Numerous valves and gauges hang off
bulkheads all around the place. Portholes and other artifacts also abound. I rose to the
deck and continued forward where I spotted a very big grouper which I followed until
it ducked under a collapsed bulkhead and disappeared. The sight of the grouper made
me hungry!
I swam farther forward to the area where the bridge was and admired the telegraph
and helm still in the approximate position they were in when the ship still sailed the
ocean. The current seemed to be increasing slightly and I let it carry me the rest of the
way to the bow where the ship's bell had been recovered on a prior dive. I went
right to the edge of the bow and peered over the side to the sand below trying to imagine
what it must have been like when the ship was torpedoed. My bottom timer brought
me back to reality and I started back up-current toward the stern. I ducked behind
machinery and bulkheads to get out of the current whenever possible and finally
reached the stern as my buddy prepared to release the line. I braced myself against the
ship and pulled in some slack; he unwrapped and we drifted off the wreck.
Deco was uneventful and we were back on the boat enjoying the warm sunlight a while
later. The second team geared up and I positioned the boat upcurrent for the drop.
They hit the water and also had a great dive. While we waited for the second team to
finish deco, yet another local fishing boat stopped by and asked if we were "those
guys". We had a long conversation which ended in the captain of the fishing boat
asking me to train him to dive trimix.
We finally recovered the second team and stowed our gear for the ride back to Cape
Canaveral. Everyone had a great time and we're all looking forward to checking out
several more "unknown" wrecks in the area later this summer after our trip to the
Andrea Doria in July.
Copyright
© 2001 Mike Rodriguez. All rights reserved. |