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Dive Report: Laertes (Dutch Freighter)
Date: Saturday afternoon, August 18, 2001
Boat: Reel Time
Captain: Tony
By: Mike Rodriguez
The gang did two dives on the Cities Service Empire in the morning and we arrived
early in the afternoon at the site of the Laertes, AKA Dutch Freighter. The day
wa bright and sunny; it was warm with temperatures near 90F. The water was also warm,
at least on the surface, with the temperature at 87F, and there was a very light
current.
The Laertes, also known as the Dutch Freighter, was built as a merchant freighter after
WWI. It was a large ship at 424 feet in length with a 52 foot beam. It was powered by
a three-phase steam engine and ran at nearly 14 knots. In 1942, the ship was en-route
to India loaded with a war cargo of three airplanes, 17 tanks, 20 trucks, and an
assortment of other items. On the morning of May 3rd, the ship was was nine
miles east of Cape Canaveral when it was hit and sunk by three torpedoes
from the U-109. The Laertes came to rest in 60 feet of water on a sandy bottom.
Our team dropped our grapple hook onto the wreckage on the bottom, then casually
dropped into the water to look around. The visibility on the bottom varied from as little
as 10 feet to as much as 30. The temperature was cold at around 60F. There was
little current but there was a strong swell. When I reached the bottom of our line, I
saw that the wreck is very widely spread out. There are no distinct lines to follow and
rather than get lost, I tied in my cave reel and took off exploring.
I swam a short distance downcurrent to the ships boilers which were surrounded by
fish, then I turned upcurrent and swam along an unrecognizable jumle of wreckage.
Over the years the ship has been wire dragged and demolished rendering it a mess. I
swam out for several hundred feet and finally came to the edge of the debres and
saw sand. There, turned and noticed that a couple of the other divers had taken advantage
of my guideline and followed me out. By this time I was getting cold, so I signaled them
that I was reeling in and we all started back toward our floatline where I stowed my
reel and started up for a brief safety stop.
I boarded the boat and got out of my gear to relax and wait for the other divers. When
everyone was back on board, we headed toward the dock for dinner and to rest up
for the dives the following morning on the CSE and an "unknown" in 280 feet of water
which we'd eventually nickname the Fuggedaboudit Wreck.
Copyright
© 2001 Mike Rodriguez. All rights reserved. |