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Dive Report: Rhein
Date: Friday September 7, 2001
Boat: Gulf Business and Nauti Gal
Captain: Jeff Hunter
By: Mike Rodriguez
The Rhein Hamburg was a 450 foot long German freighter built in 1926. It was in
Mexico when World War II broke out and was sunk by the Dutch Navy sloop Van
Kinsbergen and the British cruiser Caradoc in the Florida Straits when it attempted to
run for Germany. The ship settled upright and intact on a clean, sandy bottom 240 feet
down. It's in an area north of the Dry Tortugas and Marquesas Islands which are west
of Key West, Florida.
The Rhein is the first dive of the "Tortugas Tour" which the Association of Underwater
Explorers (AUE) do every few months. This was the fourth tour and the first time we
took two boats to accommodate several new divers on the tour.
A total of eight of us arrived in Ft. Myers Thursday night to load the boats. After
dinner and some late-night conversation, everyone went to bed while the crew took us
out of the marina. By early Friday morning, both boats were securely moored into the
wreck. I couldn't wait to go diving, so I ate a quick breakfast, then my buddy and I
were first in the warm 84F water. The seas were fairly calm with long-period swells of
one to two feet; there was almost no current. The visibility was about 150+ feet near
the surface and about 80 feet on the bottom. It was a little cooler on the wreck with
the temperature around 74F.
The anchor was on the starboard side near the bow. We checked and secured the
mooring, then my buddy and I took off toward the stern. Along the way several very
big hog fish swam by and I found myself wishing for a spear gun. They were very
docile and I was easily able to get within a few feet. A jewfish swam by in the distance,
then my buddy signaled to get my attention and pointed out two rays swimming
gracefully over the wreck.
We continued aft poking around the wreckage. Portholes, and assorted brass object
abound all over the Rhein. We ducked under a structure and I studied what looked
like compressed air banks. There were about 20 vertical cylinders connected by metal
tubing. I swam further aft where the stern is badly damaged. Several of the other divers
had arrived on the wreck by this time and a few scootered past me as I checked out
the crumpled stern section of the hull.
I started forward again passing several more delicious-looking hogfish, then I dropped
into one of the cargo holds where I saw a stream of bubbles rising. One of my buddies
in the hold had found a large cache of beer bottles. Most of the bottles were
spiderwebbed with cracks; probably a byproduct of a fire followed by sudden cooling
as water flooded the ship. The bottles looked almost intact, but when I tried to pull on
them by the neck, the piece I was pulling on would break free in my hand leaving the
rest of the bottle embedded in the silt.
My time was running out, so I made a note of the location of the bottles so I could
return on the second dive, then I left the cargo hold and started forward again along the
deck. Once I reached the line, my buddy and I started up hovering over the wreck in a
very light current. We enjoyed the areal view of the divers below us until we lost sight
of them at around 100 feet. Near the surface, deco was pleasant in the warm,
current-free water and 150 feet of visibility.
We finally boarded the boat a while later and after lunch, I jumped back in the water
with a snorkel to watch the schooling fish under the boats while the crew caught them
on hook and line. I spent the entire surface interval snorkeling around, then I boarded
the boat and geared up for the second dive.
My buddy and I splashed in and headed down the line. I immediately went to the
cargo hold with the beer bottles, and dropped under the deck. After several minutes, I
managed to find a bottle that looked like it might survive the ascent. I stowed it and
continued to explore the area under the deck near the hold hoping to find some
other goodies. In one of the corridors leading away from the beer bottles I found a dead
shovel-nose lobster. It was an odd thing to see inside the wreck. I swam forward
through the innards of the ship but found nothing else of interest.
It was time to leave, and I again exited the cargo hold passing one of my buddies who
was still scrounging in the pile of beer bottles looking for a good one. I rose to the
deck and swam forward to the line, again passing several big, docile hogfish and
assorted grouper. When I reached the line, I signaled one of the other divers that I was
headed up and he and his buddy, who were the last to leave, should pull the anchor.
Deco was uneventful, but unfortunately, my beer bottle didn't survive
and broke in several pieces as I carefully examined it. I'll grab another one next time.
When everyone was aboard, we headed to the wreck of the Araby Maid about
two hours away for a night dive before bed. This was a great start to the fourth AUE
Tortugas Tour. Everyone was having a great time and the new guys on the tour said the
Rhein was one of the best wreck dives anywhere. I agree!
Copyright
© 2001 Mike Rodriguez. All rights reserved. |