J4, or Scratchers Sub is by far the most popular mostly due to its depth at 27 meters, but also because it is such a great dive. It’s broken at the torpedo room, with the bow twisted away to port. Like all the others, the bow plating has collapsed, leaving the tubes exposed. It can have an awesome amount of fish on the inside, and I have film of the entire interior filled with bull’s-eyes and pike. Blue devils may be found around the bow section, and there used to be a resident conger eel in the control room.

Because of available bottom time, this is the best sub to study. Most divers have a quick look at the bow section, and then enter the wreck through the break. Light streams in through the deck holes aft.

Making the control room under the conning the darkest part. From there you can make out the two engine bases side by side in the forward engine room, and then the single engine base in the aft engine room. The prop shaft flange is clearly visible at the base of a large bulkhead with a number of hatch ways to the next compartment. Further penetration aft is constricted through crew quarters and steering room to the aft most hatch and should only be attempted by experienced wreck divers with a narrow profile setup.

The hull of the J4 is mostly weed and algae covered, with a healthy growth on top of the conning. There’s always perch and sweep around the conning and plenty of leather jackets around the wreck, but please don’t feed them as they are starting to nip! The wreck sits upright in heavy reef in a roughly north south orientation, which can make it pump with the groundswell certain clays, so it’s advised to wait a while at the entrances to feel for surge before entering.

As well as the famous subs, there are three coastal traders scuttled near Point Lonsdale. The most popular is the SS Coogee, sitting with a 40 degree list to starboard in 33 meters. Built in 1887 at 762 tons, she was scuttled in 1928 near the subs. She’s now mostly collapsed, leaving the bow section, boilers and stern standing above the sea floor. The stern is one of our prettiest reefs, artificial or not! The upper deck has collapsed, exposing the steering quadrant and framework; all smothered in yellow zoanthids and decorated smith sponges. It’s swarming with fish; mostly perch, but also lots of sweep, leatherjackets, svrasse, and queen snapper. Pike cruise just off the wreck and the cave between the rudder and hull is packed with bull’s-eyes and sandpaper fish.

Old wives mingle with bull’s-eyes around the boilers, and usually a blue devil is found in the fireboxes. It’s a short swim over flattened wreckage to the boss; also well encrusted with sponges. Perch play in the deck railings and bull’s-eyes fill the interior. Don’t forget to look under the plating or around the inside of the deck hatches for crayfish feelers, or cuttlefish. The Coogee is a great wreck, or reef dive!

Although very similar in layout to the Coogee, the wreck of the Rotoinahaiza is significantly bigger at 1777 tons, and significantly deeper at 40 meters. Built in 1879, she was also scuttled in 1928, but a bit further west than the subs. Again she’s mostly collapsed, leaving only the stern, boilers, and bow proud of the seabed, though there are more mid-ships to see than the Coogee. Being deeper, she’s not as rich in growth, but not far behind with fish life.

Also scuttled in 1928, the 728 ton excursion steamer SS Courier has become our prettiest shipwreck. Broken into three main sections on a white sandy bottom at 43 metres due south of Point Lonsdale, the Courier has become an oasis for marine life in a sandy desert. Being in line with the in and out flow of Port Phillip Bay, she’s been bathed in nutrients and is richly covered in sponges, ascidians, hydroids, and bryozoans. At times she can be obliterated by schooling fish, and there’s always healthy schools of perch swarming around the stern. Bearded cod dominate around the boilers, and are much paler than those seen elsewhere. This is a place to see the unusual animals, and usually with a spectacular backdrop.

Due to the depth it isn’t usual to see all this wreck in one dive. The bow section lies on its starboard side and is totally encrusted. It allows limited penetration and a flossier will find ceramic tiles in place under the silt. Most decking timber has gone, but only in the last 10 years. Close by are the heavily encrusted boilers with wreckage to either side. Mosaic leatherjackets, cutlets, and bearded cod live here, but big schools of fish like warehouse can also be encountered. The trail of wreckage aft of the boilers leads to the stern, most of which is metal framework covered in white, pink and apricot jewel anemone. The rest is smothered in sponges of all sorts. Some ceramic tiles can also be found Isere.

Several times dolphins have visited us on the deco line; a pod of eight common dolphins once played with us for 40 minutes, allowing Mary to get out of the water to change film, and then rejoin the fun!

The newest addition to our scuttled fleet wills him the 139 meter 4100 tone guided missile frigate, LIMAS Canberra. Scheduled to be scuttled in 2008 in 35 meters, near to the Rotomahana, divers will be able to start their dives at the mast array, making their way down to the gun deck to explore the upper superstructure, or make deep dives past the main deck to the sand. Penetrations will be possible for suitably experienced and equipped divers through the many diver access holes cut into the vessel.

The most popular dive will be to descend down the funnel to the engine room, inspect the huge gas turbine engine and exposed gearbox, then head off into the adjoining auxiliary equipment rooms. From there they can make their way through the mess, officers quarters, and up to the bridge, before ascending the mast to finish their safety stops on the mooring under their dive boat.

Of course there trill be many other parts of the ship to explore on subsequent dives, or just check out the schools of pike, perch, sweep, warehouse, bull’s-eyes, leather jackets, mowing, kingfish, and occasionally snapper which will visit and live on the wreck.

The best known of these wrecks are the four WW1 J Class submarines. After serving in the Atlantic for Britain in WWI, the remaining six J Class Subs were gifted to Australia in 1919, but were in such poor condition that two had to be towed to Sydney’s Garden Island Naval Base for refitting. After much expense, the J Class subs were based in Geelong, until 1922 when it was decided to scrap them. They were taken to Flinders Naval base in Westernport to be stripped and between 1926 and 1930, J I, J2, J4, and J5 were towed into Bass Strait and scuttled. J3 was towed to Swan Island, and beached in shallow water so her diesel engines and generators could provide power for the Swan Island Naval Base. J7 was sunk as a breakwater at Sandringham, and is now a feature of the marina at the Sandringham Yacht Club.

After more than 40 years lost on the seabed, the four J’s were discovered off Point Lansdale, creating huge excitement within the diving fraternity. These warships of stealth had become vibrant artificial reefs in depths between 27 and 40 meters. All were virtually intact except for breaks at the bow of the J4 and stern of the J2. Since then, time and tempest have taken a toll, and all the hulls are now broken.

J2, or the Deep Broken Sub, is in 39 meters close to the main shipping channels at the Heads. She sits upright with a 30 degree list to starboard, has formed a gully in the rocky reef, is broken aft of the engine room, and well covered in growths. The break is particularly colorful as the immediate interior is smothered in zoanthids and sponges. Large schools of bull’s-eyes patrol the break, along with leather jackets, and boar fish. The top of the hull is covered in stumpy algae and sponges and home to wrasse, small leather jackets plus schools of short finned pike. The conning tower, now without its outer sheeting, is covered in zoanthids, a great backdrop for the schools of butterfly perch.

Like all the subs 110W, the bow has collapsed, leaving the torpedo tubes exposed. Penetration of the subs has been somewhat facilitated by the removal of the engines and most of the machinery and pipes, but J2 has mounds of silt inside which can be even more dangerous. For the properly equipped and experienced, interior access can be gained at the break or through one of the larger holes in the aft deck. Much of the engine rooms are buried in silt, but some fittings can be found in the control room, and remnants of brackets possibly used for bunks or torpedo storage are visible in the crew quarters. The torpedo tube hatches are still in place. The stern section can also be penetrated, but again has mounds of sand inside.

To highlight the dangers of diving J2, a plinth to the starboard side of the conning tower has been placed in memory of a diver who lost her way inside the sub in 1997.

J5 was also known as the Yellow Submarine, but not because of the Beatles. Her entire bow and conning tower were covered in yellow zoanthids, a stunning sight. Sadly a severe storm in 2005 tore a lot of the plating off the bow and with it the zoanthids. The conning tower is still spectacular, and yellow. A feature of this wreck is the swim under the stern; the rudder is obvious, as are the three propeller shaft bearings and outboard supports. Large brackets on the sides of the hull were actually propeller guards to prevent the props getting too close to wharves. The 2005 storm also broke the J5 just aft of the conning tower, though the sections are still roughly in line. Large schools of pike are regularly seen flowing over and around this wreck, and there’s an obligatory school of perch on the conning.

Penetration of this wreck is always a serious matter as it’s in 38 meters and there are limited escape routes. It’s cleaner inside than the J2, but it’s still can sit it out.

J 1 was also known as the Winged Sub as it had an awning around the conning tower, which was removed by a violent storm in 1995. It was also intact until the 2005 storm broke it aft of the conning tower, almost identically to the J5. Lying upright in 36 meters on a rock bottom, it’s lightly covered in weed and sponge. Prior to 95, its bow was clear enough from the bottom to swim under, but now it is wedged hard into the reef. It has the usual fish inhabitants, but never as prolific as the other subs. There was a memorial plaque to a diver lost on this wreck in 1986, attached to one of the awning uprights. It was recovered a few years after the ‘95 storm, and plans are to return it on a plinth as another reminder of the need to treat this as a serious dive. Again, this wreck is fairly clean inside, but with enough fine silt to completely brown nut the interior with a few careless fin kicks.

Entry is via deck holes in the aft section and heading forward, shattered bulkheads, the remains of the radio room, crews’ quarters and torpedo room, and the torpedo tubes with hatches still in Place can be found. The interiors of these subs are quite large mid-ships, but get narrower towards each end and are quite constrictive at the stern.

The dive involves a 200 meter surface swim out to a midships mooring, followed by a diagonal descent down to the stern area. The Coolidge lies on her port side and as you approach the stern the naked starboard prop shaft comes into view, the prop having been salvaged many years earlier. Over the stern rail and the 30 centimeter high letters President Coolidge became apparent. Underneath in smaller letters could just be made out the home port ‘San Francisco’. For the next 10 minutes we scrubbed the letters with the wire brushes at depths between about 62 and 68 meters. After that we swam off to inspect the wrecked lifeboat and some other debris on the sand behind the ship to allow time for the dust to settle, then came back to take the photos shown here. Well worth the effort I believe! I’m sure you will agree, this adds yet another attraction to a world class wreck site for advanced divers to enjoy.

That very afternoon came exciting new dive number two! The wreck of the Tui Tuate, a tug use during the salvage of the 650 tons of bunker oil from the Coolidge in the 70’s, was scuttled in the western end of the Segond Channel in about 1990. She started life in the 1940’s in an Aberdeen shipyard as the Empire Shirley, 105 feet long and 232 tons. She underwent a number of name changes becoming the Tapuhi (1947-1973), then the Tui Tuwate and finally the Tui Tuate. The wreck has significant historical significance as she was also involved in the rescue of over 170 of 733 passengers in the New Zealand Wahine ferry disaster in 1968. She was scuttled by the owner (Clement Griffith) in a secret spot, as he believed the wreck was too cramped and dangerous for divers.

However some persistent detective work and searching by Kevin Green of Aquamarine uncovered its location in 46 metres, and he has taken only two or three groups of divers to her since. So I felt very privileged to dive her with Barry and Key. The dive site is current prone and subject to poor visibility, but on this occasion luck was on our side and we spent 30 minutes exploring this small but unique piece of history. Sitting alone on the sand, a deep trough is carved around her who bears witness to the strong currents which sweep past. Batfish, large pelagic and numerous reef fish stand guard over her forlorn structure. My time ran out before any serious penetration of the wreck could be performed but there appear to be some good areas for exploration near the stern.

The next few days were spent dive the Coolidge and I thought things couldn’t get much better. Riding high on the excitement of the great diving in Santo, on my arrival home in Vila I called friend to see if he felt, like a dive. We decided to have another look for the lost wreck of the coastal trader The Kathleen. The Kathleen was scuttled as a dive site near Hideaway Island for tourist divers. In 1987 the full fury of cyclone was unleashed on Pt Vila causing massive destruction, and in the process washing the poor Kathleen off the top of the reef into deeper water. For few years she was dive by locals in around 40-50 meters, but then after PENTECOST another big storm disappeared into even AMBRYM     deeper water. Since then a couple of divers a claim to have caught glimpses of her, but her exact location was unknown.

I had previously dived to 90 meters searching the steep seaward side of the reef in the mistaken belief that this was where she lay. On this occasion we searched in a radial pattern with the boat’s sounder on the landward side of the reef and at 70 meters a ANATOM small blip registered. Taking a compass bearing from the top of the reef, myself and my buddy Dale started our search. On the downward slope we picked up the debris trail from the wreck and followed this down to the sand at just over 71) meters. No wreck. We decided to swing left initially in the direction the trail seem to be heading as it petered out.. No wreck. With five minutes bottom time left, we swam to the right until in the distance I picked up the vague shadow… initially thinking my eyes were playing tricks on me.

But gradually the shadow solidified into a small wreck sitting upright on the sand, prop in sit, and a large cargo hatch lying next to her. We could not have been more excited if we had found the Titanic or a galleon full of treasure… that is the thrill of even such minor discovery! With two minutes to spare. I swam part of the wreck blaring away with my camera then started the ascent and deco, already planning my return to this pretty little. We returned the very next weekend and captured the images shown here. Three great dives, all new to me, but all in my backyard and right under my nose. Part of the thrill of diving is never quite knowing what lies around the corner. What a great sport!

Scouring the ocean floor for treasure and historical artifacts is exciting and time-consuming. With extensive stints at a site, sometimes months at a time, Amelia Research & Recovery needed a heavy-duty water maker that could perform in the harshest marine conditions.

For over seven years now, Amelia’s crew on Polly L, a unique lift boat, has relied on a SK Watermaker for all their fresh water needs. Launched in the spring of 2000, Polly L was designed and built to locate, study and salvage ancient cultural deposits in ocean sites with significant archeological and historical interest, such as known shipwrecks. The 60′ recovery barge uses hydraulic jacks to lift it above the water for a secure on-site work facility. A 3-level aluminum structure features all the comforts of home, including a modular, 1,200 gallon per day SK Watermakers unit for freshwater. In the last seven years, the crew has only had to perform routine maintenance and replace the watermaker’s filters. On their most recent trips, Polly L headed to E-89, Tiger Shores and the Jupiter Wreck.

At these sites, they found hundreds of pounds of marine-growth-encrusted artifacts and coins. Polly L’s last trip out was 96 days and they never brought water on board. Using their own excavator, Amelia Research & Recovery blast the wreck clear of sand. They dive into the sea with metal detectors and come back up with gold, diamonds, emeralds, silver and other rare artifacts. The Polly L’s on board systems net a standard in the industry. A 10 ton crane on the bow can lift heavy and deeply lodged objects, including cannon recovered from the Rosario, a ship out in a hurricane in 1715.

SK Watermakers offers high-quality stock watermaker units from 150 to 6,000 GPD and custom units to 10,000 GPD. Featuring heavy-duty construction and components, they have high-pressure fittings and stainless steel tubing.