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Trip to Espiritu Santo to Dive on the Wreck of the SS President Coolidge By Gary Peters As divers, we've become used to the idea of rising early for our sport. However, the 3.00am wake up call for the Sunday morning departure from Sydney airport to Espiritu Santo was on a different scale. Nevertheless, it was an eager, if slightly bleary eyed, group that gathered at the Qantas domestic terminal for the connecting flight to Air Vanuatu out of Brisbane. AV's brand new B737-800 was comfortable, with friendly service and surprisingly good food. As our plane banked right and swept into Santo's Pekoa airport-a former World War II bomber strip-we could see cattle running for cover from the sound of the jet engines. After clearing immigration and customs, we were met by Tim and Yvonne of Allan Power Dive Tours, and transferred to our accommodation at the Hotel Santo. This unpretentious but comfortable hotel proved to be ideal for our situation. The divers' garden rooms in which we were housed all open out to a common area near a covered open air lounge, the pool and the dive gear drying room and transport pick up spot. It was natural for the entire party to gather around the tables on the lawn to share diving stories and the odd beer or glass of wine, and this became part of the early evening routine after the cleanup from the day's diving. Another plus for the Hotel Santo is its location on the main street of Luganville, the commercial centre of the island and the second largest town in Vanuatu. Although of a much lower standard of living than Australia , and probably poor in a material sense, the Nivan Melanesians enjoy a spectacularly vibrant and rich natural environment, sprinkled with the physical remnants of the US presence during World War II. We were all struck by their friendliness to outsiders and apparent contentment. Monday morning saw the start of our diving. We were picked up from the hotel's back lane for the ten minute drive to the dive site. Here we received a general orientation to the wreck from the head guide, Alfred.
The SS President Coolidge was launched at Newport News, Virginia in 1931 and operated as a luxury passenger liner throughout the 1930's. Her home port was San Francisco and she operated primarily in the Pacific, plying the waters between the US west coast, Hawaii, the Philippines, Japan and China. In 1941 the ship was converted for military use and transported troops, equipment and supplies to the Pacific theatre of war. It was in the course of this that on the morning of 26 October 1942, she struck two underwater mines while entering the Segond Channel on Espiritu Santo. Suspecting his ship was lost, the captain ordered it be run aground on the nearest beach. This was instrumental in enabling all but two of the 5000 men on board to escape with their lives, but the Coolidge was not to be so fortunate. Scarcely an hour and a half after the mines had ripped open the boat's hull, it rolled over onto its port side and slipped below the water's surface to its final resting place; its bow at 20 metres, the stern sitting on the sand at 70 meters. It took with it, and still retains, much of its cargo of military equipment, supplies, vehicles, and munitions, as well as the fittings and ornamentation from its days as a luxury liner. Our dives on the first day were in the range of 30 to 40 metres, relatively shallow for the Coolidge. This gave us a general overview of the approach to the upper part of the wreck, the decompression routines we would follow as the week progressed, and a chance to sort out equipment configurations necessary for deeper diving. With the water temperature between 27 and 29 degrees, entry was easy and the thinnest of wetsuits were the order of the day. Decompression stops were also a pleasure, thanks to the extensive coral garden that Allan Power has constructed at the four metre mark. This area is a magnet for a large selection of colourful and exotic sea life. It also became a popular spot for the non-divers in our group to snorkel over.
Subsequent days saw us progressing further down the length of the boat. Allan Power conducts his diving in groups of two or three divers per guide. As a result, on any one dive the different members of our Terrigal group were scattered around the boat. Post-dive conversations were filled with accounts of where each group of divers had just explored. The engine room, the swimming pool, cargo holds, dining room, soda fountain, doctor's office, captain's quarters and promenade deck became familiar terms. Most of us were also introduced to Nessie, the friendly resident moray eel that lives in one of the ventilation shafts on the bow. Nessie's proportions have more in common with her Scottish namesake than with the morays seen around Terrigal. A key objective for all was to visit the famous sculpture of the Lady and the Unicorn. The exact significance of the sculpture is not known, but there is some suggestion that the Lady could be Queen Elizabeth I. Of no doubt is that after over 60 years in the water she is remarkably well preserved and a special highlight to approach in her darkened chamber some 40 metres below the surface. Morning dives were often followed by a visit to Allan Power's house, just across the road from our hotel. Here we were greeted with coffee, tea and buns and a collection of books and folders filled with information about the Coolidge.
As a counterpoint to the underwater explorations, on Wednesday we hired a tour bus and were driven up the east coast of the island to Champagne Beach. This is perhaps the very essence of an unspoiled South Pacific island beach, with white powder-fine sand and crystal clear aqua-blue water. Following lunch at the beach we retraced our outward path from Santo, stopping at the Matevulu Blue Hole for a plunge in the gin clear spring-fed waters where our tour leader (Les) demonstrated his free-diving expertise. This day of highlights was topped off by the spectacular torchless night dive into the interior of the boat to see the flashlight fish in all their glory. On resurfacing, the clear moonless night sky put on a brilliant display of stars that complimented, but could not surpass, what we had just witnessed under water. Our penultimate dive on Saturday afternoon was at Million Dollar Point, a few hundred meters along the shore from the Coolidge site. This is the location where the departing US forces pushed all their unwanted equipment at the end of World War II. Today the shore is still marked with the occasional axel or other vehicle parts, while just under the surface and then continuing down to a depth of 30 to 40 meters all manner of equipment is arrayed in various angles where it came to rest so long ago. Sunday morning dawned overcast with drizzle and the ever present humidity. This was our last dive, and for many it was to be down to the stern at 60 meters. Unfortunately, due to a strong current and deteriorating visibility our time at the stern was abbreviated, but not before two of the group got their hands on the letter "D" of the boat's name. For the rest, it was a case of close and perhaps better luck on some future visit.
You could be here next year, just contact us with your name and address
and we will send you information on the next trip |
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