Trip Report Iron Bottom Sound (Solomon Islands -- Feb 2024)

[beldridg]

I recently returned from a two week trip to the Solomon Islands to dive the wrecks of Iron Bottom Sound. It was a tech dive trip put together by Dirty Dozen Expeditions and there were about 13 rebreather divers on the trip.

I've written a detailed trip report covering logistics (flights, hotels, etc.), the boat & dive operations, and then an overview of the wrecks. I will be publishing detailed posts about most of the wrecks in the near future.

I hope this is helpful to anybody else planning a trip to dive the amazing wrecks there. Enjoy.

Trip Report : Iron Bottom Sound (Solomon Islands — Feb 2024)

Background Diving the deeper wrecks in “Iron Bottom Sound” has been at the top of my list for a very long time. The biggest barrier is that the resources nowadays for conducting deep te…

wreckedinmyrevo.com

Regards,

- brett

 

[honeybee616]

I recently returned from a two week trip to the Solomon Islands to dive the wrecks of Iron Bottom Sound. It was a tech dive trip put together by Dirty Dozen Expeditions and there were about 13 rebreather divers on the trip.

I've written a detailed trip report covering logistics (flights, hotels, etc.), the boat & dive operations, and then an overview of the wrecks. I will be publishing detailed posts about most of the wrecks in the near future.

I hope this is helpful to anybody else planning a trip to dive the amazing wrecks there. Enjoy.

Trip Report : Iron Bottom Sound (Solomon Islands — Feb 2024)

Background Diving the deeper wrecks in “Iron Bottom Sound” has been at the top of my list for a very long time. The biggest barrier is that the resources nowadays for conducting deep te…

wreckedinmyrevo.com

Regards,

- brett

I recently returned from a two week trip to the Solomon Islands to dive the wrecks of Iron Bottom Sound. It was a tech dive trip put together by Dirty Dozen Expeditions and there were about 13 rebreather divers on the trip.

I've written a detailed trip report covering logistics (flights, hotels, etc.), the boat & dive operations, and then an overview of the wrecks. I will be publishing detailed posts about most of the wrecks in the near future.

I hope this is helpful to anybody else planning a trip to dive the amazing wrecks there. Enjoy.

Trip Report : Iron Bottom Sound (Solomon Islands — Feb 2024)

Background Diving the deeper wrecks in “Iron Bottom Sound” has been at the top of my list for a very long time. The biggest barrier is that the resources nowadays for conducting deep te…

wreckedinmyrevo.com

Regards,

-

 

[honeybee616]

Hello beldridg

I've just posted my own thread about the solomon islands .....I've just read your

I recently returned from a two week trip to the Solomon Islands to dive the wrecks of Iron Bottom Sound. It was a tech dive trip put together by Dirty Dozen Expeditions and there were about 13 rebreather divers on the trip.

I've written a detailed trip report covering logistics (flights, hotels, etc.), the boat & dive operations, and then an overview of the wrecks. I will be publishing detailed posts about most of the wrecks in the near future.

I hope this is helpful to anybody else planning a trip to dive the amazing wrecks there. Enjoy.

Trip Report : Iron Bottom Sound (Solomon Islands — Feb 2024)

Background Diving the deeper wrecks in “Iron Bottom Sound” has been at the top of my list for a very long time. The biggest barrier is that the resources nowadays for conducting deep te…

wreckedinmyrevo.com

Regards,

- brett

Just wanted to say a big thank you for your dive trip report. There's not an awful lot of information out there on diving the solomons / wreck diving the solomons ...so very much appreciated this great read

 

[Chavodel8en]

Wow, huge amount of history on these dives. I never even realized that dives re the Guadacanal campaign were feasible. I guess you dont hear about them much, because of how painstaking the logistics. Thank you for sharing.

 

[beldridg]

Hello beldridg

I've just posted my own thread about the solomon islands .....I've just read your

Just wanted to say a big thank you for your dive trip report. There's not an awful lot of information out there on diving the solomons / wreck diving the solomons ...so very much appreciated this great read

You are very welcome. I'm glad you enjoyed it. Just a quick note that I also have extensive trip reports for Bikini, Malta, Vis, Palau, etc. on the website.

Regards,

- brett

 

[beldridg]

Wow, huge amount of history on these dives. I never even realized that dives re the Guadacanal campaign were feasible. I guess you dont hear about them much, because of how painstaking the logistics. Thank you for sharing.

Thanks for the feedback. Note that I have started publishing detailed posts for some of the wrecks as well. I plan to publish the Aaron Ward tomorrow which will be a long post with a lot of great information and photos. In the meantime, here are some of the detailed wreck posts in Guadalcanal that I've already published:

USS Kanawha:

USS Kanawha (Solomon Islands — 130 -> 200 fsw)

Intro Many people might think “ah, what is the big deal, it is just an oiler” and they might be partially right. Oilers aren’t exactly sexy like a destroyer, battleship or an airc…

wreckedinmyrevo.com

"Mavis" Seaplane:

Kawanishi H6K “Mavis” Seaplane (Solomon Islands — 100 fsw)

Intro I knew it would take about an hour to get the photos I needed for a photogrammetry model of the Mavis, but most wreck divers don’t want to spend an hour on an airplane. I was fortunate …

wreckedinmyrevo.com

HMNZS Moa:

HMNZS Moa (Solomon Islands — 150 fsw)

Background The HMNZS Moa (T233) was a Royal New Zealand Navy “Bird-class” minesweeper (there were only three and they were named after New Zealand native birds – the Kiwi, Moa, an…

wreckedinmyrevo.com

Regards,

- brett

 

[Kay Dee]

USS Kanawha:

USS Kanawha (Solomon Islands — 130 -> 200 fsw)

Intro Many people might think “ah, what is the big deal, it is just an oiler” and they might be partially right. Oilers aren’t exactly sexy like a destroyer, battleship or an airc…

wreckedinmyrevo.com

Hi Brett,

I was perusing your write-up on Kanawha to see if you had turned up any 'new' historical photos, when I noticed the following typo (just above the first historical photo of her).

"In terms of armament, she had 2 x 5″ 38 calibre guns, 4 x 40mm Bofors dual purpose AA guns, and 8x 20mm Oerlikon AA cannons."

Now its been 20 odd years since I last dived / photographed Kanawha, but I don't believe there were ever any 40mm Bofors on her, certainly none I saw on the many dives I did on her. Those dual AA's you refer to, and show in photographs, are 3" / 76mm, and I don’t think made by Bofors, although on that last point I am not sure, but I don’t think so. Anyway, as no doubt you strive for accuracy in your articles, I thought I should just point this out.

Be that as it may, keep up the good work documenting the wrecks you dive!!

BTW, sure like that b/w image of the K's engine-room skylights!

 

[beldridg]

I just published the Aaron Ward post. It is pretty epic (IMO) and contains a ton of history and current pictures and a "map" of where on the wreck the pictures were taken (overlay of the outboard profile with the pictures).

USS Aaron Ward (Solomon Islands — 225 fsw)

Intro The USS Aaron Ward (DD-483) is definitely the highlight dive for most technical wreck divers visiting Iron Bottom Sound and I was fortunate to get 3 dives on her. I could literally spend a we…

wreckedinmyrevo.com

Here is the overlay I created:

Enjoy!

Brett

 

[beldridg]

Hi Brett,

I was perusing your write-up on Kanawha to see if you had turned up any 'new' historical photos, when I noticed the following typo (just above the first historical photo of her).

"In terms of armament, she had 2 x 5″ 38 calibre guns, 4 x 40mm Bofors dual purpose AA guns, and 8x 20mm Oerlikon AA cannons."

Now its been 20 odd years since I last dived / photographed Kanawha, but I don't believe there were ever any 40mm Bofors on her, certainly none I saw on the many dives I did on her. Those dual AA's you refer to, and show in photographs, are 3" / 76mm, and I don’t think made by Bofors, although on that last point I am not sure, but I don’t think so. Anyway, as no doubt you strive for accuracy in your articles, I thought I should just point this out.

Be that as it may, keep up the good work documenting the wrecks you dive!!

BTW, sure like that b/w image of the K's engine-room skylights!

Thanks for reading and for the corrections / feedback. I'll research over the weekend and make any corrections and revert back.

- brett

 

[beldridg]

Hi Brett,

I was perusing your write-up on Kanawha to see if you had turned up any 'new' historical photos, when I noticed the following typo (just above the first historical photo of her).

"In terms of armament, she had 2 x 5″ 38 calibre guns, 4 x 40mm Bofors dual purpose AA guns, and 8x 20mm Oerlikon AA cannons."

Now its been 20 odd years since I last dived / photographed Kanawha, but I don't believe there were ever any 40mm Bofors on her, certainly none I saw on the many dives I did on her. Those dual AA's you refer to, and show in photographs, are 3" / 76mm, and I don’t think made by Bofors, although on that last point I am not sure, but I don’t think so. Anyway, as no doubt you strive for accuracy in your articles, I thought I should just point this out.

Be that as it may, keep up the good work documenting the wrecks you dive!!

BTW, sure like that b/w image of the K's engine-room skylights!

Well, as usual, things are confusing. I've got four sets of data points:

1) Wikipedia - 2 x 5" / 38 cal guns, 2 x twin 40mm AA guns, 2 x twin 20mm AA guns
2) Navsource - 2 x 5" / 51 guns, 2 x twin AA 40mm guns, 2 x twin 20mm AA guns
3) Neil's Diagram - 2 x 5" guns, 2 x 3" AA guns, 2 x 20mm Oerlikon AA cannons
4) Neils' Document - 2 x 5" / 38 cal guns, 4 x 3" dual purpose AA guns, 8 x 20mm Oerlikon AA cannons

According to Neil's document, there was a 3" dual-purpose gun at the fore-deck area that was removed in the 70s but the tub remains. He also mentions that the "four 20mm Oerlikons that were on top of the bridge were removed at some point...." Also, at amidships are two 3" dual-purpose guns. He also mentions two 5" guns at the stern along with a 3" gun.

The only thing I know for sure is that there are two 5" guns (caliber either 38 or 51 -- I'm guessing 38). If I ever go back, I will probably spend another dive or two on this wreck with a tape measure trying to figure out exactly what is what.

If you have more info, I'd love to incorporate it. I'm going to review my post and photos and try to make sense of all the above and make any corrections.

- brett