Spiegel Grove - Forward Machinery Space video

Yesterday brought me back to the Spiegel Grove. I have been planning engine room / machinery space video dives for a while ... Its 130 feet deep in this, the forward machinery space so gas goes pretty fast & deco builds up quickly too. Lots of silt in there and the water is not as clear as on upper decks. There is no water exchange in there as there are no holes in her side and only small openings to get inside. There are layers of silt & what appears to be rust in the water which slightly restricts visibility.

This video taken 10/26/14 shows the entry vertical via a trunk (shown early in the video)down two decks. The video shows the boiler, (Spiegel Grove was powered by 600 pound steam.), and air compressor, one of the fresh water makers/condensors. Water was made by auxiliary steam flashing sea water to its boiling point and collecting the condensate, pure water.

This is definitely an advanced wreck dive due to several factors. Silt, overhead environment, percolation with open circuit, several lines and at least one tee in there that can be confusing if proper marking is not done and overall this is a relatively small space.

I love that wreck. Being a Navy Chief, I am pretty comfortable navigating inside this wreck. The layout is very familiar, albiet not as familiar as it is to you Jim. What most folks wont realize by watching this video is how tight the passages get as you go deeper into this wreck. If you dont have your stuff together, it is very easy to get a siltout. Maybe one of these days you should deliberately silt out a compartment(just a little science experiment), and show folks how dangerous this wreck can be. The silt is so fine in there that you dont get to many f-ups.

Keep posting Jim, I love your videos.

-Tom

Tom - You are absolutely right about both the small spaces and the silt-out potential. We know of several divers who have perished diving these very spaces due to loss of visibility, which was due to lack of training.

Check out this video that I just uploaded made after I left the machinery room and headed aft to the exit. It is part of the same dive shown on my Petrel dive profile.