From Atlantis out of New London, five of us dove the stern section of the Black Point on Wednesday. We really enjoyed the last day of the warm spell, and were lucky enough to have the wind shift and come up while we were on our way back from the site.
The 396' Black Point was blown into two pieces on May 5, 1945 by the U-853, the last torpedo attack by the German U-Boat fleet and sadly a day after the cease fire. The U-853 was sunk hours later and rests a few miles from the Black Point. The stern section sank immediately in the attack, taking down 12 men. The bow section floated long enough to allow evacuation into lifeboats of the remaining complement of 34 seamen. The two sections of the Black Point lie a quarter of a mile apart. The stern 40' lies upright, the bow overturned.
On this warm, clear day, we had 20 foot visibility and a 38 degree bottom temperature. We did several circuits of the debris field that comprises the site, and several passes up and over the deck. Through holes in the deck, large spools of what appears to be metal cable are visible in the hold. The gun emplacement that was on the stern is overturned and sticking into the bottom, the legs of the mounting point sticking up into the upside-down tub. The gun is nowhere to be seen. One of the divers somehow spotted a red-gilled nudibranch of about 3" length crawling along the bottom, a testament to the nice vis we had. Few fish were in evidence, no lobsters.
28 minutes of bottom time at 90 feet, for practice deco on 50-50. All in all a nice dive to shake out the cobwebs. This is a good time of the year to get out if you can.
The 396' Black Point was blown into two pieces on May 5, 1945 by the U-853, the last torpedo attack by the German U-Boat fleet and sadly a day after the cease fire. The U-853 was sunk hours later and rests a few miles from the Black Point. The stern section sank immediately in the attack, taking down 12 men. The bow section floated long enough to allow evacuation into lifeboats of the remaining complement of 34 seamen. The two sections of the Black Point lie a quarter of a mile apart. The stern 40' lies upright, the bow overturned.
On this warm, clear day, we had 20 foot visibility and a 38 degree bottom temperature. We did several circuits of the debris field that comprises the site, and several passes up and over the deck. Through holes in the deck, large spools of what appears to be metal cable are visible in the hold. The gun emplacement that was on the stern is overturned and sticking into the bottom, the legs of the mounting point sticking up into the upside-down tub. The gun is nowhere to be seen. One of the divers somehow spotted a red-gilled nudibranch of about 3" length crawling along the bottom, a testament to the nice vis we had. Few fish were in evidence, no lobsters.
28 minutes of bottom time at 90 feet, for practice deco on 50-50. All in all a nice dive to shake out the cobwebs. This is a good time of the year to get out if you can.
