Wreck of the John Morgan - Virginia Beach

[Drewski]

Alright, this forum has been getting BORING lately, not enough diving!

So, here's a NEW video from last summer. This is the wreck of the John Morgan, a WWII liberty ship that sank with a full war load on it's maiden voyage after colliding with the tanker Montana. Tanks, jeeps and aircraft litter the bottom along with plenty of live ammunition.

RAD and I did this wreck with Matt from DQ on board the Big Time, a sweet little 31 FT Bertram that can take ANY sea you want to give it. Lynnhaven's Miss Lindsey also runs this wreck, with a bit more room and comfort.

The sand bottom is about 100 FT, most of the dive is above this. Summer water temps average in the 50s below the thermocline. The video shows an "average" visibility day, so bring a wreck reel because she's broken up.

Oh, BTW, be smart and leave the ammo on the bottom...

Enjoy!

[vimeo]3736965[/vimeo]

 

[H3LlIoN]

Who needs ammo when you can have your own TANK!!! Seriously though, it should be noted (for those that don't already know) that some of that ammo "back in the day" used an electronic ignition, as opposed to a standard cap primer. Therefore, an electronic discharge of any type could potentially still set it off...say a discharge from a dive computer or wrist watch.

Sweet vid Drewski...who runs that boat? Is there a website for it? How many divers she run with, and what's the cost? Funny you mentioned the ammo...my father was diving the morgan back when the Fish was still running up here, and a couple of dummies showed up on the boat with a lobster bag full of live ammo...shoulda seen the look on the crew's face.

Been diving at all this winter? We just got back from Ginnie Springs.

 

[Spady]

Looks great! Can't wait for the dive season. I need to take a dry suit course.

 

[smokey braden]

drewski,
we tried to dive the morgan a few years ago but the charter said the swells were too much so we blew 2 tanks closer in.

we had heard that she was hauling brand new motorcycles too.

 

[diverdowndude]

Nice video camera setup pretty pictures. If you have the training to penetrate the wreck you can see the Harleys and radial aircraft engines be careful to plan your dive to survive as things tend to fall if your not careful... better yet If you look around the steel plates on the bottom 110' or so you may be lucky enough to grab a Lobster or two. The water temp and clarity improve in late August through mid-November. I have dove the Morgan in November with 100'+ vis and temps in the 70's in a drysuit with boxers and a tee shirt! Taught me an important lesson when diving off the coast of Virginia or North Carolina late in the season: always pack a 5 mm suit just incase....

 

[Drewski]

Hi All:

Thanks for the nice reviews!

The "Big Time" is ran out of Dive Quarters, but I don't know if it will be running this summer. The Captain, Steve, has it up for sale. Too bad, to. It's a great boat to run, even in rough conditions. It's a six pack and if memory serves we were paying $110 to the Morgan.

I made the comment concerning the ammo, because a couple of divers were doing exactly what was described - putting live shells into goodie bags and bringing them up. Watching them separate the shell from the casing on the 20 FT stop thrilled me to no end.

As an aside, I don't believe the gun on the tank matches the ammunition in the pile. The tank looks like a Valentine MK II variant, possibly a MK VII that was produced in Canada. The gun is most likely a British Two Pounder. The ammo seems to be 75 mm and I don't know if those two match up although that wouldn't make much sense? Here's a picture of a MK VII variant produced in Canada that may have been shipped through Philadelphia on the Morgan:

Chat with ya'll soon...

Andy

 

[Larry Horne]

I've been trying to get a good set of GPS hang numbers for the Morgan (high relief) and just can't get a set proven. I must have 6-7 different numbers for it.

I'll trade a ride to the Triangles on my 24 Albe for a good set of GPS hang numbers.

Lar

 

[diverdowndude]

These are my Garmin numbers for the Morgan:

Morgan-1 36 59.800 075 23.820

Morgan Bridge 423'x57'34' 36 59.940N 75 23.893W

Hope they are helpful

 

[RAD Diver]

Nice vid Andy, I don't remember it being that clear.
Man what were we doing in wetsuits? LOL
& single tanks?
Don't know about boring, some of us were diving last weekend in New Jersey. 38 degrees top to bottom. I think your 5mm would have been enough.

 

[Drewski]

Yeah, RIGHT!

Was that about the VIZ in NJ?