Scuba Jim
Contributor
Firstly, many apologies for the delay in getting get next section of the trip report up. I've been busy doing other stuff. I was also hoping that the previous section of the trip report would drop off the first page of the forum, but people kept on sending posts to it, so stop it, please!
Anyway, good things come to those who wait. As the actress said to the bishop.
This section of the report is on the Nagato. She is without a doubt my favourite wreck at Bikini (and in the world!). She may not be as big as the Saratoga, and she may be upside down, but she is such a massive wreck by way of bulk and the objects on her, that she knocks the spots of the Saratoga.
Anyway, here is the text off my web site as this is about as good as I can describe it.
If Saratoga is the most famous ship at Bikini then Nagato is surely the most infamous. She was the first warship in the world to have 16 inch guns and was the largest battleship in the world at her launch. 708ft in length and weighing 38,500 tons, Nagato had eight 16 inch guns in 4 turrets, 2 forward and 2 aft, twenty 50 calibre guns, 4 anti-aircraft guns, three machine guns and eight torpedo tubes, 4 above the water and 4 below. She was a striking ship, not least because of her size, but because of her distinctively high bridge superstructure, that seemed to tower ever upwards, making the ship look extremely unstable! (She wasn't.) Nagato was the Japanese Imperial Navy's largest capital ship until the launch of the super battleships Yamato & Musashi and it was from her bridge that Admiral Yamamoto ordered the attack on Pearl Harbour in December 1941. She was the only Japanese capital ship to survive the entire war and partook in the official surrender of Japan in Tokyo Bay in 1945 (along with Missouri, which can be found moored at Pearl Harbour). It was therefore fitting that she be taken to Bikini and used in the A-Bomb tests. Having over seen so much devastation of her own making, it was time for a bit of payback!
Line drawing of Nagato in 1922
Line drawing of Nagato in 1944 - anyone notice the one MAJOR difference?!!!
Colour painting of Nagato in her heyday
B&W photo of Nagato from the front
B&W photo of Nagot's main 16-inch guns
Nagato survived both Able & Baker Blasts and sank a few days after Baker, on 29 July 1946. Being a battleship, and top-heavy, she flipped over on descent, and now rests upside down on the lagoon floor in 170-180ft of water. Because her main gun turrets were fitted bayonet-fashion to the deck, and not held in place by their sheer weight, like in most warships, they remain attached to their barbettes. The ships main superstructure holds her off the seafloor, so you can inspect all 4 main turrets with ease.
Nagato is an overwhelming diving experience! As you dive down to her, her hull stretches away into the distance in both directions. From the shot line you drop down over the port side (which is on the starboard side, because the boat is upside down!) and swim along the edge of the deck. Forward you pass some of her smaller guns, huge cogs and wheels, winches, and other paraphernalia. As you swim forward you see a huge strcuture looming through the water, lying on the sand at right angles to the hull. As you get closer you realise it is the main bridge superstrcuture, that has come away from the ship and lies to the side in the sand! You can inspect the very bridge that Yamamato lauinced WW2 on the Americans. (Would just like to remind my American chums that WW2 started in 1939, not 1941!)
The bridge tower of Nagato dwarfs a diver. Most awesome!
As you swim towards the bow you don't realise until it I almost too late that at some point you have stopped swimming along the side of the boat but dropped slightly down and under, and are swimming alongside one of her massive gun turrets. These huge objects are about 50ft long - out of them stick two monster gun barrels, each 60ft long and with a girth at the base of about 5ft. Tampions are fitted to each barrel to stop sea water entering the barrel and thus the breach mechanism, and they are covered in whip corals. Remember, they are the second largest guns ever fitted to a warship (only Yamato & Musashi had larger guns), and the only 16 inch guns that you will ever dive on. Awesome! Forward from here and you come to the bow, where anchor chains droop down to the seabed. You can get right under the ship here and swim out the other side!
Is that a gun barrel in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?
The biggest guns you are likely to see underwater, unless you plan to dive on the Yamato or Musashi, which I think are a little too deep for you
Ever wondered where the word tampon comes from? Here's an extra large one!
The second dive on Nagato is to the rear. As you swim along the underside of the vessel you can access a hatch in the deck that takes you up through an opening into the aircraft hanger located forward of her C-turret. Here numerous dials and other stuff can be seen. Looking aft through the massive entrance to the hanger you can see C & D Turret silhouetted against the open sea, festooned with whip corals, and held in place above the seabed by their bayonets. Imagine if they had dropped out of their barbettes? You would not be able to see these monster guns to their full advantage! Swimming past the guns and out to the stern you then come up over the hull and the grand finale! Nagato's 2 barn-door sized rudders and her 4 massive propellers stick skywards from the hull. Each prop has 4 blades and each blade I about 8ft long; each prop is 20ft across. I've never seen bigger! (Though I am sure they have some bigger in Texas!) With clear water and plenty of ambient light photographers can easily capture all 4 props on cellulite. Nagato is my favourite dive at Bikini because, to be honest, I prefer 16 inch guns and stuff like that!
Stern guns on the Nagato
Diver dwarfed by one of the Nagato's 4 massive propellers
Miaaowwwwwww. Sex on a stick!
Divers ascend the shot line above Nagato
Well, we're nearly done. Ill post the last bit of my report in due course. I promise to do it before we arer all wiped out by the asteroid in 2014, however!
PS Anyone wanting to go in November, let me know. I've got 2 spaces available!
Anyway, good things come to those who wait. As the actress said to the bishop.
This section of the report is on the Nagato. She is without a doubt my favourite wreck at Bikini (and in the world!). She may not be as big as the Saratoga, and she may be upside down, but she is such a massive wreck by way of bulk and the objects on her, that she knocks the spots of the Saratoga.
Anyway, here is the text off my web site as this is about as good as I can describe it.
If Saratoga is the most famous ship at Bikini then Nagato is surely the most infamous. She was the first warship in the world to have 16 inch guns and was the largest battleship in the world at her launch. 708ft in length and weighing 38,500 tons, Nagato had eight 16 inch guns in 4 turrets, 2 forward and 2 aft, twenty 50 calibre guns, 4 anti-aircraft guns, three machine guns and eight torpedo tubes, 4 above the water and 4 below. She was a striking ship, not least because of her size, but because of her distinctively high bridge superstructure, that seemed to tower ever upwards, making the ship look extremely unstable! (She wasn't.) Nagato was the Japanese Imperial Navy's largest capital ship until the launch of the super battleships Yamato & Musashi and it was from her bridge that Admiral Yamamoto ordered the attack on Pearl Harbour in December 1941. She was the only Japanese capital ship to survive the entire war and partook in the official surrender of Japan in Tokyo Bay in 1945 (along with Missouri, which can be found moored at Pearl Harbour). It was therefore fitting that she be taken to Bikini and used in the A-Bomb tests. Having over seen so much devastation of her own making, it was time for a bit of payback!
Line drawing of Nagato in 1922
Line drawing of Nagato in 1944 - anyone notice the one MAJOR difference?!!!
Colour painting of Nagato in her heyday
B&W photo of Nagato from the front
B&W photo of Nagot's main 16-inch guns
Nagato survived both Able & Baker Blasts and sank a few days after Baker, on 29 July 1946. Being a battleship, and top-heavy, she flipped over on descent, and now rests upside down on the lagoon floor in 170-180ft of water. Because her main gun turrets were fitted bayonet-fashion to the deck, and not held in place by their sheer weight, like in most warships, they remain attached to their barbettes. The ships main superstructure holds her off the seafloor, so you can inspect all 4 main turrets with ease.
Nagato is an overwhelming diving experience! As you dive down to her, her hull stretches away into the distance in both directions. From the shot line you drop down over the port side (which is on the starboard side, because the boat is upside down!) and swim along the edge of the deck. Forward you pass some of her smaller guns, huge cogs and wheels, winches, and other paraphernalia. As you swim forward you see a huge strcuture looming through the water, lying on the sand at right angles to the hull. As you get closer you realise it is the main bridge superstrcuture, that has come away from the ship and lies to the side in the sand! You can inspect the very bridge that Yamamato lauinced WW2 on the Americans. (Would just like to remind my American chums that WW2 started in 1939, not 1941!)
The bridge tower of Nagato dwarfs a diver. Most awesome!
As you swim towards the bow you don't realise until it I almost too late that at some point you have stopped swimming along the side of the boat but dropped slightly down and under, and are swimming alongside one of her massive gun turrets. These huge objects are about 50ft long - out of them stick two monster gun barrels, each 60ft long and with a girth at the base of about 5ft. Tampions are fitted to each barrel to stop sea water entering the barrel and thus the breach mechanism, and they are covered in whip corals. Remember, they are the second largest guns ever fitted to a warship (only Yamato & Musashi had larger guns), and the only 16 inch guns that you will ever dive on. Awesome! Forward from here and you come to the bow, where anchor chains droop down to the seabed. You can get right under the ship here and swim out the other side!
Is that a gun barrel in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?
The biggest guns you are likely to see underwater, unless you plan to dive on the Yamato or Musashi, which I think are a little too deep for you
Ever wondered where the word tampon comes from? Here's an extra large one!
The second dive on Nagato is to the rear. As you swim along the underside of the vessel you can access a hatch in the deck that takes you up through an opening into the aircraft hanger located forward of her C-turret. Here numerous dials and other stuff can be seen. Looking aft through the massive entrance to the hanger you can see C & D Turret silhouetted against the open sea, festooned with whip corals, and held in place above the seabed by their bayonets. Imagine if they had dropped out of their barbettes? You would not be able to see these monster guns to their full advantage! Swimming past the guns and out to the stern you then come up over the hull and the grand finale! Nagato's 2 barn-door sized rudders and her 4 massive propellers stick skywards from the hull. Each prop has 4 blades and each blade I about 8ft long; each prop is 20ft across. I've never seen bigger! (Though I am sure they have some bigger in Texas!) With clear water and plenty of ambient light photographers can easily capture all 4 props on cellulite. Nagato is my favourite dive at Bikini because, to be honest, I prefer 16 inch guns and stuff like that!
Stern guns on the Nagato
Diver dwarfed by one of the Nagato's 4 massive propellers
Miaaowwwwwww. Sex on a stick!
Divers ascend the shot line above Nagato
Well, we're nearly done. Ill post the last bit of my report in due course. I promise to do it before we arer all wiped out by the asteroid in 2014, however!
PS Anyone wanting to go in November, let me know. I've got 2 spaces available!
