One of the islands we visited was Espirito Santo. And when you think of (or google) this island you will instantly find a lot of information about a ship wreck called the USS Coolidge.
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| Enough to study before you go diving this wreck! |
This ship was a huge cruise liner, designed for luxurious cruises on the ocean. In 1941 it was modified allowing the transportation of troops and soldiers. It was heading for Luganville on Espirito Santo, a major and very important navy hub of the US marines in the fight against Japan. Unfortunately, it hit one of its own sea mines and it sunk within an hour (or so). The captain decided to run the ship against a reef just off the beach of Espirito Santo. In the end more than 5500 soldiers left the boat and only two soldiers lost their life during this horrible accident.
Yes, I dived the USS Coolidge on the island Santo Espirito, Vanuatu. It was certainly the best wreck dive I ever made in my entire 25 years of diving. The dimensions of this wreck are already breath-taking: more than 600 feet long, lying at a depth between 17m and 62m, 10 decks, and all of them almost fully intact!
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| "Simple Dive Plan" |
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| One of the high lights of a dive - kiss "the Lady" |
I searched a bit for a good video on You Tube and found this one, it really summarises and shows the various parts of this just stunning wreck - have fun watching it!
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