Andrew Donn's SCUBA Diving Web Site  

 

Page 1 USS Monitor - Page 2 Page 3

Page two of the Monitor section is a continuation of my dive on July 27, 1999. This was basically a survey dive to familiarize ourselves with the wreck. Our goal of the dive was to locate and clean off as many survey markers as we could. My buddy and I were assigned the stern section. The survey markers are used to measure how various locations on the wreck move over time.

All Images İAndrew Donn 1998-2003. All Rights Reserved. All Images captured from Video. Click on any of the images to enlarge.

Andrew Donn's SCUBA Diving Web Site
Wrecks
  Araby Maid
  Baja Calf.
  Curb
  Andrea Doria
  Kendrick
  Lancing
Monitor
  Oil
  Oregon
  San Diego
  Rhein
  S16
  U2513
  Wilkes
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Drive Shaft

This is a picture of the drive shaft just aft of where it leaves the engine compartment. The propeller was removed the year before.

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Turret

Here is another image of the turret.

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Port Side

The portside armor belt runs the length of the wreck. It is supported by the turret towards the stern of the wreck.

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Bow Team

A team of divers working towards the bow of the wreck makes their way to the stern towards the end of the dive.

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Bow Team 2

These divers were locating and clearing off markers on the bow of the wreck.

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Bow Team 3

They swim past checking their gauges as we are almost out of time on this dive.

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Bow Team 4

A diver stops to check out one more item of interest as he makes his way towards the stern.

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Port Side

This view is of the port side of the wreck in between the armor belt and the engineering space. The supports that made up the hull lie on the bottom surface of what is the top deck of the wreck.

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Sea Bass

This sea bass shows no fear of divers and swims right up to lens of the camera to check things out.

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Drive Shaft

Here is another image of the drive shaft. To the extreme left in this image you can see where the drive shaft was cut in order to remove the propeller from the wreck.

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Head Count

A head count is taken as we leave the bottom to make sure we have all of the divers.

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Boot- retrieved.

One of the divers retrieves the boot left behind by the US Navy divers.

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Breakaway Line

We used a breakaway line to do our drifting decompression. A snap-shackle allowed us to disconnect the breakaway from the main line. We left the permanent line in place so we could find the wreck for the next days dive. A float allowed the boat to follow the divers as they drifted along in the current doing their deco.

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Safety Diver

One of our support divers drops in to check on the divers.

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Ray/Cyndi

Two of my buddies, Ray and Cyndi Blanchard drift along doing their deco.

 

Page 1 USS Monitor - Page 2 Page 3

 

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