Logbook Scuba Dive # 410 - HIJMS Nagato

First | Previous

Next | Last

Date:	Entry Time:	Dive Time:	Max. Depth:
Mon, 07-Oct-2013	08:49:00	71 minutes	51 metres
Dive Location:		City / Island:
HIJMS Nagato		Bikini Atoll
Country:		Dive Master:
Marshall Islands		Brian Kirk
Dive Charter:		Dive Trip:
Indies Trader Marine Adventures		Bikini Atoll - Oct 2013
Buddy/Buddies:
Michael Coleman
Dive Details:
Entry:	Boat Name:
Boat	MV Windward
Start PG:	Entry Time:	Exit Time:	End PG:
-	08:49:00	10:00:00	-
Altitude:	Rep. Dive:	Surface Interval:
0 m	No	16:23
Max. Depth:			Avg. Depth:
51 metres			19.84 m
	Dive Time:		Deco. Dive:
	71 minutes		Yes
Conditions:
Weather:	Air Temp.:	Water Temp.:
Sunny	32 °C	30 °C
Water:	Waves:	Current:
Salt	No Waves	No Current
Visibility:	Horizontal Vis.:	Vertical Vis.:
Good	-	-
Equipment:
Weight:	Dive Suit:	Dive Computer:
0 kg	Wetsuit 3 mm Steamer	Suunto HelO2

By the time the lovely crossing from Kwajalein Atoll to Bikini Atoll on MV Winward was done, I had settled into liveaboard life. Just as well, because on this trip I'd be staying on MV Windward. We hadn't been able to arrange for any of us to stay in the accommodation block on Bikini Island as we had on my first Bikini Atoll trip in October 2012, the previous year. On Monday morning, for our first dive of the expedition at Bikini Atoll, we headed over to the Nagato. The wreck of the Nagato, a Japanese super-dreadnought battleship, sits upside down, typical for battleships whose heavy guns cause them to "turtle" when they sink, in 52 metres (170 ft) of water. Her most prominent features are her four propellers, which, because she is so tall, sit at a depth of 33.5 metres (110 ft) below the surface. Highlights of the dive include the four propellers, the guns at the stern, the guns at the bow, and the massive pagoda lying in the sand. We descended to the stern of the Nagato, and then down to the stern 45 calibre, 41 centimetre (16 inch) guns. The barrels of these guns were 18 metres (60 feet) long, and the guns had a maximum range of 30,000 to 38,000 metres, and could fire two rounds per minute. Extraordinary! We proceeded alongside the gun barrels, heading forward, and eventually exited, returning to the stern propellers, before ascending.


Drawing of HIJMS Nagato as she appeared in 1944 Nagato diagram produced by the USA Office of the Naval Intelligence Nagato in foreground (left) at the beginning of the blast surge during the second atomic bomb Test Baker on 25 July 1946 at Bikini Atoll Rear 410 mm gun on the Nagato - Photo: Lloyd Borrett GoPro One of the Natago's four propellers- Photo: Lloyd Borrett GoPro Lloyd at the stern of the Nagato - Photo: Laurent Ailleres GoPro

First | Previous

Next | Last