City of Athens (1/2)

Shipwreck City of Athens
Type:
shipwreck, liner, USA
Built:
1911, Camden NJ USA, as Somerset
Specs:
( 309 x 46 ft ) 3648 gross tons, 135 passengers & crew
Sunk:
Wednesday May 1, 1918
collision with French Navy cruiser La Gloire - 67 casualties
Depth:
110 ft

Today the City of Athens sits in 110 ft of water on a sandy bottom. The wreck is in one contiguous piece, however, quite broken up. The most distinctive features are the large boilers near her midsection. Decking and hull plates have collapsed in on her. There is a small section of wreckage believed to be the bridge not far off the port side, some 30 yards or so. The mass of twisted wreckage gives good home to fish and lobsters. Artifacts are also found. Ammo, bottles, brass, and china, have all been found. While some can still be found amidst the metal, most artifacts require digging. Because of her distance from shore, visibility is usually quite good, averaging around 35-40 ft, and occasionally exceeding 60.

The bow is quite intact with the anchor resting at the same place it was stowed. The depth at this point is 93 ft and drops to around 108 as you descend into the hold.

Fish are everywhere, but few large specimens. A nice school of Spadefish cruised the wreck during our visit. Artifacts are present for the patient hand-fanner, along with lobsters. Bits of broken glass and pottery shards lie exposed from earlier artifact hunters. Mussels hang in pods from the rusting hulk.

Visibility is better when a current is present on this site. We had around 25 ft with nice ambient light. Conditions can be on the intense side at times - darkness and a swift current are not uncommon. This should be considered an advanced dive.

- Jeff Barris

Shipwreck City of Athens New York Times
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Horned Salp

Thalia democratica

Although they may superficially resemble swimming siphonophores, salps are actually free-living tunicates. There are 6 genera of salps and all are transparent.

Tunicates are much more advanced in the evolutionary scheme of things than jellyfishes, having, for example, a circulatory system. The larvae actually even have several features in common with vertebrates, including the precursor of a spinal cord, but these are lost in the sac-like adults. Salps do not sting.

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