| William Dawes 2004 Expedition - 15-October-2004 @ 7:02:10 PM |
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Sydney Project divers, will conduct a survey dive to the Liberty ship The William Dawes.
The New expedition to take place on 25th October 2004, to identify a new ship wreck in 130-140 metres of water on the New South Wales south coast.
The William Dawes a U.S Liberty Ship was torpedoed by Japanese submarine I.11 on 20th July 1942. Included in her cargo manifest:
82 x ¼ ton jeeps
33 x ½ ton CSR
72 x ½ ton pickups
60 x 1 ton trailers
2 x 1½ ton cargo trucks
12 x 2½ ton cargo trucks
12 x ambulances
13 x half-track vehicles
This Cargo was on it's way to New Guinea.
The expedittion aims to Idetify the wreck as that of the William Dawes, and record video footage. |
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Update: Last dive of the expedition - 31-October-2004 @ 9:45:38 PM
The team completed the last dive of the expedition, on Saturday 31st on the Bega.
The dives conducted fher search for the Bell and Telegraph, but were not found.
The dive with the longest bottom by Samir, 50 minutes with total run time four hours. More video were taken, and still photography by Mark Spencer.
Water was not as clear, due to large seas in previous two days.
Full report will follow shortly, with more images |
Update: Weather stops diving for two days. - 29-October-2004 @ 12:01:05 PM
Due to big seas and strong winds, diving has been postponed until Saturday. |
Update: Second Dive on the Bega - 27-October-2004 @ 11:04:52 PM
The team dived on the Bega today, water was much clearer, with vis in the 25 metre range.
The dive concentrated on taking video footage of the entire wreck, and next dive we will try and locate the Bell, as well as the telegraph post.
water on the bottom was 11C, and 16C on deco.
Divers today were, Samir, Dave and Max. Samir and Dave were planning for a 50 minutes bottom time, but had to cut down to 35, as the change in weather was on it's. By the time we got back on board, the winds were blowing at 45 knots!
Tomorrow doesn't look good, so we hope to dive Friday and Saturday.
Mark Spencer and Lewis Gavin are due to arrive later tonight. |
Update: William Dawes/Bega Expedition 2004 - 26-October-2004 @ 7:25:59 PM
First dive on the Bega, was conducted by Kevin Okeby abd Max Gleeson.
Confirmation was possible by finding two props, and a plate baring the name "Illawarra Steamship Company"
Visibility was very clear all the way from the surface. More dives will be conducted over several days.
New photos will be posted soon. |
Update: William Dawes has been dived - 25-October-2004 @ 11:24:23 PM
Samir Alhafith and Dave Apperley dived the wreck, laying on it's side in 135 metres.
Water condition after 40 metres was amazing, with unlimited Visibility. Total time in water was 260 minutes, but due to longer than anticipated decent, the divers spent 7 minutes on the wreck, just enough to find a Jeep, which was part of the cargo.
The Team will be diving the other new wreck, the Bega. Watch for further details shortly. |
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