RTW - Vanuatu - Espiritu Santo
Door: Bart De Coster
Blijf op de hoogte en volg Bart
08 December 2017 | Vanuatu, Espiritu Santo
The first full day in Vanuatu, we used to relax 8-|
The next day we booked a tour to go around some of the highlights of the island. And our driver gave us some history lessons along the way.
During WWII (particularly after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor), Espiritu Santo, was used as a military supply and support base for the Allies, and over 100.000 troops were stationed here.
For us (Europeans), it’s really nice to get some history from WWII, from a different perspective. We mainly learn everything about what happened in Europe. (And Pearl Harbor ;) )
Most of the people don’t know what happened in the Pacific.
The first stop on our tour was a snorkel-stop at “Million Dollar Point”.
When America left the military base after the war, the remaining goods — everything from weaponry to bottles of Coca-Cola — were offered to the French and British at a very low price, 6 cents to the dollar. However, the colonizers were going on the assumption that should they refuse to buy the items, the U.S. military would be forced to simply leave them behind for free.
The Americans were having none of this. To spite the British and French, the military made the rash decision to drive all of the vehicles, food, clothing, drinks and other equipment to a wharf on the southern coast of the island. The army then drove all of the vehicles into the sea, used bulldozers to dump the rest of the supplies over the wharf, before also driving the bulldozers into the sea, ensuring that the European countries would not be able to get their hands on the items at all, free or otherwise.
Millions of dollars worth of goods were completely destroyed over the period of those two days, rendered unusable at the bottom of the ocean.
2 more reasons for the Dump, on top of the expensive shipping costs and dwindling numbers of soldiers left to be transported home, was that the American economy at the time could not have recovered from a huge influx of lower-priced goods.
It’s an incredible place, where you can see so many jeeps, bulldozers, trucks, etc on top of each other. But it was hard to get an idea of the vast amount of equipment that is there on just a snorkeling trip, so we made the decision to come back later for a scuba-dive.
After this stop, we started to head to the inland, which was nice, just to drive through the villages, and see how the people live here.
We made a short stop at Champagne Beach, The beach is famous for its crystal clear waters and powdery white sands, which is one of the best in the South Pacific region.
Then we continued to Port Olry Beach, which is the epitome of a tropical paradise with gorgeous white sand and great food (Coconut Crab to die for!).
Which Katrien had for lunch. (Luckily she’s still alive ;) , but she really enjoyed it, even though it took her more than an hour to finish it.
On the way back, we made a stop at 1 of the Blue Holes.
Crystal clear fresh water comes to the surface through layers of limestone and coral producing water of jewel quality blue.
Unfortunately 1 of the biggest, and nicest Blue Holes was temporarily muddy, because of a small earthquake. They expected it would be Blue again in about 2 weeks. So we went to a smaller Blue Hole for a short swim.
The Blue Holes are also an important source of fresh water for local villages along the east coast of Santo.
The next day we started diving on the wreck of the SS Coolidge, 1 of the main reasons we came to Espiritu Santo.
SS President Coolidge was an American luxury Ocean Liner that was completed in 1931. She served first as a cruise ship for 10 years. Then she was converted into a Troopship, to transport troops.
Many of her civilian fittings were either removed for safe keeping or boarded over for their protection. Her accommodation was reorganized to provide capacity for more than 5,000 troops. Guns were mounted on her, she was painted haze gray and the War Shipping Administration assigned her to the US Navy.
A large military base and harbor had been established on Espiritu Santo and the harbor was heavily protected by mines. Information about safe entry into the harbor had been accidentally omitted from President Coolidge's sailing orders, and on her approach to Santo on 26 October, President Coolidge, fearing Japanese submarines and unaware of the mine fields, tried to enter the harbor through the largest and most obvious channel. A mine struck the ship in the engine room, and moments later a second mine hit her near her stern.
Captain Henry Nelson, knowing that he was going to lose the ship, ran her aground and ordered troops to abandon ship. Not believing the ship would sink, troops were told to leave all of their belongings behind under the impression that they would conduct salvage operations over the next few days.
Over the next 90 minutes, 5,340 men from the ship got safely ashore. There was no panic as they disembarked; many even walked ashore. However, the captain's attempts to beach the ship were thwarted by a coral reef. President Coolidge listed heavily on her side, sank, and slid down the slope into the channel. There were only two casualties in the sinking.
President Coolidge is now perhaps the most accessible shipwreck of her size and type. The wreck is one of the most desirable dives due to relatively shallow site, easy beach access, and visibility.
In 2007 The Times named President Coolidge as one of the top ten wreck diving sites in the world.
Divers see a largely intact luxury cruise liner and a military ship. They can swim through numerous holds and decks. There are guns, cannons, Jeeps, helmets, trucks and personal supplies, a beautiful statue of "The Lady" (a porcelain relief of a lady riding a unicorn) chandeliers, and a mosaic tile fountain. Coral grows around, with many creatures such as reef fish, barracuda, lionfish, sea turtles and moray eels.
The wreck starts in 18m of water at the bow and finishes around 65m at the stern. She is filled with WWII supplies including jeeps, trucks, ammunition and soldiers personal belongings.There is something for everyone, and you can do many different dives with over 20 different dive routes e.g. cargo holds, the lady, the galley, engine room, medical supplies, swimming pool
just to name a few.
Our first dive was an introduction dive, to get used to the size, and orientate ourselves a little bit. The second dive we went inside Cargo Hold 1 & 2.
Here you can see a lot of jeeps, etc piled on top of each other.
And in the evening we went back for a fantastic Night Dive.
Timing is critical for this dive as you enter the water just on dusk and approach the wreck without torches on. This unique dive is to experience the wonder of flashlight fish (Anomalops katoptron). The fish have a gland under each eye full of bacteria where they lift a little flap sending out a fluorescent light. These fish live in all the dark spots of the wreck during the day because they are sensitive to light. At night, they make their way up the decks, through the continental lounge and into the two forward cargo holds.
What an amazing experience !!
The next morning we started with a dive to “The Lady”.
World-famous, “The Lady” and the Unicorn, a porcelain relief panel of a lady riding a unicorn that was formally positioned in the first-class smoking room, but now resides in the first-class dining room.
“The Lady” is one of the world's most-photographed underwater icons.
This was a great dive, with a pretty deep penetration into the wreck.
After this dive we did our dive at Million Dollar Point.
Now we got a good idea of the amount of equipment that is down there.
The next day we relaxed again, and then we flew to Tanna, an island in the South of Vanuatu.
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