Virginia Beach Diving

Aboard the Flying Fish
Lenny Monopoli, Asst. Instructor

    Try these great local adventures with divemaster, Lenny Monopoli. 

The Flying Fish:  Rudee Inlet, Virginia Beach, VA

The Diver Down:  Fisherman's Inn at Atlantic Beach, NC

Meet at the boat 45 minutes prior to listed departure time.  Divers are responsible to bring all their gear including tanks and weights.  For more information contact Dive Connections  434-964-9200

The Brass Spike: A unknown wooden wreck laying in 75'. Due to the lack of rigging, the vessel was most likely a converted schooner barge, a common sight along the Mid-Atlantic during the early 20th century. The wreck is contiguous with a few remaining brass spikes along the hull, hence the name. Off the port side of the stern remains the rudder debris, (as of 9/98) with one large brass gudgeon left. The site is commonly dove now, but used to be home to abundant quantities of large tautog when first visited.
 

Descriptions of wreck sites are courtesy of Mike Barnett who's book, "Shipwrecks of the Sunshine State" is available on his site; Association of Underwater Explorers

The Carolina Breeze:  The Carolina Breeze is an 86 ft fishing trawler that sunk on Oct. 7th, 2000. The Coast Guard air lifted 5 crewman in stormy weather 33 miles off our coast here, the Capt, Billy Haver remained on his vessel along with one crewman in an effort to save it from sinking. The Coast Guard returned to the site after dropping off the 5 crewmen and refueling, to find the vessel had sunk and only the crewman could be found. The Capt. had gone down with his ship. The wreck sites upright and is mostly intact.

The Cuyahoga:  The Coast Guard Cutter Cuyahoga was rammed and sunk by the M/V Santa Cruz II, the night 20 October 1978, at he mouth of the Potomac River. Due to mutual error, the Santa Cruz II slammed into the starboard side of the cutter, damaging her so severely that the Cuyahoga sank within two minutes. Ten days later, Navy divers were able to facilitate the salvage of the cutter.  Following the investigation, the Cuyahoga was stripped and sunk as an artificial reef off the Chesapeake Bay approaches. She is intact and sits upright in ~100' of water.

The Esteridge: This is a brand new wreck site. A 110' tug boat sunk in 62' of water.

The Eureka:  Traveling in a thick fog from New York to New Orleans with a cargo of general merchandise, the Eureka collided with the Benison. The Eureka was equipped with steamer's engines as well as rigged with four masts for the use of sails. The damage from the collision was too great, and soon the Eureka lay upright on the bottom with her mast exposed. The wreck was further disgraced by demolition from the USS Dispatch, as she presented a hazard to navigation. Divers from the Baker Salvage Company first descended on the wreck in August, contracted to recover the cargo that still remained with the wreck. After work was completed, the wreck was abandoned.

Mike Boring was the first diver to view the Eureka since the salvage divers left the wreck in 1888. His dive boat, the Sea Hunter, was on a charter to the site believed to be the Chenango in 1990. He persuaded his charter into checking out a set of numbers he had received from a commercial fishermen. Mike anchored up to the wreck, and on his first dive recovered the brass capstan cover that identified the wreck as the Eureka. His charter was not impressed with the site, and they opted to do their second dive at the Chenango. Mike soon returned with others to begin recovering the many artifacts that abound on the wreck. The Eureka quickly became known for the copious amounts of porcelain doll heads, arms and feet, as well as toy tea sets.

The wreck lies in 115' of water, though the engine and boilers rise 20' off the bottom. The port side of the stern rises 20' off the bottom, though the steel is rusting through in several areas. Forward of this, the wreck breaks down until the large engine and boilers are encountered. The hull of the wreck has flattened outward, the edges rising only 2-3' off the bottom. Although contiguous, the wreck has become heavily sanded in over the years, thus one must dig in the sand to reveal its secrets. The general cargo areas are found just forward of the boilers, where most of the artifacts are recovered. Cabin areas and more cargo as well as the remaining portholes, may be found towards the stern. Far from shore, visibility on the site is consistently around 40'. The temperature, too, is a constant, due to the site's vicinity to deep water. Artifacts recovered include numerous types of medicine, liquor, and perfume bottles, various gauges, deadeyes, portholes, a small bell, copious amounts of various ammunition, a pewter lantern, marble doorknobs, cases of leather boots, a gold pocket watch, and an ornate capstan cover. On a trip in May of 1998, I was lucky enough to come across a complete case of Hennessey & Co. cognac, and successfully recovered 9 intact bottles, along with marble doorknobs and a porcelain dolls head. A lone porthole, glass intact, remains on the port side of the wreck (as of December 1998), even after several attempts to recover it. With some dedicated digging, divers may be handsomely rewarded.

The Margaret Hanks was a former clam dredger that now sits in 60' of water. She lies on her starboard side, sanded in. Her A-frame extends out from her stern, and gear from her former dredging days lies scattered out in the sand. She is beginning to break apart, as a dive in 1997 revealed a large fracture in her hull. Due to a large surge rushing around the wreck, the crack could be seen to expand and then come crashing back, creating a tremendous noise. This site is heavily utilized as a training site for new divers.

The James E. Haviland: A former Liberty ship, the Haviland had her upper structures razed and was sunk as an artificial reef.

Gulf Hustler: A commercial fishing vessel, similar to the Doxie Girl, sitting intact and upright in 80'. The large A-frame rises up from the stern with a large majority of the wreck covered in mussels.

The Kurn: This is a particularly popular part of the Tower Reef, with lots of lobsters.  It is a Navy tanker that broke amidships and sits in 95ft..  The bow sits perfectly upside down. The stern sits upright 100 feet away but lists. There is a debris field between them. There is also a landing craft in the vicinity. 

The Lillian Lukenbach:  A 6,369 ton freighter sunk in 105' on March 27, 1943 after colliding with SS Cape Henlopen and now lies on her port side. The bow is recognizably intact, though flattened out with the amidships section more broken down. The superstructure is scattered in the sand. The wreck is largely contiguous along the centerline, though large debris fields may lure divers away from the main part of the wreck. Tires and engine parts abound throughout the wreck, with the remains of P-39 Aircobras buried under wreckage. The stern rises up dramatically approximately 30' at a break, with the starboard shaft protruding forward. The stern superstructure, previously attached to the tilted stern, has now slid off and is lying upside down to port.

NOTE: The bronze hubs to the stern steering station, previously suspended upside down in the stern superstructure, now lay loose inside this wreckage. However, the hubs are still connected to the large steel shaft. I conducted several dives working to cut the shaft in an attempt to remove these artifacts, but due to other commitments, was unable to complete the task.

The stern guntubs still are evident on either side of this wreckage. Largely thought to be picked over, the Luckenbach still yields an occasional prize for an observant diver; on one dive in 1998, I recovered a cage lamp in plain view while another diver recovered a nice porthole. This a very interesting wreck but often overlooked in favor of the nearby John Morgan.

The Marine Electric:  The Marine Electric in a Bulk carrier that went down in a storm in 1983.  The vessel is 605 feet long and sits in 130fsw.  It is broken into two parts; (1) the stern and (2) the midships and bow.  There are a lots of artifacts as well as fish and lobster.

The Monroe:  On a bitter January morning, the passenger-freighter Monroe was groping northbound through a thick fog off the Virginia Eastern Shore. Unfortunately, the southbound Nantucket was stumbling along also and the two vessels collided head-on. The Nantucket penetrated the Monroe's hull, sealing her fate; as the Nantucket backed away, water was allowed to rush in an fill the crippled vessel. The Monroe quickly began listing over to starboard at a rapidly increasing angle. Many passengers were thrown into the frigid water; eventually, 41 people died or were unaccounted for. The masts of the wreck still protruded from the surface after she settled on the bottom in 85' of water. Due to this hazard to navigation, the Monroe was leveled later that year with explosives.

The site is extensively broken up with debris spread far from the core of the hull. Portholes, their swingplates recovered, still adorn many areas of the hull. The stern rises high from the bottom. Typically during the summer, the wreck of the Monroe is visited by an abundance of summer flounder. Being offshore, most are doormat size. I was amazed by the numbers; while gigging a large flounder, I would always spook 3-4 other fish nearby.

John Morgan:  Perhaps the most well-known wreck off Virginia, the 7,176 ton Liberty ship sits in 110' after colliding with the SS Montana on its maiden voyage, June 1, 1943. The John Morgan was loaded with lend-lease cargo which included trucks, motorcycles, P-39 airplanes, 10 Valentine tanks and tons of assorted ammunition. The most visited portion of the wreck is amidships to the stern. The bow section is a vast area of abundant wreckage, great for lobstering, though difficult to navigate. The stern is intact and canted to port, with many areas that can be penetrated and explored. Between the amidships high section and the stern, lie many of the Valentine tanks, as well as a plethora of 88mm artillery shells. The wreck is especially rewarding to dive early in the season, as large tautog, some exceeding 20 pounds, can be found on the extreme stern section.

The Capt. Rick's: - An intact fishing trawler sitting upright in 80 ft of water. The wreck is covered with all kinds of marine life. This is a good wreck for u/w photography.

Francis E. Powell:  The Powell was running towards port in Rhode Island with a load of gasoline when a torpedo fired from U-130 slammed into her side. The sinking hull eventually broke apart, with the stern and bow sections drifting apart. An attempt to tow the stern in was made, but was abandoned after that section itself broke apart. The bow sunk and was located later to be demolished as a hazard to navigation. The stern sank elsewhere and was supposedly depth charged on at least two separate incidents.

There are two sections identified as the Powell that are dove today. One section is off Virginia Beach in 80' of water and consists of a medium sized area of hull plates, machinery, and other debris. Not much in identifying artifacts has been found at this location as this section is most likely the remains of the amidships area and pumping equipment for the tanks. The other section resides off the Eastern Shore of Virginia in ~90' of water. There are many hull plates flattened in the sand as well as one high section, draped with large sections of netting, that appears to be the very stern. Rows of portholes have been located here, most likely sheared off from the stern superstructure. It would appear that there should be another section that has yet to be found.

The Schooner: The Schooner, when first dove in early 1997 from the vessel Deep Explorer, was an amazing site: an intact sailing vessel with clouds of black sea bass and large tautog. This wreck, heavily sanded in and lying in 110', is intact and an easy dive due to the small size. When I first dove this site, there were six large brass scupper frames lying loose within the wreck. The other unique treasure on this wreck is the abundance of deadeyes, remains of the ships' rigging, that are found around the wreck which make beautiful artifacts when cleaned up and conserved. Aside from the black sea bass and large tautog that reside here, an abundance of flounder are found by mid-summer. The wreck consists of approximately 3' of hull protruding from the sand, the remains of one of the lower decks. A large anchor rests up by the port side of the bow. The interior of the wreck is heavily sanded in, but with a little fanning the wood deck (keel?) is visible in many areas. Copper pipes run along the inside hull, and small assorted machinery rests amidships.

The U-352:  On May 9, 1942, the U-352, a German U-boat, attacked the US Coast Guard cutter Icarus. Her torpedo exploded prematurely, revealing her presence and leading to her demise. Thirteen German sailors lost their lives in the battle. Today the submarine lies in 115' of water, upright but listing approximately 40 degrees to starboard. While most of the outer hull has rusted away the pressure hull remains intact. The interior is filled with sand and silt that is easily suspended. Entry into the sub can be accomplished easily through the forward torpedo loading hatch, though not recommended due to the hazardous interior. Artifacts are still recovered to this day, though most gauges and other ornaments have been removed.

The Webster:  Is a scuttled liberty ship 500 feet long sitting in 120ft.  It is part of the artificial reef system off the Virginia coast, known generally as the Triangle Wrecks. The hull is broken in two upright pieces rising 25-30 feet above the sand.

Descriptions of wrecks courtesy of

1754 Timberwood Blvd
 Charlottesville, VA  22911
 434-964-9200