USS San Diego, sunk off Fire Island in WWI, revealing hidden areas
Scuba diver John Bricker said he hoped the Navy wouldn't close off the San Diego to divers amid the vessel's deterioration. "I'd hate to see that," said Bricker, shown at his Ronkonkoma office on Wednesday. Credit: Newsday/J. Conrad Williams Jr.
Time has not been kind to a U.S. Navy armored cruiser that struck a German mine and sunk off the coast of Fire Island during World War I in 1918.
"When I first dived it, it was much more intact, and now it's breaking up," said John Bricker, who's been diving to the USS San Diego for 37 years.
The deterioration of the San Diego is making "different areas of the wreck" available for exploration, Bricker said, who dove to the wreck last July and August. "But it's sad to see it happening."
Steve Bielender, 89, of Miller Place, a retired dive boat captain, said "divers are excited because it's opening up. It's become a new wreck." He said Bricker has been chronicling the San Diego's changes over the years "showing what's going on."
Bricker took underwater video of the wreckage between 2013 and 2019 showing the barnacled-covered remains of the ship through filmy green water that he and others say is teeming with marine life. His narration highlights areas that have collapsed or disintegrated to a degree that exposes compartments previously concealed when the 500-foot vessel's hull was more intact.
As Bricker put it in his nearly 14-minute video, which also gives a history of the ship that began life as the armored cruiser California in 1904 before a name change: "The chisel of time takes its toll on the San Diego."
Danny Rivera, 41, of Oyster Bay, who said he'd been diving to the San Diego since 2004, is poised to go back this season, which runs from May to November. He said the wreck was largely intact.
"There's tons of history on it. It's a relatively shallow dive, starting at 75 feet to 110 feet," and was only seven to eight miles from Fire Island, said Rivera, co-owner of Boat Is Full Inc., which owns the charterboat Sidekick and has a dive shop, Good Life Divers in Lindenhurst.
"It's really one of the best wrecks on Long Island and I hope to keep diving it for a very long time," Rivera said.
Bricker, 58, of Bay Shore, said he began filming the wreckage "to try to get an idea of its structural collapse." He said the more than 100-year-old ship, which has been lying upside down in waters about 110 feet deep, was undergoing what he likened to a slow motion demolition of a building.
"Slowly but surely the ship is collapsing," he said. "Different areas are collapsing more than others. ... Some parts that were 20 feet above the sand, now they're 8 feet above the sand."
Bricker continued, "Imagine if you had a building several floors high. The floor above is collapsing down — what we would call pancaking down."
Although a mine had been suspected of bringing down the San Diego, it wasn't until 2018 that Navy researchers and oceanographers from the University of Delaware confirmed a naval mine from a German U-boat, U-156, which had lurked eight miles off the coast, had been the culprit, Newsday has reported.
According to an account on the Naval History and Heritage Command website, on July 19, 1918, the "San Diego was rocked by an explosion on the port side below the waterline, immediately causing the ship to list to port. [Capt. Harley H.] Christy, believing the explosion to be the result of a German mine or torpedo, ordered evasive maneuvers to avoid a second attack, but the engines had been rendered inoperable. The cruiser was rapidly taking on water and the captain ordered the crew to abandon ship. Of a crew of 1,183, six Sailors were lost in the sinking."
In the decades since, six recreational divers have died exploring the San Diego's wreckage, four of them between 1989 and 1990, according to Newsday archives.
The wreckage was such a popular dive site the U.S. Coast Guard established a 500-yard "exclusion zone" around the wreck for a time in 1992 because recreational divers had been removing government property from the site, such as ammunition, lanterns and personal effects, according to the Naval History and Heritage Command website. An agreement was reached between the U.S. Coast Guard and "local dive boat operators to cease further salvage of ordnance, and the wreck was reopened," the website said.
Bricker said he hoped the Navy wouldn't close off the San Diego to divers amid the vessel's deterioration.
"I'd hate to see that," he said.
In an email to Newsday, Kristina Higgins, a spokeswoman for the Naval History and Heritage Command, cited information from the Underwater Archeology team, stating, "The U.S. Navy views responsible members of the diving and snorkeling communities as stewards and effective ambassadors for the protection and preservation of sunken military craft. ... Responsible divers should recognize their limits and skill levels, and should approach sunken military craft with care and respect."
The statement added the Navy last inspected the wreckage in 2016 and 2017 as it prepared to commemorate the centennial anniversary of the San Diego's sinking in 2018.
Newsday reported on July 19, 2018, a naval officer, standing on a ship anchored off Fire Island, read the names of the six sailors who perished when the San Diego sank, calling the San Diego a "war grave that is as sacred as any of the graves at Arlington National Cemetery."
Higgins' emailed statement also said the Navy "does not anticipate restricting access to the overall site of USS San Diego, however, disturbance of the site ... continues to be prohibited."
There was a time when divers were removing ordnance and other items, "but the Navy shut that down right quick," Bricker said.
To Bricker, there's a world of knowledge to be gained from visiting the San Diego.
"People like the history of it. To explore it," he said, noting the wreckage has worldwide renown. "There is stuff to see."
Time has not been kind to a U.S. Navy armored cruiser that struck a German mine and sunk off the coast of Fire Island during World War I in 1918.
"When I first dived it, it was much more intact, and now it's breaking up," said John Bricker, who's been diving to the USS San Diego for 37 years.
The deterioration of the San Diego is making "different areas of the wreck" available for exploration, Bricker said, who dove to the wreck last July and August. "But it's sad to see it happening."
Steve Bielender, 89, of Miller Place, a retired dive boat captain, said "divers are excited because it's opening up. It's become a new wreck." He said Bricker has been chronicling the San Diego's changes over the years "showing what's going on."
Bricker took underwater video of the wreckage between 2013 and 2019 showing the barnacled-covered remains of the ship through filmy green water that he and others say is teeming with marine life. His narration highlights areas that have collapsed or disintegrated to a degree that exposes compartments previously concealed when the 500-foot vessel's hull was more intact.
As Bricker put it in his nearly 14-minute video, which also gives a history of the ship that began life as the armored cruiser California in 1904 before a name change: "The chisel of time takes its toll on the San Diego."
Danny Rivera, 41, of Oyster Bay, who said he'd been diving to the San Diego since 2004, is poised to go back this season, which runs from May to November. He said the wreck was largely intact.
"There's tons of history on it. It's a relatively shallow dive, starting at 75 feet to 110 feet," and was only seven to eight miles from Fire Island, said Rivera, co-owner of Boat Is Full Inc., which owns the charterboat Sidekick and has a dive shop, Good Life Divers in Lindenhurst.
"It's really one of the best wrecks on Long Island and I hope to keep diving it for a very long time," Rivera said.
Filming the wreckage
Bricker, 58, of Bay Shore, said he began filming the wreckage "to try to get an idea of its structural collapse." He said the more than 100-year-old ship, which has been lying upside down in waters about 110 feet deep, was undergoing what he likened to a slow motion demolition of a building.
"Slowly but surely the ship is collapsing," he said. "Different areas are collapsing more than others. ... Some parts that were 20 feet above the sand, now they're 8 feet above the sand."
Bricker continued, "Imagine if you had a building several floors high. The floor above is collapsing down — what we would call pancaking down."
The second USS California, later renamed USS San Diego, was a United States Navy Pennsylvania-class armored cruiser. Credit: Alamy Stock Photo/PhotoStock-Israel / Alamy Stock Photo
Although a mine had been suspected of bringing down the San Diego, it wasn't until 2018 that Navy researchers and oceanographers from the University of Delaware confirmed a naval mine from a German U-boat, U-156, which had lurked eight miles off the coast, had been the culprit, Newsday has reported.
According to an account on the Naval History and Heritage Command website, on July 19, 1918, the "San Diego was rocked by an explosion on the port side below the waterline, immediately causing the ship to list to port. [Capt. Harley H.] Christy, believing the explosion to be the result of a German mine or torpedo, ordered evasive maneuvers to avoid a second attack, but the engines had been rendered inoperable. The cruiser was rapidly taking on water and the captain ordered the crew to abandon ship. Of a crew of 1,183, six Sailors were lost in the sinking."
In the decades since, six recreational divers have died exploring the San Diego's wreckage, four of them between 1989 and 1990, according to Newsday archives.
Popular dive site
The wreckage was such a popular dive site the U.S. Coast Guard established a 500-yard "exclusion zone" around the wreck for a time in 1992 because recreational divers had been removing government property from the site, such as ammunition, lanterns and personal effects, according to the Naval History and Heritage Command website. An agreement was reached between the U.S. Coast Guard and "local dive boat operators to cease further salvage of ordnance, and the wreck was reopened," the website said.
Bricker said he hoped the Navy wouldn't close off the San Diego to divers amid the vessel's deterioration.
"I'd hate to see that," he said.
In an email to Newsday, Kristina Higgins, a spokeswoman for the Naval History and Heritage Command, cited information from the Underwater Archeology team, stating, "The U.S. Navy views responsible members of the diving and snorkeling communities as stewards and effective ambassadors for the protection and preservation of sunken military craft. ... Responsible divers should recognize their limits and skill levels, and should approach sunken military craft with care and respect."
The statement added the Navy last inspected the wreckage in 2016 and 2017 as it prepared to commemorate the centennial anniversary of the San Diego's sinking in 2018.
Newsday reported on July 19, 2018, a naval officer, standing on a ship anchored off Fire Island, read the names of the six sailors who perished when the San Diego sank, calling the San Diego a "war grave that is as sacred as any of the graves at Arlington National Cemetery."
Higgins' emailed statement also said the Navy "does not anticipate restricting access to the overall site of USS San Diego, however, disturbance of the site ... continues to be prohibited."
There was a time when divers were removing ordnance and other items, "but the Navy shut that down right quick," Bricker said.
To Bricker, there's a world of knowledge to be gained from visiting the San Diego.
"People like the history of it. To explore it," he said, noting the wreckage has worldwide renown. "There is stuff to see."
USS San Diego
- The U.S. Navy armored cruiser struck a German mine and sunk off the coast of Fire Island during World War I in June 1918.
- "Of a crew of 1,183, six Sailors were lost in the sinking," according to an account on the Naval History and Heritage Command website.
- The ship, which has been lying upside down in waters about 110 feet deep, continues to deteriorate.
- As it does so, "different areas of the wreck" have become available for dive exploration, said John Bricker, who's been diving to the USS San Diego for 37 years.
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