18 SEPTEMBER 2001

With the deco station still in place and the current on slack diving resumed. Dan was desperate to film the big 14 inch guns in the quad A turret towards the bow. A team of four divers headed by Rod, started the long descent into the blue on scooters.

At a depth of 30msw the wreck materialised out of the gloom beneath and the divers left the down line and scootered down to land on the upturned hull near the bilge keel on the starboard side. Dropping over the starboard side of the wreck they immediately found a 25-foot wide hole, one of the starboard torpedo strikes. The plating was bent inwards at the edges - the impact having straddled the bottom of the armoured belt, blowing a large rectangular section inwards. The main impact however had hit the vulnerable lightly protected hull section between the armour belt and the bottom of the keel. Presumably as a result of the list to port, which followed the port side torpedo hits of the first wave of the attack, the soft underbelly of her starboard side had been elevated and fatally exposed.

As soon as the foursome dropped over the side of the wreck it became apparent that visibility was almost comparable to that of the UK - awful - about 5 metres compared to the beautiful 25 metre visibility of the clear water above.

Passing the life raft lying on the bottom amidships, the twin 5.25 inch anti-aircraft gun turret was still identifiable, it's barrels still pointed out defiantly to the side where they were last fired agauinst the attacking hordes of Japanese aircraft.

The team then moved forward and under the upturned hull to film the quadruple 14-inch main guns of A turret. It was immediately clear that the higher twin 14 inch turret was buried deep in the sandy seabed. In the pitch darkness of the chasm beneath the foredeck, first the starboard most barrel was encountered, then the inboard starboard barrel. As a result of the list of the vessel the port side two barrels were not visible, buried in the sand. The telltale turquoise blue of open water on the port side could then be made out in the gloom - the far side of the wreck.

All four divers scootered underneath the foredeck - once through everyone turned back and repeated the excursion and then headed towards the tapering bow passing under the heavy foredeck machinery still suspended in place above them. A mass of fishing nets were draped over the majestic bow, pushed under the hull by the current and in places still suspended on floats and buoys.

With time ticking away the foursome headed back to the shot. The two foreward annchors appeared out of the gloom still neatly stowed in their hawses, covered with coral and partly obscured by nets. As they rose up the wreck and headed back towards the shot they paused briefly to look at the torpedo strike again.

As the shot line was approached it became clear that the current had changed direction and the up line had rubbed against a sharp edge on the bilge keel and was almost cut through. There was a sadness in leaving the wreck knowing there was only one dive left - yet at the same time there was a sense of urgency given that the up line could be cut at any moment. After the switches to travel and deco gas the line was almost forgotten about until almost 100 meters of rope could be seen coiling up from the blue - the mooring line had been cut clean through by the sharp edge of the bilge keel.

The deco station dropped straight down for a few metres once the surface vessel was free to drift with the current.

During the long hang on the trapeze rigged beneath the die vessel, Dan did some extra filming and the divers left the bar and zepped around the drifting station on their scooters like bees around a honey pot. They watched as the 70 metres of anchor rope rose up from the depths to float on the surface above them.

Finally, the long decompression stops were over and it was time to leave the water and talk about what must surely rank amongst one of the greatest dives in the world!