Espiritu Santo · Vanuatu · Wreck
The Stern
The deep end of the wreck, 73 metres down
The stern of the SS President Coolidge lies at 73 metres, the deep end of a liner that sank stern first and slid down a slope off Espiritu Santo. It is a technical dive on an otherwise accessible wreck: the ship is entered through holds and decks here as elsewhere, but bottom time is a fraction of what the 21-metre bow allows.
Where it is and how deep
15.5242° S, 167.2352° EApproximate position — the dashed circle shows where the site lies; your operator's briefing has the mooring.
The dive
The stern is where the Coolidge finished her slide down the slope, 73 metres below the surface against 21 metres at the bow. Operators keep a private mooring on the stern, so the descent is a line dive straight onto the deep end rather than a long swim aft along the hull. Everything about the profile is short by comparison with the forward part of the ship, and the plan is agreed before anyone gets wet.
This end of the wreck asks for deep and penetration experience rather than enthusiasm. The ship is large enough that divers have become lost inside her and had to rely on strategically placed emergency oxygen bottles to get out, so dives here run as a specific route to a specific feature and back to the line, with gas, depth and turn time settled in advance.
The wreck
- Vessel
- SS President Coolidge
- Type
- Ocean liner converted to troopship
- Length
- 199 m (653 ft)
- Built
- 1931
- Sunk
- 1942
- Cause
- Struck two mines, the first near the engine room and the second near her stern
- Lies
- On her port side, bow at 21 m and stern at 73 m
Marine life and season
The sources we used don't single out particular species here.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fair | Fair | Fair | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Fair |
Season follows Espiritu Santo: Diveable year-round in the sheltered bay; the Nov-Apr wet season brings cyclone risk that can occasionally halt trips.
Know before you go
- At 73 metres the stern is well beyond recreational limits and the dive carries a decompression obligation from the moment you leave the line.
- Divers have got lost inside a wreck this size and relied on strategically placed emergency oxygen bottles to get out; interior routes run with a guide, a light and an agreed turn point.
Dive videos
Dive to the Stern | SS President Coolidge | Santo Vanuatu - PART 3 | SCUBA Diving with Jenny Geldart · Jenny Geldart (Narcosis Films) on YouTube
Questions divers ask
How deep is the stern of the President Coolidge?+
73 metres. The ship sank stern first and slid down a slope, so the wreck runs from 21 metres at the bow to 73 metres at the stern, and the stern needs deep-diving and decompression training.
Sources
- SS President Coolidge — Wikipedia
- Espiritu Santo — Wikivoyage
- SS President Coolidge dive site — PADI
In The Logbook
- How a rebreather works, and what it buys youGear & kit · 8 min read
- Deep wreck diving: where recreational stopsWrecks · 8 min read
- Air, nitrox or trimix: which gas, and when?Gear & kit · 15 min read
- WWII wrecks you can dive, by theatreWrecks · 7 min read
More dive sites in Espiritu Santo
Artificial reef
Tanks and jeeps tipped into the sea, still on the sand
Wreck
The shallowest point on the wreck, 21 metres down
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