Diving the USS New York, Subic Bay, Philippines

During a two week dive trip to the Philippines, I had spent much of my time diving down the Cebu and Bohol area. On my return to Manila; I had a number of spare days and headed to the former US Navy base at Subic Bay, Olongapo. There are a number of intact wrecks from a number of eras and until recently, the US Navy had closed Subic Bay to the public and much of the salvage operations and looting that occurred throughout other parts of the Philippines didn’t eventuate here due to the military presence.

I find Subic Bay a nice get away to dive for a number of days, what Subic Bay isn’t to me is the only destination to be dived in the Philippines. The armoured cruiser (with the designation ACR) the USS New York ACR-2 was completed in 1893 with the USS Maine completed in 1895 with both ships originally classified as armoured cruisers.

The USS Maine was however then reclassified as second class battleship (pre-dreadnought) type. The USS Maine was undertaking a goodwill visit to Cuba, then under the control of the Spanish during a time of US – Spanish tension when a major mishap occurred leading to the Spanish-American war.

On the 15th of February 1898, the USS Maine was lying at anchor in Havana harbour when she was suddenly destroyed by a massive explosion killing 260 of the 355 crew. The US Court of Enquiry rapidly concluded that the cause of explosion was a mine placed beneath the ship and on the 21st of April, the United States declared war with Spain.

A point of interest, while the incident has remained controversial, it is now considered that (while no absolute proof exists) that the coal bunker located next to the magazine sparked the explosion. During the Spanish-American war the USS New York operated as the flagship of Admiral William Samson of the North Atlantic Squadron engaging the Spanish naval forces in the Battle of Santiago, Cuba decimating the Spanish fleet.

While the 10 week naval war raged in the Caribbean seas surrounding Cuba, the Spanish controlled Philippines was also the site of naval operations with decisive American victories in both theatre before the Treaty of Paris with their favourable terms for the United States was negotiated.

Located on the main island of Luzon, Subic Bay was established as a naval base by the Spanish in 1885 when they discovered advantages of the deep water anchorage as opposed to their former base in Manila Bay. So when war broke out between the Spanish & the Americans in 1898, the American Asiatic squadron sailed from Hong Kong to the Philippines to attack the Spanish fleet. The Spanish counter move was to scuttle the gunboat, the San Quintin in an attempt to block the passage between Grande Island and Chiquita Islands, that attempt was unsuccessful.

The USS New York ACR-2 operated under a number of names during her service life, renamed the USS Saratoga in 1911, retaining the ACR-2 designation to make the name New York available for the soon to be commissioned and improved Wyoming class battleship BB34. The USS Saratoga was renamed the USS Rochester in 1917 to free the name Saratoga for the new battlecruiser CC-3, the incomplete hull later to become the Lexington class aircraft carrier CV-3 due to the limitations imposed by the Washington Naval Treaty.

After undertaking escort duties during WWI and as a troop transport after the armistice, the USS Rochester led a distinguished career between WWI and WWII serving throughout central & South America. After serving in the Pacific Fleet for a short period around Shanghai and the Yangtze River, China in 1932, the USS Rochester steamed to Cavite on the southern shores of Manila Bay and was decommissioned on the 29th of April 1933 and moved to Subic Bay. The ship remained moored at Subic Bay for 8 years until struck from the naval register on the 28th of October 1938.

The next deck down is the gun deck with easy access through many of the gun ports. The officer’s quarters, mess and accommodation deck is the third deck where the diver can penetrate the entire wreck to the bow.

The town of Olongapo and Subic Bay were heavily bombed by the Japanese during WWII starting on the 14th of December; the situation was considered so desperate that on the 24th of December 1941 the order was given to torch the naval station and evacuate. Despite being stricken in 1938, the USS Rochester was considered to still be a valuable asset; the USS Rochester was scuttled in Subic Bay to avoid falling into enemy hands. The Japanese gained control of Olongapo on the 10th of January 1942 and held it until January 1945 with the American forces retaking the Philippines.

Getting to Subic Bay from Manila is relatively easy, a bus trip from central Manila is an inexpensive option, a short flight to Subic Bay international airport or many of the dive operators also run transport for a fee.

My first attempt at diving the former New York was a failure as a cargo ship had recently departed dock running over and severing the mooring line, after repeated unsuccessful attempts by the crew to locate the wreck, an alternate dive was decided much to my annoyance. After dives on the LST landing craft and El Capitan for the first day, the next day, a newly attached mooring line ensured I would be diving the wreck.

The former USS New York lies on her port side in 27 metres of water with the upper structure at a depth of 20 metres. The main eight inch A and Y turret guns are still intact on the main deck with entry into the hull through the hatchways located near the aft gun, hatchways amidships near the boiler rooms or through explosion damage on the starboard hull moving forward towards the bow.

On this trip, I did not penetrate further than the third berth deck although I am led to believe that the coal bunkers, magazines and stores are located on this deck. The fifth and final deck is the engine room, further trips to Subic Bay will allow me to explore further into the wreck and penetrate around the engines and boilers. The whole site within the harbour is pretty silty and care is required to prevent a silt out in the wreck. Only trained, experienced & equipped divers should attempt penetration in the wreck although open water level divers can easily enjoy the outside of the wreck.

The USS New York displaced 8,200 tons standard, a fully loaded displacement of 9,021 tons with propulsion through two shafts driven through triple expansion engines fed by 12 boilers producing 12,000 HP and 20 knots speed. The armour is nickel steel with 4” belt, 5” – 10” inch barbettes, 5.3” turrets & 7.5” conning tower. The armament included 6 x 8” guns, 12 x 4” guns, 4 x 1” pounder pom-pom guns and 3 x 14” torpedo tubes with a complement of 566 personnel.

Further interesting wrecks are located at Subic Bay and I am definitely planning future diving trips to the area. The town of Olongapo itself isn’t as interesting or relaxing as holidays down in the Visayas with their beautiful islands and beaches. I always have to remind myself that this is Luzon after all and I have to dive a number of different locations for each trip.