I recently got an email from local San Diego diver Todd Baldi asking if I wanted some old slides he had that were taken from the sinking of the Ruby E back in 1989 — 35 years ago! Well, of course I did!
Todd was nice enough to send me the slides and I happened to have a scanner that could scan in old slides so I put it to work.
The slides include pictures of the Ruby E sinking and also of the celebrations they had. Todd was part of the crew that prepped the ship for sinking and was also a safety diver on the day the wreck sank so he had a front row seat!
As background on the Rube E wreck, I detailed it in the post below and it also includes a detailed photogrammetry model, including the inside area of the engine room:
Ruby E Sinking Sequence
Here are slides that Todd sent me that I have digitized:
And here are some of the other photos from the prep and the party afterwards. You can see the engine room area and the opening to get into the wreck.
Update : 8 Apr 2024
Todd found and sent me some more slides which I converted and have included a few more below:
Steve Lawson Photo
In addition, Steve Lawson sent me an interesting photo which shows the name of the boat on the stern. It must have been shortly after she sank.
Thanks!
A big THANKS to Todd for reaching out and sending the slides! Thanks to Steve Lawson for the Ruby E stern photo
Good times. I believe that is Tom Harmon (Diving Locker) at the party and Al Bruton being interviewed by the news.
The guys in the Boston Whaler are Steve Anderson, Jeff Feldbaum and Steve Ritz. The boat captain was Milt Beard (same guy that “Milt’s Tilt” was named after on the Yukon). Dive boat was named the “Dead Battery” since Milt always had issues with it…..
Very cool!
Awesome story, thanks for sharing!
Thanks, Oleg. I’m glad you enjoyed it.