Lawrence Works was 20 when he died in a training collision off Anacapa Island in 1945. His 61 letters home show what it was like to be a young Navy aircrewman getting ready for war.
Swell Ships and Flying Coffins: The Letters of Lawrence Works
Author: Brett Eldridge
Avid rEvo rebreather diver.
Cape Charles Wreck Photogrammetry Model – Dive 1
First dive of a new project to build a photogrammetry model of the Cape Charles wreck off Point Loma. About 1,500 photos covering the back deck, crane base and lower pilothouse, plus what's left to do on the next dives.
Bearcat Wreck Painted 3-D Model
Intro After initially finding and identifying the Bearcat, I returned with Drew Wilson to conduct a second dive to get photos for a model of this very nice aircraft wreck. The resulting photogrammetry model won the Underwater Photographer of the Year Award for the Wreck Category in 2023. A while after that Drew surprised me [...]
B-36 Peacemaker Photogrammetry Models
Intro/Background I'm currently finishing up the chapter in the book on the B-36 wreck off Mission Beach. It is quite a story and has taken more time than most of the other chapters to get it just right. It took a lot of additional research, reading and re-reading accident reports and newspaper articles to get [...]
Million Dollar Point: Diving the WWII Junkyard of Espiritu Santo, Vanuatu
Million Dollar Point isn't a shipwreck — it's an entire WWII junkyard, deliberately driven into the ocean by the US military rather than handed over to colonial powers who refused to pay. Here's the story behind it, and what it's like to dive the tractors, jeeps, and trucks still resting on the seabed today.
U-869 “U-Who?” Submarine (New Jersey — 230 fsw)
Diving U-869, the "U-Who?" wreck made famous by Shadow Divers — with a detailed top-down photogrammetry model and a builder's-plan overlay.
SS President Coolidge (Espiritu Santo, Vanuatu — 60->220 fsw)
The SS President Coolidge is one of the best wreck dives in the world — a 600-foot luxury liner turned troopship, sunk in 1942 and still nearly intact. Here's her story, and mine: 8 dives, cargo holds full of jeeps, a doctor's office, an engine room, and everything in between.
Mystery Corsair (Turtle Bay, Espiritu Santo — 120 FSW)
An unidentified WWII Corsair rests off Turtle Bay, Espiritu Santo — and figuring out whose it was turned into a real research rabbit hole. Eleven candidate aircraft, a missing propeller with no good explanation, and a mystery that's still open.
Trip Report : Vanuatu / SS President Coolidge (Jun 2026)
A technical diver's detailed trip report for the SS President Coolidge in Espiritu Santo, Vanuatu — covering routing options, the Fiji Air baggage saga, Pacific Dive, accommodation, and three remarkable WWII dive sites.
PBM Mariner Wreck: Side-by-Side Photogrammetry Model Comparisons
The author revisits the PBM Mariner wreck off Point Loma to improve a previous photogrammetry model, dealing with minor equipment issues and poor surface conditions during the dive. The new model features enhanced color and detail, providing a more accurate visual document of the historically significant wreck for an upcoming book.
