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
Category: Wreck
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.
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.
Revisiting the TBM Avenger: A Deep-Wreck Photogrammetry Project
Photogrammetry model of a deep TBM Avenger that crashed in 1952. Bureau Number is 53439.
Exploring the F-4 Phantom Wreck in San Diego
Photogrammetry model of the F-4 Phantom wreck off Torrey Pines at 150 fsw, built from about 600 photos on a day with good visibility. Includes dive video, a blueprint overlay and a live 3D model.
Photogrammetry in Wreck Diving: Insights from the F4D Skyray
A return dive to the F4D Skyray wreck at just over 200 feet to build a better photogrammetry model. Poor visibility left gaps in the result, and the post compares the new model with the original from 2021.
