Wreck diving Grand Cayman - USS Kittiwak

This is a great wreck dive in grand cayman and one of the best in the caribbean The USS Kittiwake was reefed a little over one year and the shipwreck site is aging well. The shipwreck has five decks, is 251.6 ft (76.7 m) in length, 42ft (12.8 m) in beam and around 50 feet high. The vessel was built for submarine rescue and was launched on July 10, 1945 and which was sunk in Grand Cayman in January 2011.

This article provides a description of the dive, a little history about the ship and other information regarding the shipwreck and an overview of what one can find on the shipwreck. You can see the complete photo gallery on the web site and/or see the internet blogsite article for the USS Kittiwake for more data on the wreck and a history about the ship.

The Dive site:

The boat was reefed In january 2011 off the north end of Seven Mile Beach in Grand Cayman. There are 5 decks on the 47 foot tall USS Kittiwake. Externally, the crow's nest, mast and large stern a-frame have been cut down and remounted to make her height suitable for Cayman waters. The are two bridges on the upper decks (both an external and internal bridge to allow operations in heavy seas) along with the navigation and radio rooms. The sonar was also removed. The Captain and XO's quarters are also on the upper decks. The main deck contains the mess hall, toolshop, recompression chambers and rec room. You will see an a-frame structure on the stern that rescue divers, along with the diving bell where divers would enter to return to the ship from the ocean and then be placed in the chambers for decompression. The crews quarters, the engine room and medical facilities are located below the main deck along with ,air bank storage and compressors, in addition to the steering gear, shaft, gyro, ammunition lockers, cold storage and barber shop to name a few areas. While there are now a number of bigaccess holes both vertically and horizontally, all of the space on the vessel was used when the boat was in service. Be sure to plan your dive adequately. One approach would be to begin at the stern before entering into the vessel to get pictures near the"USS Kittiwake" logo on the stern and in addition get photographs by the propeller. For Scuba Divers that plan on entering the wreck, after you leave the stern make your way to the top of the ship and enter via the funnel that is located on the Bridge Deck. Should you not plan on entering the wreck you may start your exploration on the main deck just above the Screw.. The funnel entry makes an excellent underwater photograph and I would suggest taking the photo looking up from the bottom of the funnel to the top of the funnel. I would suggest silhouetting one of your dive buddies diving down into the shipwreck. You can then exit the shaft on the first platform or in the hold. The cargo hold should only be entered by experienced advanced divers. When you exit to the first platform you can see the Engineering emblem in the Motor Room section. This area is easily accessible and can be a good location for a incredibly good underwater photograph near the "Engineering Mural". The sediment can be substantial in this location so you should move slowly to prevent stirring up the sediment. For advanced divers you can also check out shaft alley and the forward hold regions of the ship. For other divers you may view the various compartments on the first platform and after that begin making your way up deck by deck and then finally coming to the Bridge (Pilot House) where you can do you safety stop as it is at about 5 to 6 meters or 15 to 18 feet.

Look at images of additional shipwrecks on http://www.stevenwsmeltzer.com or visit  his blog for reviews of specific shipwrecks.