Cannons on the USS Emmons
The USS Emmons was an American Destroyer ship serving in WWII, destroyed in 1945 by Kamikaze in Okinawa, Japan. Discovered in 2001, the site is now very popular amongst experienced divers.
Settled at depths between 30-45m+ most divers can only dive on air, limiting bottom time but it is an incredible dive, definitely one of my favourite wrecks! (Japanese law prevents changing blends lower then 32%O2 other then the military)
Being located fairly close to shore it is easily accessible via smaller boats. As the wreck is out in the open and very exposed it often has very strong currents, however we were pretty lucky had a bit of current on the first dive but had slack low on the second!
When i dove the site in early September we had good visibility (avg 20+m) with comfortable water temperatures around 27c. Coming down the line the wreck starts to become visible and it is jaw dropping. Laying on its side, you can see the ammunition, cannons and decks very clearly. Half of the ship is sprawled across the sandy ocean floor, however the starboard side is relatively intact and it is an adrenalin rushing 30 minutes!
Due to bottom time restrictions we weren’t able to penetrate the wreck, but in all honestly (just coming from the WWII wrecks in the Philippines) i didn’t feel the need. The cannons and ammunition (shown in photos) are located on the deck of the ship and are a little intimidating, however at the same time, awesome! There is one cannon machine that still points out to face the enemy, it is quite a surreal feeling imagining the war they went through fighting in the World War 2.
An incredible dive, any experienced diver should definitely do when they are in Japan! DD 457, DMS 22.
Kelissa Brockett 