Diving to the bridge, you can see just how much material is gone. We make it to the mid section where the big turbine is located and then turn back to to bow section to look at the bridge and starboard side of the bow. Then back towards mid ship to end this part.
This ship was given to Cuba from Russia after being built in 1984. Cuba ended up having no use for it and sold it to the Cayman government whose sole purpose was sinking it as a dive destination. Jean-Michel Cousteau was there for the cleaning and sinking and went down with the wreck in 1996. It is approximately 330 feet in length. In 2004, Hurricane Ivan pretty much tore the ship in half. The bow now rests on its port side. The mid section is wide open showing a huge turbine engine. The aft part of the ship is mostly upright with a bit of a tilt to port. The two gun turrets are still intact, one fore and one aft. The top of the super structure now lies in the sand on the port side as well. It has weathered many storms, but is still a great dive!
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