The Relief ship was built in Camden NJ. In 1904. She was 125 Ft. Long and 28Ft. Wide. She was powered by a single 600 H.P. diesel. Her most important feature, was her beacon, 60,000 candle power. Her job was to travel up and down the coast to temporarily replace or “relieve” the regularly stationed light ships so they could be brought into port for repair and refit. At this time, these light ships were used as mobile light houses, in lieu of stationary towers in use today.

On a very foggy  June 24^th 1960, the Wal 505 was on station in what is called Ambrose Chanel, approaches to New York Harbor. It served as a beacon to ships traveling up and down the coast, that they had arrived at NY. Harbor. It is in this area that the Harbor pilots  get onto the larger ships, to guide them into the harbor.  The Relief ship had her beacon flashing, and her fog horn on. Despite this, and the use of radar, the freighter Green Bay, struck the vessel amidship, on her starboard side.  The large freighter was undamaged , but the much smaller light ship, was doomed. She sank in just minutes.  The nine crewmen were saved without serious injury.

Today, the wreck is sitting upright in 105 Ft. of water. The deck rises 15 Ft. off the muddy bottom to about 85 Ft. All of the original deck houses and superstructure is gone, but most of the hull and below decks remains.  The engine room, while still intact, is mostly filled with mud. It is possible to descend one deck level and swim completely around the interior. Here one will find a few key land marks. On the port side towards the bow is the remains of the galley, as evidenced by the stove. There is ALWAYS a nice lobster inside the stove. You figure out how I get them out. Continuing forward, you get to a small enclosed rom, the “head”. Further forward, you come to a large deep locker. Possibly it was for anchor chain. In the center of the bow is a large winch. There are actually two capstans here, port & starboard. There is usually a lobster in/under one of them. Continuing now on the port side there is another large, deep locker against the hull, same as on the starboard.  You then head sternwards. On your left is the engine room, and machinery spaces. You can enter at this level, but no deeper, due to the silt. Further aft against the hull, you will find a large 3'X4' set of batteries. There are also some draws here. Occasional you can find a bug here too. Further aft, you come to the large rounded stern. In this area there are three levels of drawers. One over the silt, one partially filled with silt, and the third one completely buried in the silt. Time spent digging here can be richly rewarded. The visibility on the wreck is hit or miss, but being intact, it is still easy to navigate even in low vis. 

This wreck is only 13 Mi. From Great Kills harbor, and a very short ride on the John Jack. This wreck was very popular in the late 60s and early 70s. I first dove it off the Chetah, a dive boat out of S.I., run by Jimmy Paluchi, in 1979. My initial dive there, was a dark, murky, and scary, night dive. Other than for fishing, not many boats stopped there in the 80s to mid 90s . I made a stop there one Wednesday night on my way to the Pinta, to pick up an anchor, a friend had lost there. Not expecting to see much, I was surprised to find 20 Ft. of visibility. I was able to find the anchor and send it up in no time. I decided to stay here for the night dive. What a dive we had. I picked up 11 bugs, one glass, some ammunition, and an old brass flash light. Not a bad nights haul !!

I made several trips back there that season and was always rewarded with a cool find. We found several American flags on the wreck as well..  People often ask me how do you find artifacts?? There are several ways. They all involve spending time in the water, work, research, and some luck. But the harder you work, the luckier you get. One of my regular divers, John Yurga, applies all of these methods to the nth degree. There is a sister ship to the Relief ship at South St. Sea Port in NYC. John made several trips there learning about the wreck. He learned to navigate thru it in the dark. He took note of where all the brass goodies were. He then suited up and dove his ass off. In subsequent dives over the next two seasons, he found the compass, the ships chronometer, the sextant, and the optics. As well as several other nice artifacts. His work and research paid off. Keep in mind that this was by no means a new find, it’s location was always well known. It was dove heavily in the 60s & 70s, but no one took the time, to do the research like John did. Contrary to popular opinion. No wreck is ever “picked” over. Do you have to work harder for them ?? Yes, but it makes the finding, so much sweeter.

Since the Relief ship is a short run, we often stop there as a second dive on the way home. We also use it, as one of our warm-up dives in the beginning of the season. Please look for it on our schedule.