USAT Liberty Wreck Cargo Area Video

December 14th, 2016 • uwt

The USAT Liberty Wreck

A short video of the cargo hold area of the USAT Liberty Wreck

We did a couple of dives at the USAT Liberty Wreck in Tulamben, Bali last week.  The conditions were pretty good for a bit of a rainy period in December.  Visibility was easily 20 metres (60 + feet) and the water was a pleasant blue.  This was the perfect time to make a short video highlighting the picturesque cargo hold area of the ship.  For those who don’t know the story behind the ship, it was a US army cargo ship that was torpedoed by the Japanese in 1942.  After receiving damage, the ship tried to make it to a port in north Bali but was unable to make it and was purposefully beached in Tulamben.  After the removal of the cargo, the ship sat on the beach until 1963.

The Big Bang

Liberty Wreck

It’s quite possible that the USAT Liberty is the only WWII ship wreck that was not actually sunk in the war but by a volcano instead!  After sitting on the beach for 20+ years, the ship came to rest at it’s present watery grave when Bali’s prime volcano, Mt Agung, came to life in 1963.  After a series of smaller eruptions in February, the volcano exploded violently in March 1963.  It was the result of these eruptions and their accompanying earthquakes that pushed the Liberty into the sea, a WWII shipwreck 20 years late!  The incredible coral growth that has occurred on the wreck since that time is legendary.  The fact the ship lies only a short swim from shore has made this the most popular dive in Bali and possibly in the world.

This video is one of an upcoming series of videos about the Liberty and other top dive sites in Bali.  Stay tuned for more videos soon and check out our YouTube channel for more of our work.

 



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