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Liberator
 Diamond Shoals, NC
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Entry Type: Boat
Bottom Composition: Sand
Aquatic Life: Plenty To See
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Liberator is a boat accessible salt water dive site, located in Diamond Shoals, NC.
Transport: Built in 1918 as Wichita by the Union Iron Works, San Francisco, CA; Launched 24 March 1918; Acquired by the Navy 2 July 1918 and commissioned USS Liberator (ID 3134) the same day; Decommissioned 4 October 1919 at Bayonne, NJ and returned to the United States Shipping Board; Sold in 1933 to the Lykes Brothers Steamship Company of New Orleans, LA. On 19 March 1942 the SS Liberator was sailing en route from Galveston, Texas to New York, carrying 11,000 tons of sulphur. She was traveling alone approximately 3 miles west of Diamond Shoals. She carried a 4" deck gun as protection against U-boats. At 1019 (Eastern War Time) EWT, a torpedo struck the port side on the aft end of the engine room. The engine room was demolished and five crew members were killed in the explosion. The ship sank 21 minutes later. The 31 survivors were picked up by the USS Umpqua (ATO-25) at 1125 EWT. They were taken to Morehead City, North Carolina. The night before, on the evening of March 18th, while rounding Cape Lookout, the gun crew of the Liberator mistakenly fired two shots in to the bridge of the USS Dickerson (DD-157). The Dickerson was on anti-submarine patrol and running blacked-out and steaming at nearly full speed. The friendly fire killed three crew of the destroyer instantly. The commanding officer, Lieutenant Commander J. K. Reynold was mortally wounded and died 10 minutes before the Dickerson docked safely the next morning at the Norfolk Navy Yard in Portsmouth, Virginia. This was approximately the same time the Liberator was being torpedoed and sunk by the German submarine U-332. The crew of the Liberator later reported that before their own sinking, they had engaged a U-boat in battle and sunk the German submarine.
Specifications: Displacement 6,027 t.; Length 410’; Beam 56’; Draft 30’ 6"; Speed 12.5 kts.; Complement 95; Armament unknown (one 4" deck gun in 1942); Propulsion Scotch boilers, one 2,800ihp reciprocating engine, oil burner, one shaft.
Diving the Liberator
The Liberator now rests a short distance from the outer Diamond Shoals, not far from the Point Shoals Nun Buoy and not too far from the Australia wreck. The sea conditions are very similar to those encountered on any of the wreck sites near the shoals, changeable water conditions and periods of high current. We have visited the Liberator many times and find the conditions vary with each visit. The "standard" summer conditions are blue water with a SW current and generally good visibility. However, sometimes the current can exceed 2 knots and make the diving difficult or impossible and on many occasions the water is Labrador and therefore cooler and greener with lower visibility and the photos shown here were in the green water conditions.
The wreck itself is broken into three large sections; a very distinct bow section that lays on it’s starboard side and almost perpendicular to a larger amidships piece that is also on it’s side. The amidships section sits fully on it’s side with about 1/4 of the beam buried into the muddy sand bottom. This section has two side by side holds and the starboard one is half filled with sand, the port side one being completely clear and easily entered. Both of these holds are open at one end where the ship was torn in pieces during the sinking and this allows many fish to swim through the wreck. During many past seasons a very large Jewfish has been seen hiding in this section as it is a perfect cave like structure with two exits. This section of the wreck is broken down immediately behind the large holds and after a distance of about 75 feet trails off into the sand.
The bow section lays about 35 feet away from the amidships section, with the actual bow pointing towards the amidships piece. One anchor is visible in the side of the bow and the anchor chain is clearly seen still neatly stored into chutes behind the winches. Overall, this section is about 75 feet long from where it was sheared off the rest of the ship to where the actual bow ends by burrowing into the bottom. From this bow section some of the lettering of the ship’s name was recovered leading to a positive identification of this wreck site.
The third section is not as large as the other two and also appears to be laying on it’s beam. The three sections are arranged into what amounts to a rough triangle with a small debris field scattered just down current behind them and this area contains lumps of the sulphur that was the Liberator’s cargo. In the past I have seen various other items in this debris but in the most recent dives to this site, the debris field appears to be sanded over. There is no section that appears to be the actual stern of the vessel, nor any large machinery present at this site.
Though some wreck guides state the shipwreck site is heavily damaged, large sections appear to be fairly intact and easily recognized as ship components and rise some 25 feet from the bottom. The SS Liberator is not dived as often as other more widely known wrecks that lay nearby and this is unfortunate as she contains wide range of sea life and no doubt some good artifacts await discovery.
http://www.nc-wreckdiving.com/WRECKS/LIBERATOR/LIBERATOR.HTML
http://www.divehatteras.com/Liberator.html
http://www.navsource.org/archives/12/173134.htm
Good video -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZeAgBPmWOA&feature=related