The "Papoose" is a wonderful dive that usually has spectacular visibility and plenty of photo opportunities for those who know how to use a camera, unlike myself! It's max depth is at around 125 feet with a relief at around 90 feet, and it's keel is facing up towards the surface. Usually on the bow you can spot the hoardes of sand tigers all hovering over the sand. The sharks didn't feel like playing, everytime I went to get pictures, they would move out away from the wreck, but I wasn't leaving. I will post a few more pictures I took as soon as I scan them, but for now, here's what I took on a previous dive!

...The PAPOOSE was a ship that started out as the "Silvanus" and collided with the "Thomas H. Wheeler", and was destroyed by fire. She was carrying a cargo of benzene, and when the two ship's collided, the sparks ignited the benzene and that was all she wrote! However, she was put up for auction and towed to Texas, where she was refitted and born again. On March 31st, 1927, she was rechristened "PAPOOSE"! Now, lucky for the crew, that on the night of March 18, 1942, the Papoose was riding in ballast (her cargo tanks were empty) heading towards Corpus Christi, Texas, to pick up a load of crude. Heeding the warning of the U.S. Navy, she hugged the coastline in order to be better protected against the danger of the "Wolfpacks" or German U-boats, lurking off the eastern seaboard. The Papoose did everything she should have, ran close to shore, blackened out, and right smack into a German torpedo! The Papoose was in good company however. The same night, only 30 minutes after the Papoose, the "W.E. Hutton" was also torpedo'd by the infamous "U-124". Two of the Papoose's crew lost thier lives in the explosion where the torpedo hit, Edward Peters and George Kreuger were never seen again. The thirty-four remaining crew were picked up at approximately 0730 the next morning by the destroyer, the "Stringham"(APD-6) where the Captain of the Papoose turned over his code book and confidential papers to the Commanding Officer of the Stringham. The U-124 was lost with all hand on April 2-3 while operating west of Gibralter. It was put at the bottom by British Warships "Stonecrop" and the "Black Swan".

As you scroll down the pictures, you may view a very disturbing sight. The Dead Shark is the handiwork of some S.O.B. with a power head. Since this incident there hasn't been any sharks on the Papoose! I'm sure alot of Charter Captains and Mates like myself appreciate this, since sharks are the reason most tourist divers come here in the first place!

Photos taken by Diverlars!

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