About Who's Been Here Photos Revisions City Of Athens NJ More Info Max Depth: 101-110ft/31-34m Average Viz: 21-25ft/6-8m Entry Type: Boat Bottom Composition: Sand Aquatic Life: Plenty To See Rating: 5.00 by 2 divers 6/22/2012 8:26 AM

City Of Athens is a boat accessible salt water dive site, located in NJ. This dive site has an average rating of 5.00 out of 5 from 2 scuba divers. The maximum depth is 101-110ft/31-34m. The average visibility is 21-25ft/6-8m.

Passenger-freighter which sank in a collision with the French cruiser La Gloire in the wee hours of the morning on May 1, 1918 with 67 lives lost. Built: 1911. Length: 309 ft. Depth: 110 ft. Also known as the "Ammo Wreck" because of the vast quantities of 8 mm LaBelle cartridges recovered regularly by divers. These were part of the cargo. This is a fantastic digging wreck with not only thousands of bullets recovered, mostly from cases broken up on the port side near the bow, but also large quantities of pharmaceutical bottles, some still with contents and corks intact. The nicest piece we’ve seen come up was a sterling silver gentleman’s pocket watch. Just forward of the engines is the place to dig for assorted glassware and china. Large lobsters and fish also abound on the wreck if you’re not a salvage hound.

Today the City of Athens sits in 110 ft of water on a sandy
bottom. The wreck is in one contiguous piece, however, quite broken up.
The most distinctive features are the large boilers near her
midsection. Decking and hull plates have collapsed in on her. There is
a small section off wreckage believed to be the bridge not far off the
port side, some 30 yards or so. The mass of twisted wreckage gives good
home to fish and lobsters. Artifacts are also found. Ammo, bottles,
brass, and china, have all been found. While some can still be found
amidst the metal, most artifacts require digging. Because of her
distance from shore, visibility is usually quite good, averaging around
35-40 ft, and occasionally exceeding 60.