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ESSO Nashville
 Wilmington, NC
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Max Depth: 111-120ft/34-37m
Average Viz: 41-50ft/12-15m
Entry Type: Boat
Bottom Composition: Sand
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Rating: 3.00 by 1 divers
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ESSO Nashville is a boat accessible salt water dive site, located in Wilmington, NC. This dive site has an average rating of 3.00 out of 5 from 1 scuba divers. The maximum depth is 111-120ft/34-37m. The average visibility is 41-50ft/12-15m.
The Nashville was a 445 ft steam tanker that was sunk by a German U-boat (U-124). It was hauling fuel oil on March 21, 1942 when a torpodo slammed into starboard side lifting the giant ship from the water. After the 29 crewmen abandoned ship, the bow fell off and sunk to the bottom where it lies today. The midship and stern did not sink and were towed to Morehead and later to Baltimore. The Nashville was outfitted with a new bow and was back in service a year later.
Today the bow of the Nashville is around 38 miles out of Masonboro Inlet. It is in 110-115 ft of water making it an advanced wreck dive. The forward portion of hte bow is relatively intact while it starts to break up the farther you make your way back. At the end of the wreckage it is rubble and twisted deck plates. There has been a good amount of brass artifacts pulled off the wreckage making it a very popular dive. Marine life is similar to other offhsore wrekc in the area. Tropicals including hogfish, angelfish, wrasses, and damselfish are all over the wreck.
Name: ESSO NASHVILLE
Type: Tanker
Date Sunk: 3/21/42
Cause: Torpedoed by U-124
Size (ft.): 445 x 64 x 34
Tonnage: 7943 tons
Propulsion: Two oil-fired steam turbines
Location DIVING NOTES: Diving Depths: 100-120 ft.
Current: none to slight
Visibility: 50+ feet
Summer Temperature: mid to high 70s in the summer
Points of Interest: Intact, but upside down bow with both port and starboard anchors. Lots of tropical marine life.
Fish/Animal Life: There seems to be an abundance of tropical marine life on this wreck including nudibranchs, lobster, frogfish, angelfish, etc. I should also mention that I recently saw my first open ocean shark in quite a while when I was hanging after a dive on this wreck.
Description: This is the bow half of the Esso Nashville. The stern section never sank and was towed back to port and re-fitted to another ship. The bow is intact and lying upside down with a slight list to the starboard side of the wreck. This is the highest relief on the wreck, rising some 15-20 feet above the sand. The deck area is buried in the sand, but the hull is starting to break way and fall to the side. This is most evident near the anchors where there is a deep sand washout. The wreck can be penetrated at this point to deeper than 120 feet. Aft of the bow, the bow flattens out in a series of collapsed hull plates, masts and pipes. The wreck can be easily circumnavigated in one dive. The site is similar in size and character to the bow of the Naeco.
http://www.nc-wreckdiving.com/WRECKS/ESSO/ESSO.HTML
http://www.wilmingtondiving.com/nashville.shtml
Web site for videos of various wreck sites in the area-
http://www.olympusdiving.com/PhotoGallery/VideoGallery/tabid/115/Default.aspx