Tales of the South Pacific

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pacific issue 4 | winter/spring 2011

Winter/Spring 2011

x-factor Meet X-Men star James McAvoy

magnificent seven What are the top shore tours?

hot stuff Couples’ spa treatments

discover the art

doing nothing of

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discovery

discovery

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Tales of the

South Pacific Wartime relics above and below the sea tell a story of world war II. Our reporter, a Diver and history nut, immerses himself in legend.

Words: roderick eime

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Exploring the wreck of USS President Coolidge in Santo, Vanuatu.

pocruises.com.au winter/spring 2011

pocruises.com.au winter/spring 2011

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discovery

discovery

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• sk most Australians about World War II history and you’ll get informed recitations about the Rats of Tobruk, the Kokoda Track, the bombing of Darwin or maybe the fall of Singapore. But some of the fiercest fighting in the entire campaign took place to the east, on the island of Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands.

Last year, television audiences were reminded in great detail of the ferocity of those early days of the US Marine Corps on Guadalcanal in the TV miniseries Pacific. Produced

by Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks, the historically and technically accurate production was based primarily on the wartime experiences of two veterans as they chased the Imperial Japanese Army from Honiara to Iwo Jima.

Some relics of the campaign are easy to find. Aircraft wrecks, sunken ships and discarded equipment are scattered across the Pacific islands. Some have been salvaged, removed to junkyards or scrapped; others form museums and outdoor displays. In most places throughout the Pacific, the historic relevance of these relics is now recognised and protected by law. You cannot buy or remove war relics except some small items such as 1940s-era Coca-Cola bottles and trinkets.

One of the most spectacular stashes of war material is underwater at the curiously named Million Dollar Point, a short walk from the port of Santo on Espiritu Santo. Just how such an enormous amount of valuable equipment ended up on the bottom of the sea requires some explanation.

After being caught somewhat flat-footed at Pearl Harbour in December 1941, the US industrial machine mobilised like never before in history. Aircraft, armoured vehicles, construction equipment, munitions and all manner of supplies were being produced in enormous quantities and shipped to forward bases near the battlefront.

By mid-1945, after a tenacious slog across the many tiny islands, the US forces were preparing for an

enormous and costly land invasion of Japan. The atomic bomb program was top secret and not a guaranteed success by any means, so when the war came to a screeching halt on August 15, supply bases all around the Pacific were full to overflowing with more material arriving every day.

With the surrender signed, it was decided to dispose of the millions of tons of surplus, and local commanders were empowered to do so as they saw fit. Returning it to the USA was not an option, logistically or economically. In many places in the Pacific, material was given or sold at rockbottom prices to locals to help them rebuild and recover from the war, but the situation on Vanuatu was a bit unusual.

With little gratitude, the clumsy Franco-British colonial administration, called the Condominium (meaning joint, overlapping sovereignty), returned to re-possess their territory in what was then the New Hebrides. The old colonials wanted to maintain their subjugation of the ni-Vanuatu people and punished them for salvaging items left as gifts by the gradually departing Americans with whom they had built strong friendships. The local US command held a very low opinion of these anachronistic and cruel overlords, and when it came time for the final departure a nominal settlement was sought for the substantial stockpile of equipment. Now this is where the story relies a little on folklore, but the basis is upheld by oral history.

Negotiations apparently broke down and the Condominium bureaucrats knew that the Americans could not take their mountains of booty home and offered them nothing. Figuring they would get it anyway, they called the Americans’ bluff but miscalcuated badly. Incensed by their arrogance and stubbornness, the Americans drove all the equipment into the sea in a massive operation of spite, creating a potent and lasting monument to the futility of war.

Today, the site is one of the world’s most talked-about dive and snorkelling spots, with the crystal-clear waters easily revealing the expanse of heavy equipment and vehicles submerged just a few metres beneath the surface.

Less than a kilometre away is the huge ocean-linerturned-troopship USS President Coolidge, which ran aground in October 1942. Her tragic story is another ode to the waste and foolishness of war.

Built in 1931 as a merchant ship and subsequently deployed for luxurious Pacific cruising, the 200-metrelong USS President Coolidge spent much of her early life transporting the well-to-do and who’s who of American society. Her playgrounds included Hawaii, Hong Kong and, ironically, Japan, where she sped to and from San Francisco in record time. Her guests reclined around two swimming pools, preened themselves in salons, worked out in gyms or

Aircraft wrecks, sunken ships and discarded battlefield equipment are scattered right across the Pacific islands.

pocruises.com.au winter/spring 2011

just hung out at the ornate soda fountain. Her fate, however, was anything but salubrious.

As war in the Pacific intensified, Coolidge was used by the US War Department on voyages around the expanding theatre. She evacuated American civilians and government personnel from Hong Kong and other ports as the tensions escalated and, in 1941, she was converted to troopship operations and put to work bolstering Allied garrisons.

After Pearl Harbour, she was stripped down, painted in drab colours and fitted with a 20-millimetre anti-aircraft cannon.

On October 26, 1942, a fully loaded Coolidge approached the US base at Luganville on Espiritu Santo and, ever concerned about enemy submarines, Captain Henry Nelson made a beeline for the entrance channel. What someone had omitted to tell Nelson, however, was that the channel was mined and, no sooner had Coolidge poked her bow into the opening ... ka-boom! And then another ka-boom!

Nelson knew he had no hope of saving his ship, so he steamed for shore in a desperate attempt to beach the 22,000-ton liner, but struck a reef instead. For 90 minutes, Coolidge teetered while 5,340 men calmly scaled rope ladders and waded ashore. But then it all went wrong, and the massive ship listed and slipped backward into deep water.

Army Captain Elwood J Euart knew he had men in the ship’s infirmary who could not escape. He raced back inside the doomed ship and took them all to safety. Then he went back for a last look – and Coolidge went under, trapping the brave officer. He and one crewman killed in the first explosion were the only casualties.

Partial salvage of enormous amounts of material continued until 1983, when the Vanuatu government banned it forever. Today, the wreck is one of the world’s most famous dive sites, accessible to both experienced and novice divers.

SANTO SHORE EXCURSIONS Santo is located in the north of the Vanuatu archipelago on the island of Espiritu Santo. Among the many attractions here are the various cultural experiences on offer: blue holes (freshwater swimming), exceptional diving on the wreck of USS President Coolidge, many beach, river and island experiences as well as being a 40-minute road trip from Champagne Beach. Tours delivered in Santo can all be found at pocruises.com.au.

pocruises.com.au winter/spring 2011

Photographs by Tatiana Chacon Ramos

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Clockwise from left: Shot taken in one of USS Coolidge’s main cargo departments; Westinghouse’s (the company that owned the ship before she was sent to war) emblem, found at 48 metres; coral-encrusted tyre; ‘The Lady of the Coolidge’; giant clam.