Hermes

History

The Hermes began life in 1943 as a US Coast Guard buoy tender, built in Pennsylvania for wartime service. Her design gave her away: a tall mast forward of the wheelhouse, a single cargo boom and a big foredeck hatch for hoisting navigation buoys aboard for repair. After the war she was decommissioned and converted into a small freighter, registered in Panama as the Brava Fogo and later renamed Hermes.

In 1983, bound from Rhode Island to the Cape Verde Islands, she developed engine trouble and only just made it into St George's Harbour. Repairs would have cost more than she was worth, the crew went unpaid, and the owners walked away, leaving her tied up for about ten months.

The Bermuda Government took possession and passed her to the Bermuda Dive Association (reportedly for one dollar). Volunteers removed her hatches, drained oil and fuel, and had her inspected for pollution risk before she was scuttled about a mile off the South Shore on 15 May 1984. Hurricane Emily shifted her roughly 200 yards in 1985, but she remains upright and almost intact.

Diving the wreck today

Probably Bermuda's most popular wreck dive and an ideal first deeper wreck for Advanced divers. She sits upright on flat sand at 75-80 ft with a slight list to port, her mast reaching up toward the surface and the wheelhouse at around 45 ft. With the hatches removed, trained divers can look into the cargo hold, crew quarters, galley and engine room; the deck winch, cargo boom, toilet and wash basin are favourite photo subjects.

Visibility is typically around 100 ft, among the best of any Bermuda wreck. Because of the depth, watch your air and no-decompression time.