USAT (USS) Liberty- A must for Divers

Okay, so I haven't been there yet but it is now No.1 on my to do list in the next month or so. Just off the coast of Bali, not far from Amed, in a place called Tulamben, lies the wreck of a US Cargo ship called the Liberty.

The liberty was first launched by the US Navy during World War I as an animal and general cargo vessel. In 1933, the Liberty had a collision with another vessel in Ambrose Channel and was banked near 'West Bank Light'. After being repaired and ready, in 1940, during World War II, the Liberty was one of ten ships that was taken by the US Army for defensive services. In 1941, when the US entered the war, the Liberty was stationed in the Pacific. Come the beginning of 1942, and the ship was enroute from Australia to the Philippines carrying a cargo of railway parts and rubber. January 11th 1942 was the last day the ship could be of any service to the US. A Japanese submarine (I-166) launched a torpedo, damaging the ship just southwest of the Lombok Strait. US Destroyer Paul Jones and Dutch Destroyer Van Ghent tried pulling the ship in tow towards Singaraja, a Dutch Port and administrative center. However, the Liberty was taking in too much water and had to be beached in Tulamben (Eastern Coast of Bali)so that the cargo could be saved.

In 1963, Bali's most famous volcano erupted, causing tremors around the island that caused the Liberty to slip of the beach and land where she now rests, on a sand slope in about 30-100 feet of water in Tulamben. This has now become a famous diving spot for tourists in Bali.

However, it was something else that caught my mind when researching about this shipwreck and it was the photographic work of a Montreal based Director and photographer Benjamin Van Wong. He along with his crew took two models (Trained Divers) to do a photo shoot in the ship wreck and his work is phenomenal.

His images have made it absolutely necessary for me to make the trip and head down to catch a glimpse of the famous USS Liberty