The SS SALERNO in Halifax Harbour

Over the centuries, more than 4000 ships have made one way trips to Nova Scotia's rugged shores. Their remains can be found littering the shore and depths alike. The reasons for their demise are many and varied. Most of the ships were victims of vicious weather and treacherous reefs. Some were the object of military action during the first or second world wars. And some were the result of fog and poor judgment.

On the morning of July 2nd, 1905, Halifax Harbour was shrouded in a dense fog and the 92 metre SS Salerno was approaching the harbour after crossing the Atlantic from Spain. Outside Halifax Harbour, a pilot came aboard to guide her through the entrance and around the perilous reefs and shoals of the inner harbour. But, in the dense fog, landmarks were hard to distinguish and at five o'clock in the morning, and within sight of the docks on a clear day, the Salerno ground hard upon Litchfield Shoals. Word of the grounding quickly reached the city and tugs were dispatched. After a few hours, men were also sent to the site to help unload the 2700 ton, iron hulled ship of her cargo of salt. Several tugs tried to pull the Salerno free, but their attempts were futile.

Today she is a popular dive located close to shipping lanes which can pose a hazard. Currents can also be quite strong.

We left from Herring Cove, on the outskirts of Halifax aboard the New Dawn III, a red-hulled Cape Islander with plenty of room for the ten divers on board and, after a fifteen minute run, arrived on Litchfield Shoals. But finding the wreck is a bit of a trick. Being close to the shipping lanes, she is not marked with a buoy so we had to rely on the depth sounder and our skipper's knowledge of the area. We didn't have to wait long, on our second pass her profile popped up on the depth sounder and we dropped anchor.

The sun filtered through the green water and small schools of pollock followed us down the anchor line. Once on the bottom at 60 feet my buddy and I swam towards a distinctive shape in the distant gloom which could only be one thing. The remains of the Salerno are distributed along the reef in between 50 and 90 feet of water. The wreckage, protected by the harbour, has not been exposed to the vicious storms that can batter the exposed coast. The remains are not scattered about but lie across the reef as if they had been carefully placed there. Much of the ship has collapsed but still lies in a straight line from bow to stern. The point of the bow has collapsed, but the first compartment bulkhead and a small deck area are still upright. This bow section is decorated with a lush growth of plumose anemones, finger sponges, encrusting sponge, stalked tunicates and clumps of sieve kelp. Inquisitive cunners, Canada's only relative of the wrasse family hovered around us and never strayed far during the entire dive.

Travelling towards the stern we passed over the Salerno's collapsed midsection. Hull and deck plates are interlaced like a deck of cards dropped on a table but railings, pipes and sections of catwalks can still be recognized running the length of the vessel. Like the wreckage of many ships of this era, the huge boilers stand intact, alone and almost unaffected. The only connection they have with the devastation around them is a thick coating of pink coralline algae that blankets just about everything else. Around us large flounders disappeared in puffs of silt while a large sea raven stayed motionless hoping not to be observed. The stern is also more or less intact and covered in a rich growth of invertebrates. The huge, steel propeller can be seen resting against the rocks and partially covered by wreckage.

This was a great dive but Litchfield Shoals is no stranger to marine disasters. Exploring other parts of the reef we came across an old Admiralty anchor which probably did not come from the Salerno and many other bits of unidentified wreckage that looked to have been there longer than the Salerno.

No matter where I go in Nova Scotia I can be sure of some great wreck diving but to get a dive of this quality within sight of downtown Halifax or of any major city, for that matter, is a rare pleasure indeed.

DIVER Magazine would like to thank Air Canada, Tourism Nova Scotia, Scuba Experts and New Dawn Charters for their assistance.

Halifax is easy to reach with over a hundred international and domestic flights a day offered in and out of the city's airport by Air Canada and its regional partner airline, Air Nova. Air Canada itself flies eight non-stop flights a day from its gateway hub, Toronto, into Halifax, providing easy connections from throughout North America and beyond.

For the sixth consecutive year, Air Canada, has been chosen as the Best Airline for Travel to Canada by readers of Business Traveler International.