A Dive to Remember: Technical diving on the USS Illinois at 70m

SCUBA presents the first set of entries from our 2025 writing competition, A Dive to Remember. Nicky Baker recalls a deep wreck dive in the Channel in which her training paid dividends.

Briefing:

The USS Illinois is an exceptional wreck 30 miles off the English Channel, still sitting proudly upright on the seabed at a maximum depth of 70m. Being a firm favourite among technical divers, she is my deepest UK sea dive and left a lasting impression on me.

The dive:

USS Illinois started her journey in Texas, USA, built by Newport News Shipbuilding & Dry Dock, Co. She was an impressive steam tanker at 130m in length, 17.5m wide and 4,740 tonnes. Sailing as an American merchant vessel, she fell foul of the German U-boat UC21 during the First World War. Unarmed, her captain could do little but abandon ship and watch as she fell below the surface.

My dive buddy, and husband, had dived the wreck previously and was delighted that I was now suitably experienced to join him on a dive to this wreck.

Nicky Baker ascending

My experience of diving the wrecks off the South Coast has been a bit hit-and-miss where visibility is concerned. Diving the Illinois was a big deal for me, as it was going to be my most challenging dive at that time. I was a little dubious as to just how dark it was going to be and how much I was actually going to see.

The English weather was behaving itself and the sea conditions were magic; good start so far.

After completing all the necessary checks at 6 metres I continued down the shot line, not sure what to expect. Well, this wreck did not disappoint in the least. I remember travelling down the shot line and suddenly seeing this enormous wreck in front of me in absolute fantastic visibility! I could see the decks and all the way to the seabed. I remember feeling so excited and awestruck by the view and even happier that I didn’t need my torch.

We made our way all around the deck areas, taking in all the history surrounding us along with the sheer size of the wreck. I said hello to a few friends on the way, cuckoo wrasses and my favourites, conger eels.

Too soon, we needed to say goodbye and make our way up to the obligatory decompression stops. While hanging in the green counting the minutes, I had time to reflect on the dive.

Debrief:

This dive was so special to me as it was the deepest UK sea dive I had done and a culmination of many years of training and practice to complete this type of dive safely. The awesome visibility and sheer scale and preservation of the wreck has left me buzzing for a long time.

This article was originally published in SCUBA magazine, Issue 156, June 2025. For more membership benefits, visit bsac.com/benefits.

Images in this online version may have been substituted from the original images in SCUBA magazine due to usage rights.