The Emperor Dive Site

The Emperor Site

Depth Range 25' to 170+'

There are two mooring buoys on the Emperor -- one on the bow and one on the the stern cabins on the forward starboard side cabin roof. The GPS coordinates in the table are for the stern mooring and the bow mooring is about 130 yards roughly east of the stern in shallower water. Canoe Rocks and shallow shoals are near the site so navigate with care. The moorings allow for two very different dives.

Bow dive - The tip of the bow reaches up to about 25' of depth and the anchors and huge anchor windlasses are visible within close proximity to the mooring line. The deck is collapsed and the sides of the ship are folded in on the deck leaving no meaningful areas to be penetrated. If your navigation is good you can swim down along the port side wreckage to where the ship becomes intact again at about 80' deep. Looming above you 30 feet, the break is an awesome sight. Following the cargo holds down to the stern cabins is tempting, but due to the deep depth and travel time, it is safer to make that a separate dive starting from the stern buoy. If you loop back to the bow on the starboard side you can still see the large "Canada Steamship Lines" lettering on the collapsed side of the ship.

Stern Dive - The stern dive is a deep dive. You descend to the cabin roof at a little less than 110'. Going forward (which is in the shallower direction) you can see the deck windlasses and cargo holds. If you stay on the roof you can see the folded over stack, fog horn, mast, air shafts or ventilators, and the collapsed skylight opening into the engine room. On the fantail at 135' are the spare propeller flukes and an anchor. Doing a loop around the stern deck, you can look into the stern cabins including the boiler room entrances, crew quarters, galley, and tool room entrance. Both the engine room and boiler room can be penetrated along with all of the rooms mentioned previously. There are four entrances to the boiler room, but all are a little tight and the doors usually fall closed due to the angle of the ship. Beware of the depths. Depth and time are a problem on the Emperor. The ship is huge and it is impossible to see it all in one dive. Plan your dives and stick to the plan. It is possible to reach 150' in the engine room. The bottom around the fantail is 170' plus and there is little to see there. The propeller flukes were broken off when it sank leaving only the hub. The rudder still remains.