A large natural harbour, Subic Bay has been used as a port and naval base by all the nations that have controlled the Philippines throughout the archipelago's history, each leaving their mark by contributing to the collection of shipwrecks.
From the age of galleons and exploitative colonialism to the beginning of steel ships and steam power, the Philippines was controlled by Spain. This all changed in 1898 with the Spanish - American war, fought largely over Cuba in the Caribbean and the Philippines in Southeast Asia.
To help defend the Bay, the Spanish scuttled the San Quentin to block a shallow channel to the southeast of Grande Island. At the end of hostilities the Spanish were still in possession, but sold the Philippines to the USA rather than contest things further.
The stronger bow and stern construction are both still partially intact, providing structure from which soft corals hang in the sunlight. At the stern I play tag with a cautious batfish, attempting to get close without success.
At the centre of the wreck are two large boilers, reasonably intact, though there are a few cracks in the plating through which I can look in amongst the boiler tubes.
The next change of ownership came in January 1942 when the Japanese invaded. Before retreating the American forces destroyed the port facilities and scuttled the old armoured cruiser New York.
The New York was launched in 1891 and saw service through the Spanish - American war and World War One. In 1911 the ship was renamed Saratoga and the name New York transferred to a new battleship. This name lasted until 1917 when the name Saratoga was transferred to a battlecruiser hull, later to become the famous aircraft carrier of World War Two, with the old armoured cruiser being renamed Rochester.
In 1933 the Rochester was laid up at the Subic Bay naval base, slowly being cannibalised for spare parts. At the time of scuttling in December 1941, all the 4 inch secondary guns had been removed, but the fore and aft twin 8 inch main gun turrets remained.
I made several dives on the New York and could easily enjoy more. Having swum round the outside of the wreck and the main gun turrets, we spent a lot of time exploring inside, worming our way along corridors and between decks to see just how far we could get, identifying various bits of warship equipment on the way.
It all made for a great sense of exploration, though we certainly were not the first as evidenced by dead lines left by previous divers.
The El Capitan is a fairly conventional steam powered freighter, resting on its port side at the entrance to Ilian Bay, another small inlet on the south side of Subic Bay. Only one bay along from the patrol boat wreck, visibility here was consistently very good.
Steam powered with an old style plate rudder, the El Capitan was obviously an older design of ship than most freighters in the Pacific at the time of World War Two, but it must have seen wartime use as there is a very sturdy gun platform above the bow.
The starboard side of the wreck is only 6 metres down. I had two nice long dives on the El Capitan and we must have explored just about every hole there was to find.
The wreck is in extremely intact condition. There are some popped plates, but I just couldn't find any sign of war damage to the hull or superstructure. Maybe it just ran aground and sank, or maybe it was scuttled.
After the Second World War, Subic Bay again became a US Navy base and training area. Aircraft carriers docked at the naval pier and marines regularly practised amphibious assaults on the north shore of the bay.
There are consequently a selection of landing craft and other ships for supporting amphibious operations at the bottom of the bay, the largest of these being an LST (Landing Ship, Tank) resting upright in 35 metres.
The last time I had dived an LST was off the beaches of Normandy, upside down with a cargo of Sherman tanks. The LST wreck in Subic Bay provides an interesting contrast. The same design of ship, this LST was scuttled deliberately in 1946.
At the bow the outer doors are open and one has recently fallen to the seabed, though the inner ramp is still raised. The front two thirds of the wreck is the covered cargo deck. Below this the covers for the engine room are removed and both diesel engines missing, obviously removed before the LST was scuttled.
The superstructure at the stern has fallen in to main deck level, leaving an abstract sculpture of gun platforms, though the guns were also obviously removed before scuttling.