Wreck of the Atlas (Bougainville Reef)

Meet the site

The Atlas is the second, less-visited wreck on Bougainville Reef. Marinelife.org.au describes her as a 4,810-ton freighter that ran aground on the reef in 1945 and broke up, and lists the wreckage as spread down the slope from the reef top, at a depth of about 15 m. Mike Ball's itinerary map names her the SS Atlas, which suggests a steamship, though the vessel's origin and the circumstances of the grounding are not documented in the sources consulted.

Like the nearby Antonio Tarabocchia, the Atlas has been broken up by decades of Coral Sea swell. What remains is a field of hull plates, frames and machinery scattered across the reef top and down the slope, now heavily encrusted with coral. The shallow depth means the wreck is bright and colourful, and much of the dive can be spent between 5 and 15 m.

Marinelife.org.au lists anemonefish, Napoleon (Maori) wrasse, an eagle ray, clown triggerfish and potato cod among the residents. The debris provides shelter for reef fish, and sharks cruise the deeper slope below. Hard corals have colonised the plates, blurring the line between wreck and reef.

The Atlas suits divers of every level and offers a relaxed, shallow dive with history. It is not a penetration wreck. Because Bougainville usually gets only a day on a Coral Sea itinerary, the Atlas is dived only when conditions and time allow. Wrecks more than 75 years old are automatically protected in Commonwealth waters under the Underwater Cultural Heritage Act 2018, which applies to the Atlas; nothing may be removed.

What you might see

Maori (Napoleon) wrasse, potato cod, clown triggerfish, anemonefish, eagle rays, reef sharks; hard corals on wreckage

Location

Scattered plates and machinery of a 4,810-ton freighter wrecked in 1945, spread across the reef top and down the slope of Bougainville Reef at about 15 m.