On July 7, 2005, four African-American women became the first organized group of African-American women to dive on the world famous WWII wreck of the Japanese Navy's The San Francisco Maru.

Picture: The four history making female divers, Tara Gauthier, Melvina Edwards, Adrienne McAdory, Brenda Berliner and other crew members. Photo via harlemdiver157.org

The Leading Ladies:
Brenda Berliner: New Jersey - National Association of Black Scuba Divers Officer
Melvina Edwards: Atlanta, GA - Atlanta Underwater Explorers
Tara Gauthier: New Orleans, LA - New Orleans Bon Temps Divers
Adrienne McAdory: Washington, D.C. - Underwater Adventure Seekers

The San Francisco Maru sits in over 200 feet of water. Three Japanese Army tanks are located on the main deck at 165 feet. The deck gins, which many feel are the most spectacular in Truk Lagoon, are mounted on a huge motorized swivel. Cargo hold #1 is filled with rows of mines and detonators, still intact after 60 years at the bottom of the lagoon.

This group was led by PADI Divemaster Dean M. Carroll, with over 20 years of diving experience. In 2002, Dean was named diver of the year by the National Association of Black Scuba Divers and the Atlantic Rangers Scuba Club of Philadelphia. Dean, a graduate of Wilberforce University in Wilberforce, Ohio, was born and raised on the streets of Harlem, NY. Dean has used his street smarts and world travel expertise to assemble a unique group of six African American women and 10 African-American men of all diving abilities. Most divers are members of NABS and/or their local African-American diving clubs.

Truk, also know as Chuuk Lagoon, is one of the world's undersea phenomena. Divers Gary McGee (Michigan African American Scuba Klub) and Darryl Hubbard (Nubian Dive Club of Houston, TX) were the trip photographers who have taken well over 2,000 underwater digital photos, along with 45 minutes of color video, of this South Pacific experience.

Via PRNewswire

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