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Proteus
 Cape Hatteras, NC
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Max Depth: 111-120ft/34-37m
Average Viz: 61-70ft/19-21m
Entry Type: Boat
Bottom Composition: Sand
Aquatic Life: Plenty To See
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Rating: 4.12 by 8 divers
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Proteus is a boat accessible salt water dive site, located in Cape Hatteras, NC. This dive site has an average rating of 4.12 out of 5 from 8 scuba divers. The maximum depth is 111-120ft/34-37m. The average visibility is 61-70ft/19-21m.
Today, the Proteus lays on a hard sandy bottom with a list to port. She is intact from Bow to Stern with the port side low in the sand and sections of the starboard hull rising almost 20 feet from the bottom in places. The bow of the liner is identifiable though not much of it remains. What is there points towards the surface rising about 25 feet from the bottom and is very clearly defined. Aft of the bow divers will encounter a large windlass in the center of the wreckage immediately adjacent to the remains of the cargo hatches. Just aft of this area and towards the port side of the vessel is where many divers have been lucky enough to recover china and silverware. It takes a sharp eye and knowledge where to dig, but dinnerware is still sometimes recovered from this galley area. From the boilers to the stern is where the Proteus is most impressive and looks like a shipwreck as she still rises over 30 feet from the sand. The large boilers dominate the wreck amidships, one smaller boiler has rolled off it’s beds and now lays askew. The triple expansion engine has fallen over towards the port side and lays on it’s side but is still attached to the propeller shaft. The engine and associated machinery are covered in a variety of hard corrals and other growth, but the shapes of gears and valves are still easily discerned. Very large eels are often found inhabiting the area of the engine and boilers and can be seen here with regularity. The propeller shaft leads from the engine to the stern and is still enclosed in the shaft alley along most of it’s length, though the casing is rusting away and now has large holes through which the shaft can been seen. The very stern section has the highest relief on the wreck site and terminates in a large bronze steering quadrant, the highest point on the wreck site. It is from this vantage point that I have watched some very interesting sea life swim past. It is also at the stern, in the washout at the propeller and the deepest place at the wreck, that many of the sharks frequently found on this wreck seem to hang out. On most dives at least one or two very large sand tiger sharks can be seen here, but on many occasions, there may be too many to accurately count and we have dived the Proteus when the number of sharks ran far into the hundreds. Besides the sharks, the Proteus can be relied upon to hold a wide variety of sea life with a large number of big groupers often present. The water conditions at the Proteus are most often very good with warm and clear waters over the wreck. This is due to the location far from the beach and near the Gulf Stream edge in the Summer months. This advantage also comes with the fairly consistent possibility of at least a surface current and one that generally continues through the water column to the bottom. The standard current flows from the port bow of the Proteus across the wreck at a slight angle towards the starboard stern quarter. The high relief of the wreck site provides plenty of structure for a diver to tuck out of the current once on the bottom but can make the travel to and from the wreck a challenge. However, like all wreck sites in the Hatteras area, we have experienced many days when there is absolutely no current at all and the anchor line drops straight down to the wrecks.