Azores: The Waypoint of the World

That was almost 30 years ago. In the years since then, my passion for wreck diving led to my getting a degree in history and I studied and researched the naval war of World War Two, in particular, the U-boat war in the North Atlantic. In fact, any study of the maritime history of the North Atlantic always involves the Azores. The islands are home to five centuries of maritime history. My return to the Azores was to write a series of articles about the diving on the islands. In the space of 11 days, we would be visiting three key islands and diving near them.

During my recent trip to the Azores, I interviewed Dr. Maduro Dias, Director of the Museum of Azores in Angra do Heroismo. Dr. Dias explained to me the historic maritime importance of the Azores. “... if the North Atlantic is as strategic as a game of chess, the Azores are in the center of that chess board.” Geographically, the Azores are an archipelago of nine islands located in the North Atlantic, roughly along the same latitude as Atlantic City, N.J., and Lisbon, Portugal. The islands were colonized in the 1500s by the Portuguese as part of its maritime heritage. Fleets of many nations returning from the New World were joined