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.

Liveaboard only. Mike Ball's Spoilsport visits Bougainville on its 4-night Osprey fly-dive (Cairns departure Thursday evening, return by flight from Lizard Island), 5-night Coral Sea & Cod Hole and 7-night Coral Sea expeditions; the overnight run from Cairns is roughly 230 km of open ocean. Bougainville is not guaranteed on every itinerary and is usually allocated one day.

The Atlas is listed on Mike Ball's itinerary map (as SS Atlas) but is visited less often than the Tarabocchia; it is dived from a mooring or tender near the wreck site.

Bougainville is a small, isolated Coral Sea reef about 230 km north-east of Cairns and 150 km south of Osprey, with no land to shelter behind, so the surface can be choppy in any SE trade wind over about 20 knots, common June to August. Conditions broadly follow Osprey's, though Bougainville is sometimes calmer when Osprey is windy. Currents are generally mild but can pick up on the corners and walls.

September to December usually gives the calmest seas and best visibility (20–40 m); December to April is cyclone season.

Descend to about 15 m at the base of the debris field, work upslope through the plates and machinery, then finish over the reef top among the shallow wreckage for a long safety stop.

No penetration – broken debris field.

Mike Ball Dive Expeditions (Spoilsport) – occasional on Coral Sea expeditions when time at Bougainville allows.