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»	Cruise Talk » Ocean Liners and Classic Cruise Ships » They sunk it for artificial reef !

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Topic: They sunk it for artificial reef !

Ðraikar
First Class Passenger
Member # 1153

posted 06-16-2002 05:54 AM

There was talk about this navy ship made to sink as an artificial reef, sunk before they took her to the spot selected but here is a photo from sport divers.

I think any ship underwater is sad, ships not made for sinking but still interesting to read and look at ...

Ðraikar

Posts: 1710 | From: USA, New York | Registered: Mar 2000 | IP: Logged

gohaze
First Class Passenger
Member # 586

posted 06-16-2002 10:36 AM

Here in British Columbia we now have quite a few ships of different types which have been successfully sunk as artificial reefs. It's becoming quite an industry supporting all the divers who come from all over the world to dive here. The sea life which takes over these wrecks is fantastic to see and it really is a better fate than a cutters torch.
...peter

Posts: 1909 | From: Vancouver.BC | Registered: Sep 99 | IP: Logged

cruiseny
First Class Passenger
Member # 2928

posted 06-16-2002 12:35 PM

quote:
Originally posted by gohaze:
The sea life which takes over these wrecks is fantastic to see and it really is a better fate than a cutters torch.

I agree wholeheartedly!

Happy Cruising,
Cruiseny

Posts: 4730 | From: New York, USA | Registered: Mar 2002 | IP: Logged

PamM
First Class Passenger
Member # 2127

posted 06-16-2002 03:14 PM

One of the AP reports from 11 June says it's already attracting the fish :-
"KEY LARGO, Fla. (AP) -- A salvage crew abandoned attempts to right a 510-foot retired Navy ship that settled on its side after it flipped over and sank prematurely during efforts to convert it into an artificial reef.
The ship finally settled on its right side Monday under 130 feet of water off the Florida Keys. Workers had hoped to pull it upright with a tug boat, but the cables broke twice. "We're done for now," Jim Lupino, chairman-elect of the Key Largo Chamber of Commerce, said Monday. It will be ready for divers as early as this weekend, officials said. Joe Farrell, president of Fort Lauderdale-based Resolve Marine Group, the company charged with sinking the ship, told chamber members that continuing the efforts to right the ship would be costly and perhaps unnecessary. The Spiegel Grove flipped over May 17 and landed about 130 feet under water upside down, hours before it was to be intentionally sunk to the bottom of the sea six miles off Key Largo in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary.
The ship was already attracting marine life. In videotape shot of the salvage divers doing their work, schools of small fish could be seen darting around.
------
On the Net: Spiegel Grove: http://fla-keys.com/spiegelgrove "

The website is worth a read.

Pam

Posts: 12176 | From: Cambridge, UK | Registered: Jun 2001 | IP: Logged

Ðraikar
First Class Passenger
Member # 1153

posted 06-16-2002 04:41 PM

Britanis was good but sunk in deep waters

Ðraikar

Posts: 1710 | From: USA, New York | Registered: Mar 2000 | IP: Logged

Britanis
First Class Passenger
Member # 2912

posted 06-16-2002 05:48 PM

Sure she cheated the breakers, but it was only a partial victory, its a shame the plan to bring her to San Francisco failed. Now there is no major prewar ship surviving in origional condition.

The Queen Mary has been robbed of all vestiges of elegance and the former Dunnotar Castle was rebuilt into an (admittedly very attractive) classic cruise ship. Britanis was all that was left of the prewar passenger fleet, now she's gone, and we can't even dive on her!

Posts: 944 | From: Philadelphia, USA- former home of International Merchantile and Marine Co. | Registered: Mar 2002 | IP: Logged

Namlit
First Class Passenger
Member # 1940

posted 06-16-2002 07:42 PM

Anyone here taken a dive to the Mikhail Lermontov, down in New Zealand? I love the idea of diving a full-size ocean liner.

Posts: 309 | From: Greene County, Indiana, USA | Registered: Apr 2001 | IP: Logged

nzmike
First Class Passenger
Member # 1308

posted 06-16-2002 09:27 PM

Britanis - I understand your comments about Queen Mary, but I believe that despite her many unfortunate mods she still retains a degree of elegance. Many of her public rooms are still very imposing and grand and she still has hints of "the way she used to be" Most tantalisingly, she could be restored to her former glory using what is left. Sadly, I don't believe her current operator has the foresight to do this.

Posts: 186 | From: Auckland, New Zealand | Registered: May 2000 | IP: Logged

KansasK
First Class Passenger
Member # 1758

posted 06-17-2002 01:00 PM

We were in the Florida Keys on vacation a few weeks ago and stopped at Key Largo for a day. We saw t-shirts all saying "I dove the Spiegel Grove" but the ship was then on its side protruding from the water. I guess the t-shirts were printed up early and finally will be a selling item. It was supposed to be 40 feet from the surface and sit at 140 feet on the ocean floor. The web site that Pam gave (thanks, Pam!) said the ship will be at 45 - 58 feet from the surface.

We worked on a diving certification while at Duck Key and did a deep dive to a former U.S. Navy ship at 95 feet, the Thunderbolt. The ship was sunk to be a divers' site and also to be a man-made reef. We saw interesting fish around this ship and coral and sponges are growing on it. The line we descended along was attached to the deck of the ship at the bow. We could see the ship from surface and as we descended to it. It was surreal as we approached it - so quiet and gray. I don't think I could dive to see a sunken cruise ship - it would just be too sad.

Posts: 126 | From: Overland Park, Kansas USA | Registered: Jan 2001 | IP: Logged

Ðraikar
First Class Passenger
Member # 1153

posted 06-17-2002 05:24 PM

quote:
Originally posted by Britanis:
Sure she cheated the breakers, but it was only a partial victory, its a shame the plan to bring her to San Francisco failed. Now there is no major prewar ship surviving in origional condition. The Queen Mary has been robbed of all vestiges of elegance and the former Dunnotar Castle was rebuilt into an (admittedly very attractive) classic cruise ship. Britanis was all that was left of the prewar passenger fleet, now she's gone, and we can't even dive on her!

When the Kenya Castle and Monterey failed to become anything but scrap metal a part of me died for they were the last of there kind.

Dunnotar Castle was so rebuild that I don't think she counts, she looks nice but was very ugly when as the Dunnotar Castle. I hear that the same people that tried to save Kenya Castle are trying to save Dunnotar Castle and put here in Union Castle Line colors.

Ðraikar

Photos from
http://www.draikar.cjb.net/

[ 06-17-2002: Message edited by: Draikar ]

Posts: 1710 | From: USA, New York | Registered: Mar 2000 | IP: Logged

Ðraikar
First Class Passenger
Member # 1153

posted 06-17-2002 05:32 PM

As you can see they look similar to when first built

From http://www.draikar.cjb.net

Ðraikar

Posts: 1710 | From: USA, New York | Registered: Mar 2000 | IP: Logged

Donald Johnson
First Class Passenger
Member # 50586

posted 04-18-2018 11:33 AM

So many ship have been lost to the breakers yard. Some would say that the Big U should be a reef. Then again, The Independence Seaport Museum wanted to sink the USS Olympia as a reef. Why would anyone be dumb enough to sink the sole remaining ship from the Spanish American War?

Here is a link to Peter Knergo's report on the ship:

USS Olympia Tour

Posts: 100 | From: Florida | Registered: Mar 2011 | IP: Logged

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