Submarine as artificial reef

[HarveyS]

Anyone with experience or knowledge in environmental cleaning and "diverising" of submarines as artificial reefs? We have a possible opportunity in California to accept one from the USN, but I know of no other areas that have prepared and intentionally sunk one for this purpose.

[NJMike]

Maryland sank the USS Blenny off the coast for just that reason. Google "USS BlennY". If you need more info, just PM me. I'm not connected in any way to it except that I hope to dive it next summer.

[mikerault]

Nuclear or Diesel? Nuclear will probably have the reactor compartment sliced out. It can cost several million to clean a large ship (check out the costs for thwe Oriskany) however, a submarine is of course much smaller, especially if it is a diesel.

Mike

[jeffrey-c]

Might be cheaper and easier to invite the Russian Navy to cruise our lovely California coast for awhile - sooner or later one is bound to sink. Oooh, ouch, sorry - that was cold! I apologize........

[mike_s]

Nuclear or Diesel? Nuclear will probably have the reactor compartment sliced out. It can cost several million to clean a large ship (check out the costs for thwe Oriskany) however, a submarine is of course much smaller, especially if it is a diesel.

Mike

Nuclear will have to have the reactor removed for security and environmental reasons. The US Navy won't let a reactor vessel into volunteer hands with the reactor intact. Still it'd be a pain in the butt to clean up. Figure the cost in the millions. (example are the Oriskany, the Spiegel Grove, and the Vandenberg. All cost in the millions and they were all non-nuclear.

[H2Andy]

and don't forget the towing costs and actual sinking costs involved, berthing, etc.

i am assuming the environmental costs will also be significant

not to discourage you, but maybe you need to get a not-for-profit together and raise some money so you can get it done, enlist businesses, the diving community, etc.

[dhampton82]

sorry to hi-jack, but what all is involved in "cleaning" a boat to sink it? I am just curious as to what it is that cost millions of dollars to get a boat ready to sink to the bottom of the ocean.....

[Skyjunky]

"removal and disposal of liquid hydrocarbons (fuels and oils) throughout the ship so that the ship is essentially petroleum free; removal and disposal of any loose or detached friable asbestos containing material; removal and disposal of all capacitors, transformers, or other liquid PCB containing components; sweep-up and disposal of all loose paint accumulated on deck surfaces; removal and disposal of all trash, loose debris, cleaning materials, and any floatable materials that are not permanently attached to the ship or could be transported into the water column during sinking of the ship; and removal and disposal of all batteries, halons, mercury, antifreeze, coolants, fire extinguishing agents, black and gray water, and chromated ballast water."

[dmdoss]

I dont know how much salvage money would be in a sub, without scraping the hull. so most of the money would have to come from donations. By the time the navy got done with it anyway.

[Captain12Pk]

HarveyS,
Contact Courtney @ The San Diego Oceans Foundation. I'm certain she can steer you in the right direction.

Courtney Gosch
Program and Outreach Director
courtney@sdoceans.org
www.sdoceans.org
San Diego Oceans Foundation
P.O. Box 90672 | San Diego, CA 92169
p 619.523.1903
f 619.523.1979

[Tom Winters]

Ther is no way that the USN is going to release a decommisioned nuke submarine. They still have a few ancient diesel boats parked around, up in Vallejo I believe. Getting one into shape for EPA approval and whatever unholy acts of submission the California environmentalists would require are another story.

[mikerault]

Actually the cleanup of an ex Nuke would proba bly be considerably less than that of a comparible standard fuel ship. The reactor compartment would be sliced out (about 20-30 feet right out of the center of the sub) and the only oil would be in the diesel, turbo generator and reduction gear sumps and hydraulic systems. These could be fairly quickly cleaned up. At least when I was in the subs where usually kept at a higher state of cleanlieness and maintenance than any surface ship.

Mike

[Tom Winters]

Plus the chow was better also.

[mikerault]

Yep, especially in the yards in Maine...lobster anyone? Of course after week six into patrol and all the fresh eggs gone it got a bit tedious....

Mike