Need some information on a wreck

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Aquatic Eagle

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Location
Hurst, TX
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I am looking for some information on a wreck in the Florida Keys. I know about the actual wreck as it is today but I want to find as much information as I can about the ship before it went down and before it was prepared to become an artificial reef. Any web pages and links I can get would be nice. Thanks a lot!
 
Wanna narrow it down a bit or are we supposed to guess which one you are talking about???
 
Yeah, I think I stayed up too late tonight....I need some assistance obviously. :) Anyway, yes, so the wreck I want information on is in the Florida Keys. The name of the wreck is The Thunderbolt. When it was built, it's original name was the USS Randolph. I know information about it's current status and how it got there, I want info on the ship before it was sunk and pictures if possible. By the way, I'm an idiot. :) Thanks japan0diver!
 
I need some information on a shipwreck near Marathon, FL. The wreck is the Thunderbolt. I know enough about the wreck as it is now, I've been diving on it before. I know it lies in 120' of water. It used to be called the USS Randolph in the old days. It was a cable layer in the war. I know all of these things. What I want is some information on the wreck before it was a wreck. Any information at all would be nice. All I can find is information on the USS Randolph, an aircraft carrier and that is definitely not the same ship. Thanks everyone for any help! :)
 
The THUNDERBOLT was originally built as the U.S. Army mine planter MAJOR GENERAL WALLACE F. RANDOLPH in 1942/1943 by Marietta Manufacturing of Point Pleasant, West Virginia.

Comanche Class Auxiliary Minelayer
Here is a picture of a sistership as originally built:
http://www.navsource.org/archives/11/11010701.jpg

Length: 188.2 ft.
Widt: 37 ft.
Draft: 12 ft.
Gross Tonage: 1,300 Tons

Transferred to the custody of US Navy in 1951, and designated as auxillary mine layer ACM-15. However, she was never commissioned into the USN. She was berthed at Charleston, SC as a unit of the Atlantic Reserve Fleet. In February 1955, she was re-designated MMA-15, and re-named the NAUSETT (or NAUSET). She was later moved to Green Cove Springs, FL, where she remained in reserve until struck from the Navy Register in July 1960. She was stripped and sold in May 1961 to Caribbean Enterprises, Inc., Miami, FL.

Eventually re-named the THUNDERBOLT when used by Florida Light and Power for electrical storm testing. She was berthed on the Miami River for quite a while before being sunk as an artificial reef.

Does that help?

Cheers,
Mike
 
Thanks a lot guys. These pages help. If anyone can find a good picture of the ship before it was sunk, that would be great. Thanks a lot!
 

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