Capt Jim Wyatt
Hanging at the 10 Foot Stop
Staff member
ScubaBoard Business Sponsor
Scuba Instructor
USS Vandenburg
Reports of sunken ships being ripped apart during late-season hurricanes could create more hurdles for organizers of a project to drop a 520-foot decommissioned military ship in the waters off Key West.
Six artificial reefs off Martin and St. Lucie counties were damaged or moved during Hurricanes Jeanne and Francis, says commercial diver Kerry Dillion, who recently went diving on the reefs. He received another report of a tugboat in that area being moved a quarter of a mile, but has yet to dive near the ship, he said. He plans to dive at other reefs before coming to the Keys to give a presentation to the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary Advisory Council on Dec. 17.
Dillion described the 459-foot USS Rankin, dropped in 130 feet of water off Martin County, as if it were hit by a bomb. The hull, made of thick steel, was twisted and torn and the deck of the cargo now resides beside the ship, he said.
Artificial Reefs of the Keys wants to drop the 520-foot USS Gen. Hoyt S. Vandenberg seven miles off Key West, sinking it in 140 feet of water. The wreck would be accessible by both advanced and intermediate divers and snorkelers, because sections of the top of the boat would be 40 feet below the surface of the ocean.
One of the organizers of the project, Joe Weatherby, has been working with two of the world's top artificial reef companies, Canada Artificial Reef Consultants and Steven's Institute of New Jersey. The group has sunk 15 ships, more than any other in the world, Weatherby said.
The Vandenberg, which was operated by both the Navy and the Air Force, can withstand a 100-year storm and is being weighted down with an extra million pounds of ballast and locked in place with extra anchors, Weatherby said.
"This ship is very heavily built, more than the lighter little freighters that we are seeing," Weatherby said. "We have the engineering that shows the ship is going to hold together. It is the most stable structure that will be placed in the sanctuary or in the world. ... We're not surprised that some of these other ships that have not been reviewed as much as ours are breaking apart."
Sanctuary officials want to see stability surveys of the Vandenberg to compare them to the ships damaged in the hurricanes. They also have questions regarding the Vandenberg's structural integrity, said Anne McCarthy, Lower Keys program manager for the sanctuary.
The Vandenberg would be placed about a quarter mile from the coral reef tract, Weatherby said.
"We are concerned about the structures falling off and where they might end up, with the potential of them ending up near the reef tract," McCarthy said. "The sanctuary would be remiss if we didn't look at this."
Weatherby's group is working through the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission. The Maritime Administration, which oversees the decommissioning of military ships, only gives ships to state agencies. The Army Corps of Engineers, the state Department of Environmental Protection and the National Marine Sanctuary issue permits for the work.
The project has been endorsed by Gov. Jeb Bush and state and federal congressional representatives. Bush sent the Maritime Administration a letter showing his support. The governor received a reply on Oct. 21, stating that the application is not complete and listing a summary of missing information that included paperwork on the process for cleaning the ship, where, when and by whom the artificial reef would be sunk and verification of funding for the project.
Organizers are about $450,000 shy of the $2 million-plus funds needed for the project.
The 2002 sinking of the USS Spiegel Grove led to stiffer requirements for dropping artificial reefs. The vessel prematurely sank off Dixie Shoal and spent nearly three weeks with its bow sticking out of the water before it could be righted and ultimately sunk with its starboard side on the bottom. There were also concerns about the cleaning of ships after an unknown liquid was seen leaking out of the Spiegel Grove.
There have been three wrecks intentionally dropped in sanctuary waters in the past 10 years: The Ocean Freeze northeast of Key Largo in July 1998, the Adolphus Busch near Looe Key in December 1998 and the Spiegel Grove.
For more information on the Vandenberg project, log onto bigshipwrecks.com
Reports of sunken ships being ripped apart during late-season hurricanes could create more hurdles for organizers of a project to drop a 520-foot decommissioned military ship in the waters off Key West.
Six artificial reefs off Martin and St. Lucie counties were damaged or moved during Hurricanes Jeanne and Francis, says commercial diver Kerry Dillion, who recently went diving on the reefs. He received another report of a tugboat in that area being moved a quarter of a mile, but has yet to dive near the ship, he said. He plans to dive at other reefs before coming to the Keys to give a presentation to the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary Advisory Council on Dec. 17.
Dillion described the 459-foot USS Rankin, dropped in 130 feet of water off Martin County, as if it were hit by a bomb. The hull, made of thick steel, was twisted and torn and the deck of the cargo now resides beside the ship, he said.
Artificial Reefs of the Keys wants to drop the 520-foot USS Gen. Hoyt S. Vandenberg seven miles off Key West, sinking it in 140 feet of water. The wreck would be accessible by both advanced and intermediate divers and snorkelers, because sections of the top of the boat would be 40 feet below the surface of the ocean.
One of the organizers of the project, Joe Weatherby, has been working with two of the world's top artificial reef companies, Canada Artificial Reef Consultants and Steven's Institute of New Jersey. The group has sunk 15 ships, more than any other in the world, Weatherby said.
The Vandenberg, which was operated by both the Navy and the Air Force, can withstand a 100-year storm and is being weighted down with an extra million pounds of ballast and locked in place with extra anchors, Weatherby said.
"This ship is very heavily built, more than the lighter little freighters that we are seeing," Weatherby said. "We have the engineering that shows the ship is going to hold together. It is the most stable structure that will be placed in the sanctuary or in the world. ... We're not surprised that some of these other ships that have not been reviewed as much as ours are breaking apart."
Sanctuary officials want to see stability surveys of the Vandenberg to compare them to the ships damaged in the hurricanes. They also have questions regarding the Vandenberg's structural integrity, said Anne McCarthy, Lower Keys program manager for the sanctuary.
The Vandenberg would be placed about a quarter mile from the coral reef tract, Weatherby said.
"We are concerned about the structures falling off and where they might end up, with the potential of them ending up near the reef tract," McCarthy said. "The sanctuary would be remiss if we didn't look at this."
Weatherby's group is working through the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission. The Maritime Administration, which oversees the decommissioning of military ships, only gives ships to state agencies. The Army Corps of Engineers, the state Department of Environmental Protection and the National Marine Sanctuary issue permits for the work.
The project has been endorsed by Gov. Jeb Bush and state and federal congressional representatives. Bush sent the Maritime Administration a letter showing his support. The governor received a reply on Oct. 21, stating that the application is not complete and listing a summary of missing information that included paperwork on the process for cleaning the ship, where, when and by whom the artificial reef would be sunk and verification of funding for the project.
Organizers are about $450,000 shy of the $2 million-plus funds needed for the project.
The 2002 sinking of the USS Spiegel Grove led to stiffer requirements for dropping artificial reefs. The vessel prematurely sank off Dixie Shoal and spent nearly three weeks with its bow sticking out of the water before it could be righted and ultimately sunk with its starboard side on the bottom. There were also concerns about the cleaning of ships after an unknown liquid was seen leaking out of the Spiegel Grove.
There have been three wrecks intentionally dropped in sanctuary waters in the past 10 years: The Ocean Freeze northeast of Key Largo in July 1998, the Adolphus Busch near Looe Key in December 1998 and the Spiegel Grove.
For more information on the Vandenberg project, log onto bigshipwrecks.com
