Mohawk scuttled off Sanibel Island
BY TIMOTHY O'HARA Citizen Staff
tohara@keysnews.com
[SIZE=+0]A piece of Coast Guard and Key West history came to its final resting place on Monday.
The retired Coast Guard cutter Mohawk, which was a floating museum berthed at Key West's Truman Waterfront for six years, was sunk off Sanibel Island in Lee County on Monday to become a veterans memorial artificial reef.
"The Mohawk name will now live on for decades to come," said Bill Verge, a Coast Guard veteran who operated the nonprofit Miami-Dade Historic Maritime Museum Inc., which owned the Mohawk museum in Key West. "The crews that served on it will be glad to know that people will be diving on it for generations to come, and it will not become a bunch of razor blades."
The crew of the active Coast Guard cutter carrying the same name conducted a ceremony at sea Monday in honor of the scuttled ship. The crew raised a national ensign taken from a ceremony conducted aboard the retired Mohawk in early May. At the noon formation, eight bells were rung and the crew lowered the flag and folded it ceremoniously in honor of the sailors who served aboard the old Mohawk, said commanding officer Cmdr. Mark J. Fedor in a prepared statement.
"It is an honor to recognize the USS Mohawk's achievements during World War II while we're at sea," said Fedor. "I'm proud to say the current Mohawk is extending our namesake's legacy of service to our nation."
The Mohawk was brought to Key West in 2006 to serve as a floating museum. Two years later, the nonprofit brought in the Ingham to serve as a sister ship. The Ingham will remain on the East Quay Wall at Truman W
aterfront and continue to serve as a local maritime museum.
The Mohawk was sunk in 60 to 90 feet of water 13 miles off Sanibel Island. The site is near an old radio tower that has become a popular diving and fishing spot, and will allow dive charter operations to visit both spots on one trip. The project is estimated to cost Lee County about $1 million. Verge's group donated the vessel to Lee County, but required that the ship be sunk by Reefmakers, the Florida Keys-based company that sunk USNS Gen. Hoyt S. Vandenberg off Key West in May 2009. The requirement allowed a local company and local workers to earn money from the sinking, Verge said.
In honor of the old Mohawk's sinking, Reefmakers' crews cut their hair in traditional mohawk American-Indian style.
Project organizers hope the wreck will draw more divers and fishermen to the area. The wrecks off Florida's west coast generate $100 million a year in tourist dollars, according to a Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission study.
The Mohawk was built in 1935 in Wilmington, Del., and was the last surviving vessel of the Greenland Patrol fleet, which served in World War II, Verge said. The ship broke ice in the Arctic Circle, launched 14 attacks against Nazi U-boats and rescued more than 300 sailors from the sea in two different operations.
tohara@keysnews.com
[/SIZE]
BY TIMOTHY O'HARA Citizen Staff
tohara@keysnews.com
[SIZE=+0]A piece of Coast Guard and Key West history came to its final resting place on Monday.
The retired Coast Guard cutter Mohawk, which was a floating museum berthed at Key West's Truman Waterfront for six years, was sunk off Sanibel Island in Lee County on Monday to become a veterans memorial artificial reef.
"The Mohawk name will now live on for decades to come," said Bill Verge, a Coast Guard veteran who operated the nonprofit Miami-Dade Historic Maritime Museum Inc., which owned the Mohawk museum in Key West. "The crews that served on it will be glad to know that people will be diving on it for generations to come, and it will not become a bunch of razor blades."
The crew of the active Coast Guard cutter carrying the same name conducted a ceremony at sea Monday in honor of the scuttled ship. The crew raised a national ensign taken from a ceremony conducted aboard the retired Mohawk in early May. At the noon formation, eight bells were rung and the crew lowered the flag and folded it ceremoniously in honor of the sailors who served aboard the old Mohawk, said commanding officer Cmdr. Mark J. Fedor in a prepared statement.
"It is an honor to recognize the USS Mohawk's achievements during World War II while we're at sea," said Fedor. "I'm proud to say the current Mohawk is extending our namesake's legacy of service to our nation."
The Mohawk was brought to Key West in 2006 to serve as a floating museum. Two years later, the nonprofit brought in the Ingham to serve as a sister ship. The Ingham will remain on the East Quay Wall at Truman W
The Mohawk was sunk in 60 to 90 feet of water 13 miles off Sanibel Island. The site is near an old radio tower that has become a popular diving and fishing spot, and will allow dive charter operations to visit both spots on one trip. The project is estimated to cost Lee County about $1 million. Verge's group donated the vessel to Lee County, but required that the ship be sunk by Reefmakers, the Florida Keys-based company that sunk USNS Gen. Hoyt S. Vandenberg off Key West in May 2009. The requirement allowed a local company and local workers to earn money from the sinking, Verge said.
In honor of the old Mohawk's sinking, Reefmakers' crews cut their hair in traditional mohawk American-Indian style.
Project organizers hope the wreck will draw more divers and fishermen to the area. The wrecks off Florida's west coast generate $100 million a year in tourist dollars, according to a Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission study.
The Mohawk was built in 1935 in Wilmington, Del., and was the last surviving vessel of the Greenland Patrol fleet, which served in World War II, Verge said. The ship broke ice in the Arctic Circle, launched 14 attacks against Nazi U-boats and rescued more than 300 sailors from the sea in two different operations.
tohara@keysnews.com
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