Since 07-14-05
Dennis flips sunken ship ex-SPIEGEL GROVE (LSD 32)
Since 07-14-05
From:
Waspscpo@aol.com [mailto:Waspscpo@aol.com]
Sent: Thursday, July 14, 2005 4:46 AM
To: undisclosed-recipients:
Subject: Dennis flips sunken ship
Some of you may recall the fiasco when a local salvage team out of the
Florida Keys tried to sink the ex-SPIEGEL GROVE (LSD 32) three years ago. Now
hurricane Dennis has finished the job for them.
http://www.navytimes.com/story.php?f=1-292925-970814.php
Dennis flips sunken ship
Associated Press
July 13, 2005
Divers swim on the shipwreck Spiegel Grove on Tuesday, off Key Largo, Fla., in
the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. Since it was fully sunk on June 10,
2002, the decommissioned Navy dock landing ship has rested on its starboard
side. But on Monday divers discovered the ship — serving as artificial reef on
the bottom in 130 feet of water off Key Largo — flipped upright as the core of
Hurricane Dennis passed some 200 miles to the west. — Fraser Nivens / AP
Photo
KEY LARGO, Fla. — What humans were unable to do, Hurricane Dennis handled
nicely.The former dock landing ship Spiegel Grove, serving as artificial reef on
the bottom in 130 feet of water off Key Largo, flipped upright as the core of
the storm passed some 200 miles to the west.
It’s a position project organizers wanted since the retired 510-foot ship
prematurely sank and rolled over May 17, 2002, leaving its upside-down bow
protruding from the water.
A salvage team managed to fully sink the vessel three weeks later — on its right
side instead of its keel. The Spiegel Grove is the most popular artificial wreck
in the Florida Keys, home at least 166 different fish species, said Lad Akins of
the Reef Environmental Education Foundation.
But its realignment will make it a better platform for sports divers. “I’m
flabbergasted,” Rob Bleser, volunteer project director, said Monday afternoon
after a dive on the newly oriented Spiegel Grove.
“Nature took its course and put it where it belongs. ”The Spiegel Grove reef is
about six miles off Key Largo. The ship, designed to carry cargo and craft for
amphibious landings, was retired by the Navy in 1989.
http://www.navsource.org/archives/10/1232.htm
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Contributerd,
YNCS Don Harribine, USN(ret)