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Harbor in Cuba, precipitating the Spanish-American
War. The City of Washington and a nearby Spanish
cruiser rescued 90 crewmen from the Maine.
Like most large ships run aground in shallow water
(25 feet, in this case), the City of Washington wreck
was blown apart to avoid being a hazard to navigation.
But there is still sufficient superstructure for it to be
recognizable as a ship and to provide refuge for the
schooling fish and green morays that reside there.
The Benwood was a casualty of World War II, sinking
during a time when German U-boats prowled off South
Florida. Freighters often ran with their lights off to avoid
being easy targets for submarines, but the practice led to
more than one collision. On the night of April 9, 1942,
while carrying a load of phosphate rock to Norfolk, Va.,
the Benwood collided with the Robert C. Tuttle, sustaining
crippling damage. The Benwood ran to the safety of
shallow water but only made it to 25- to 40-foot-deep
water before it sank. It too was blown apart for being a
hazard to navigation, but enough remains that divers can
make out its crushed bow, and the ribs and deck plating
are magnets for schools of goatfish, schoolmaster snapper
and seasonal congregations of glass minnows.
ARTIFICIAL REEFS
In my 40 years in Key Largo I have been intimately
involved in two big artificial reef projects, the first being
fairly easy and straightforward. The second was neither.
Our first community shipwreck project was to
acquire, clean, tow to Key Largo from Boston Harbor
in Massachusetts and sink a pair of U.S. Coast Guard
cutters: the Duane and the Bibb, each 327 feet long.
While I might be repressing some of the problems
associated with the project, it seemed like it all went
very smoothly and remarkably inexpensively. Granted,
it was 1987, and a dollar went further then, but we
spent only $300,000 on the project. That might be the
deal of the century considering the popularity of the
Duane, especially among visiting divers.
The Bibb landed on its starboard side; given its
narrow beam and 130-foot depth, it is best suited
for technical divers. The Duane, however is perfectly
upright and holds a massive concentration of fish:
bluestriped grunts in the wheelhouse, Atlantic spadefish
swirling about the bow, barracuda alongside the radar
tower and gray snapper amidships.
The second project was the Spiegel Grove, and it was
a nightmare of epic proportions. For the Florida Keys
dive community, however, it turned out to be a gift
that keeps on giving.
After the success of the Duane and the Bibb, several
of us in the local dive community set about pondering
how we could do another wreck, bigger and better.
We had some money left over from the last project, so
we sent Bill Harrigan, the former FKNMS manager,
to scout the derelict ships of the James River Reserve
Fleet in Virginia. We settled on the 510-foot Spiegel
Grove. With a budget supported by a grant from the
Monroe County Tourist Development Council, along
with individual and business donations, the Spiegel
Grove was acquired from the U.S. Navy in June 2001,
cleaned of contaminants and towed to Key Largo.
The ship was sunk May 17, 2002, but it sank
completely upside down, presumably as a result of
internal bulkheads giving way and prematurely flooding
the engine compartment. Marine salvors ultimately
managed to place the ship on the bottom, where it rested
on its starboard side for the next three years. Incredibly,
storm-driven surge from Hurricane Dennis set the wreck
perfectly upright on July 9, 2005. This project was a lot
more expensive than the previous one, costing about $1.5
million once salvage costs were considered. But Dennis
did his work for free, and now Key Largo enjoys a wreck
of immense stature and popularity.
CHRIST OF THE ABYSS
Often considered the symbol of John Pennekamp
Coral Reef State Park, the statue of Christ of the Abyss
actually sits in federal waters five miles offshore at
Dry Rocks reef. Originally donated to the Underwater
Society of America by dive equipment manufacturer
Egidio Cressi, this 8.6-foot tall, 4,000-pound bronze
statue was installed on a concrete pedestal in 25 feet
of water on Aug. 25, 1965. This site is actually more
popular with snorkelers than divers, but for many
no visit to the underwater wonders of Key Largo is
complete without a splash on the Christ statue.
Alexa Frink snorkels at the Christ of the Abyss Statue. Sunk in
25 feet of water off Dry Rocks Reef, the statue has come to be
considered the symbol of John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park.
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