Sinking For Reef
Red tape and financial problems delayed the sinking of USS Spiegel Grove for several years, but the ship was finally moved from Virginia to Florida in May 2002. The ship sank prematurely, on 17 May 2002. During the sinking the ex-Spiegel Grove suddenly started rolling on her starboard side, ending up upside down on the sea bottom and leaving her bow protruding slightly out of the ocean. On 10-11 June, at a cost of $250,000 dollars, the ship was rolled onto her starboard side by Resolve Marine Group, and on 26 June the site was opened to recreational divers. In the next week, over a thousand divers visited the site. The depth of wreck requires that divers have an advanced diving certification.
The ex-Spiegel Grove is located on Dixie Shoal, 6 miles (10 km) off the Florida Keys in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. Her exact location is 25°04′00.2″N 80°18′00.7″W / 25.066722°N 80.300194°W / 25.066722; -80.300194Coordinates: 25°04′00.2″N 80°18′00.7″W / 25.066722°N 80.300194°W / 25.066722; -80.300194.
In July 2005, Hurricane Dennis shifted the former USS Spiegel Grove onto her keel, right-side-up, which was the position originally intended when she was sunk.
Read more about this topic: USS Spiegel Grove (LSD-32)
Famous quotes containing the words sinking and/or reef:
“We all indulge in the strange, pleasant process called thinking, but when it comes to saying, even to someone opposite, what we think, then how little we are able to convey! The phantom is through the mind and out of the window before we can lay salt on its tail, or slowly sinking and returning to the profound darkness which it has lit up momentarily with a wandering light.”
—Virginia Woolf (1882–1941)
“As the bird trims her to the gale,
I trim myself to the storm of time,
I man the rudder, reef the sail,
Obey the voice at eve obeyed in prime:
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The port, well worth the cruise, is near,
And every wave is charmed.””
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)