Wrecked in Key Largo

It looks as if the USS Spiegel Grove’s number is up. Finally.

If all goes as planned, the retired 510-foot Navy transport vessel will leave its shipyard in Norfolk, Va., in late spring and get towed more than 1,000 miles south to Key Largo, Fla. Then a unit of Navy SEALS will blow cantaloupe-size holes in the ship’s hull as part of a training exercise, putting her down at a depth of about 130 feet.

In a matter of minutes, they’ll create the world’s largest diveable artificial reef.

But so far nothing has gone as planned. The project took almost eight years from inception to sink date as planners wrangled with regulators, contractors and each other. There have been so many delays that a local newspaper called her “unsinkable.” Never mind the numerous cost overruns that made the Spiegel Grove the most expensive artificial reef project of its kind.

Is she worth her $1.2 million price tag and the long wait? Well, yes. The Spiegel Grove won’t just give the upper part of the Florida Keys a much-needed tourism boost. She also promises to save the fragile coral reefs off the coast by drawing divers away from sensitive marine areas. And she’ll offer a second-to-none adventure – as long as you’re careful.

Key Largo calls itself the dive capital of the world, but having a ship like the Spiegel Grove virtually ensures that no one will ever dispute that claim. (If they do, they’ll at least concede that Key Largo is the wreck diving capital – featuring other notable ships as the twin 327-foot US Coast Guard cutters Bibb and Duane.)

The artificial reef will also allow many of the island’s overdived reefs to take a much-needed break. Even though its most popular dive spots are within John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park – and protected by state law – they’re often overrun by Scuba divers and snorkelers trying to experience the only living coral reef in the continental United States.

But this is more than a scheme by the island’s dive shops to outdo San Diego’s Yukon or Cayman Brac’s MV Capt. Keith Tibbetts, two of the most famous artificial reefs. Nor is it, as some have suggested, an attempt to maintain its dive-capital predominance before the planned sinking of the USAFS General Hoyt S. Vandenberg, a retired Air Force missile tracking ship, near Key West later this year. (That ship is 10 feet longer than Key Largo’s vessel.)

The Spiegel Grove is a compelling story and a fascinating dive. That’s something Spencer Slate, one of the original project planners, saw even when the ship was still resting in her retirement home at the James River Reserve Fleet in Ft. Eustis, Va., a decade ago. “The perfect artificial reef,” he calls her. And he’s right.

The ship is named after the Fremont, Ohio, estate of Rutherford B. Hayes, the 19th President of the United States. But what’s less known is what happened to the Spiegel Grove during her years at sea. From the time she was commissioned on June 8, 1956, to the day she ended her active service on December 13, 1989, the Thomaston-class transport vessel seemed to appear wherever there were headlines – in Cuba, the Middle East, the Caribbean and the Mediterranean.

She’s had her brushes with danger, towing the USS Stark to safety in 1987 after an Iraqi Exocet anti-ship missile drilled a hole in the frigate’s hull. And she’s had brushes with fame, as part of the task group that rescued the Apollo 14 crew in 1971. On November 14, 1978, the Spiegel Grove became the first ship in history to land an air-cushioned vehicle in its well deck. During the mid-1980s, just before she was decommissioned, the vessel ran a series of secret missions, deploying surveillance equipment in Grenada and dropping minesweepers in Nicaragua, according to her former crew.

The ship’s interesting history is only one reason that divers are likely to be drawn to this artificial reef. Many others will come for the dive. From its huge well deck to a bridge that’s been “Swiss cheesed” to make it more accessible to divers, the Spiegel Grove will be an incomparable wreck dive experience. A vessel this large can’t be explored in one or two trips; it will continue to beckon history buffs and adventure-seekers for a return visit.

It’s difficult to understate the Spiegel Grove’s vastness. Under the best diving conditions during the summer, with 85-degree water and 100-foot visibility, you’ll be able to see only a quarter of the ship at a time. The rest of her will vanish into a seascape of green and blue. The vessel will rise eight stories off the bottom of the ocean, making her ideal for both advanced divers who want to reach the limit of recreational diving or snorkelers who just want to see the superstructure from above.

The ship isn’t without dangers, though. Whole sections of the Spiegel Grove will have been welded shut to prevent novice divers from penetrating the vessel, losing their way and running out of air. Rescue divers in Key Largo have been working closely with the ship’s cleaning crew to make sure the right areas are sealed shut before the Spiegel Grove goes down. It makes perfect sense to close the areas off – they’re dark deathtraps that contain nothing but old pipes and hinges on which a diver could snag a hose.

Of course, it’s every wreck diver’s dream of finding a souvenir on a military vessel such as the Spiegel Grove. Even though every precaution is being been taken to prevent a divers from reaching her hazardous lower decks, and all mementos are long gone, it’s the possibility of such a find, however remote, that will make some divers return to the ship.

Then again, maybe it’s just the thrill of diving the world’s largest wreck that will keep them coming back.

The Spiegel Grove by the numbers

Commissioned: June 8, 1956

Length: 510 feet

Width: 84 feet

Height: 79 feet

Tonnage: 11,200 tons

Draft: 18 feet

Crew: 19 Officers, 320 Enlisted

Cost to dive: $10. To defray cleanup expenses, the Key Largo Chamber of Commerce Artificial Reef Committee will be selling medallions which will be a prerequisite for diving any Upper Keys artificial reef. They’re available at local dive shops or online at http://www.floridakeys.org

Location: 5 1/2 miles off Key Largo, Fla., in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary.

Christopher Elliott is the author of Scammed: How to Save Your Money and Find Better Service in a World of Schemes, Swindles, and Shady Deals. Critics have called it “eye-opening” and “inspiring” — it’ll “grab your attention and won’t let go.” Order your copy now on Amazon, Barnes & Noble or iTunes.

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