Uss Spiegel Grove Wreck

She resides at a depth of 134 ft near dixie shoals.

Uss spiegel grove wreck. Become a padi spiegel grove diver at ocean divers. She was named for spiegel grove the home and estate in fremont ohio of rutherford b. The depth of the wreck requires that divers have an advanced diving certification. We were headed out for a double dip two successive dives on the purposely sunk wreck of the uss spiegel grove which is considered the backbone of the artificial reef system in the keys.

Hayes the 19th president of the united states. 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. The breathtakingly enormous spiegel grove nearly two football fields long is the grande dame of key largo wrecks. Uss spiegel grove lsd 32 was a thomaston class dock landing ship of the united states navy.

John garvey of hms minnow dive charters www h. Scuba divers descend upon the wreck of the spiegel grove a popular dive site off of key largo florida in this april 29 2006 file photo. The spiegel grove a 510 foot naval vessel one of the largest wrecks in the united states was sunk to create an artificial reef system. The vessel is 510 feet in length 84 feet wide.

A diver and a friendly bar jack hover over the bow of the spiegel grove at a depth of 80 feet. Spiegel grove was laid down on 7 september 1954 by the ingalls shipbuilding corp pascagoula miss launched on 10 november 1955. Diver bob snyder was the first person to view the wreck of the spiegel grove after hurricane dennis skirted the keys in july 2005. Special thanks to capt.

It is her fate to be sunk as part of a piscine reef off key largo florida sometime in spring summer 1997. As you descend on the 510 foot grove you get a dreamlike view of a wreck that appears to be cruising in the deep blue ocean depths and in that moment you know this will be a special dive. The bow in its post hurricane dennis upright position is covered with sponges and gorgonia corals. Spiegel grove specialty diver.

Since that time her title of the biggest fell to the uss oriskany off florida s gulf coast in 2006 and the recent sinking of the 520 foot long usns vandenberg near key west has stolen a bit of the spiegel grove s thunder but she still remains one of the world s premier wreck diving sites.