Artificial Reefs: Historical US Ships Now House Coral And Fish

Human-made habitat alterations placed on the seafloor — artificial reefs — are becoming more common. While more than 2,200 were deployed in the 1960s, these numbers doubled in the 2000s and the 2010s. For example, during the 2010s, over 10,000 were found in a single study on the Indian shelf.  

According to the University of Florida, there are a lot of reasons for their increasing numbers in aquatic ecosystems worldwide. They provide habitats for algae and invertebrates like corals, crustaceans, and mollusks that are eaten by fish. Although it has been historically difficult to decipher whether this increased biodiversity results in the production or attraction of fish, they often contribute to wider varieties of them in the area. 

They also provide recreational attractions for divers and anglers, who contribute to the local economy when they travel to these locations.

Moreover, they can protect coastlines from erosion caused by waves and increasingly common storms. 

Read on as we look at some of the most iconic artificial reefs located off the coasts of the United States. Many of their stories originate with old ships that made names for themselves when they sailed the seas and continue to preserve their legacies from beneath the surface. 

USS Spiegel Grove

The USS Spiegel Grove was a 510-foot-long U.S. Navy ship commissioned in 1956, named after President Rutherford B. Hayes’s estate in Fremont, Ohio. During her career, she took part in Solant Amity, a goodwill tour in 1961 that brought books, food, disaster and medical supplies, toys, and seeds to Africa. 

The vessel also supported Malcolm Scott Carpenter’s launch into space on the Aurora 7 spacecraft in the Mercury-Atlas 7 mission in 1962, which made him the sixth person to orbit Earth from space. In 1964, it also took part in Operation Steel Pike in Spain, the biggest amphibious operation conducted in a time of peace, with 60 ships transporting 22,000 Marines to Spain. After being decommissioned in 1989, she was maintained as part of the Navy’s reserve fleet, or “Mothball Fleet,” in the James River in Virginia in case of emergency. 

Finally, in 2001, she was cleaned and eventually moved off the coast of Key Largo, Florida, where she sank unexpectedly to lay more than 130 feet below the water’s surface on May 17, 2002, a mere six hours before she was supposed to be intentionally sunk. At the time, she was the biggest ship to be sunk to create a reef, and in its first two years as a reef, 100,000 divers came to visit it. 

Photo Courtesy U.S. Navy

U.S.S. Oriskany

The 911-foot-long U.S.S. Oriskany, or “the Mighty O,” was named after the Revolutionary War’s  Battle of Oriskany, preventing the British from achieving any significant victories in Mohawk Valley. Built soon after the end of World War II, the ship earned two battle stars in the Korean War and five in the Vietnam War over her 25 years of service. 

She was capable of holding 80 planes, and John McCain flew off of her in an A-4 Skyhawk before being shot down and taken as a prisoner of war in North Vietnam. He was held at a camp now referred to as “Hanoi Hilton” for five and a half years.

Additionally, the Oriskany participated in the filming of “The Bridges at Toko-Ri,” a film about the Korean War starring William Holden and Grace Kelly. 

The ship was decommissioned in September 1976. On May 17, 2006, the U.S. Navy, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, and Escambia County collaborated to sink her as part of an artificial reef pilot program, through which she became referred to as “the Great Carrier Reef.” Now laying 22 miles off the coast of Pensacola Beach at more than 200 feet below the surface, it has become a hub for both scuba divers and fish, including amberjack, eagle rays, goliath grouper, sunfish, tuna, and tropical fish. 

Taylor Wachtel, a dive master, told Pensacola News Journal that in her 3,000 dives there, she had seen the likes of a 300-pound Goliath grouper, a 14-foot tiger shark, and a whale shark, in addition to octopuses curled up inside the pipes to keep their eggs safe. It is now the largest artificial reef to be purposefully sunk off America’s coast, as well as the first naval warship. 

Photo Courtesy PH1 F.L. Blair, U.S. Navy 

USNS General Hoyt S. Vandenberg

The 522-foot-long USNS General Hoyt S. Vandenberg was originally named the USS General Harry Taylor. She entered the Navy in 1944 and transported American soldiers during World War II, starting with a mission from San Francisco to New Guinea. 

After the war ended, she transported soldiers back from the Asian Pacific and Europe until it was decommissioned in 1946. She was eventually transferred to the Air Force in 1961 and received her new name in honor of the general who commanded the Ninth Air Force during the war and helped plan the invasion of Normandy. 

When she returned to the Navy, she spent the rest of her active life tracking spacecraft and missiles. In 1996, shortly before discussions of her becoming a reef, the ship was leased to Universal Studios to film some scenes for “Virus,” a science fiction film starring Jamie Lee Curtis and William Baldwin. 

She was shortlisted as a candidate to become an artificial reef six to seven miles off the coast of Key West that same year, but the dream did not become a reality until 2009.

She sank in less than two minutes to approximately 140 feet below the surface on May 27, becoming the second-biggest artificial reef in the world. As one scuba diver reflected, “While the ship is now awash in colorful corals, sinister moray eels, and schooling fish, large and small, it’s really the details and intricacies of the ex-military vessel that makes this such a cool, can’t-miss site.” 

Photo Courtesy Nicholas S. Tenorio/U.S. Navy 

YO-257 

Smaller vessels with other duties have also found their way into the reef life. The approximately 175-foot-long YO-257 was a Navy oiler, or refueling vessel, built in the 1940s. It could carry 200,000 gallons of gasoline, which it delivered to other ships in three subsequent wars: World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. 

After Atlantis Submarines Hawaii purchased it, the company purposely sank the vessel two miles off of Waikiki Beach around 1989 and about 100 feet down, contributing to the views on its submarine tour. Big turtles can be found on its decks, with eagle rays and reef sharks swimming in the waters nearby. 

SS United States 

One of the most recent additions to the legacy of global artificial reefs is the SS United States, a name that was incredibly suited to her two red, white, and blue funnels. Made completely domestically to be fireproof by more than 3,000 workers, the “Big U” was both the first major liner to be built in a dry dock and the fastest ocean liner in the world. 

In fact, under Commodore Harry Manning, who was also a co-pilot for Amelia Earhart, she destroyed the transatlantic speed record with her debut in 1952. At 990 feet long, it was about 100 feet longer than the Titanic. 

Big names, including Walt Disney, comedian Bob Hope, artist Salvadore Dali, actresses Marilyn Monroe and Rita Hayworth, Princess Of Monaco Grace Kelly, and President Harry Truman, sailed on the ship as it earned the title “America’s Flagship.” It even carried the Mona Lisa onboard at one point. Movies including Walt Disney’s “Bon Voyage!,” the musical “Gentlemen Marry Brunettes,” and the comedy “Munster, Go Home!” used the ship as a set. 

She was decommissioned unexpectedly in the late 1960s; in fact, some of the crew left personal items on board only to find the ship sealed.

After passing between several buyers, the vessel ended up docked in Pier 82 in Philadelphia in 1996, where it has been ever since. 

The SS United States Conservancy’s “Save Our Ship” Campaign helped her narrowly escape being scrapped. After a federal court issued an eviction notice this summer, the Okaloosa County Board of County Commissioners agreed to buy and sink the ship about 20 to 21 miles off Destin-Fort Walton Beach. Once submerged, it will pass USS Oriskany to become the biggest artificial reef in the world. 

“It gives the fish habitat; it gives an opportunity for people to come and recreational dive, but mostly it gives us a natural resource of a habitat that comes about that helps really sustain our ecosystem,” Paul Mixon, the chairman of the county commission, told 6 Action News. Plus, a museum dedicated to its history will display the ship’s original artifacts and artwork. 

Photo Courtesy JAGRAFXWIK