Sinking ships for wreck diving sites

Explosives detonating to sink the HMNZS Wellington (F69) in 2005

Sinking ships for wreck diving sites is the practice of scuttling old ships to produce artificial reefs suitable for wreck diving, to benefit from commercial revenues from recreational diving of the shipwreck, or to produce a diver training site.

Preparation

To prepare a hulk for sinking as a wreck site, several things must be done to make it safe for the marine environment and divers. To protect the environment, the ship is purged of all oils, hydraulic fluids, and dangerous chemicals such as PCBs. Much of the superstructure is removed to prevent the hazard of it eventually caving in from corrosion. Similarly, the interior of the ship is gutted of all structures that corrode quickly, and would be dangerous to divers if they came loose. The ship is thoroughly cleaned, often with the help of volunteers interested in diving. A significant part of the cost of preparing and sinking the ship comes from scrapping the contents of the ship, including valuable materials such as copper wiring. The hulk's suitability as a diving site is enhanced by cutting openings in its hull and interior bulkheads to allow divers access.

Sinking

The preparation phase removes a significant amount of weight, so the ship sits higher in the water than normal. The ship must be carefully weighed down by filling some sections with water as makeshift ballast tanks to prevent excessive rolling in port or during towing. The ship is towed to the sinking location, usually in shallow waters. The ship is scuttled using dynamite, in a controlled demolition. The holes are blown so that the heavier engine room and stern floods first, then the rest of the hull. The aim is to sink the ship in an upright position.

List of ships sunk for wreck diving

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

Ships sunk for wreck diving

Year	Vessel Name	Location	Country/Territory
2011	USS Arthur W. Radford (DD-968)	Cape May, New Jersey	United States
2011	HMAS Adelaide	Avoca Beach, New South Wales	Australia
2011	USS Kittiwake	West Bay, Grand Cayman	Cayman Islands
2009	HMAS Canberra	Barwon Heads, Victoria	Australia
2009	USNS General Hoyt S. Vandenberg (T-AGM-10)[1]	Key West, Florida	United States
2007	HMNZS Canterbury (F421)	Bay of Islands	New Zealand
2006	Xihwu Boeing 737[2]	British Columbia	Canada
2005	HMNZS Wellington (F69)	Wellington	New Zealand
2005	HMAS Brisbane	Mooloolaba, Queensland	Australia
2004	HMS Scylla	Whitsand Bay, Cornwall	United Kingdom
2004	USS Oriskany[3]	Florida	United States
2003	CS Charles L Brown [4]	Sint Eustatius	Leeward Islands
2003	HMCS Nipigon	Quebec	Canada
2002	MV Dania[5]	Mombasa	Kenya
2002	USS Spiegel Grove[6]	Florida	United States
2002	HMAS Hobart	Yankalilla Bay, South Australia	Australia
2001	HMCS Cape Breton[2]	British Columbia	Canada
2001	HMAS Perth[7]	Albany, Western Australia	Australia
2000	HMCS Yukon[2]	San Diego, California	United States
2000	Stanegarth	Stoney Cove	United Kingdom
2000	HMNZS Waikato (F55)	Tutukaka	New Zealand
1999	HMNZS Tui (1970)	Tutukaka Heads	New Zealand
1995	HMCS Saskatchewan[2]	British Columbia	Canada
1997	HMAS Swan[8]	Dunsborough, Western Australia	Australia
1996	HMCS Columbia[2]	British Columbia	Canada
1996	MV Captain Keith Tibbetts (formerly Russian-built Frigate 356)	Cayman Brac	Cayman Islands
1996	Inganess Bay[9]		British Virgin Islands
1995	HMCS Mackenzie[2]	British Columbia	Canada
1992	HMCS Chaudière[2]	British Columbia	Canada
1991–2001	"Wreck Alley" – The Marie L, The Pat and The Beata[10]		British Virgin Islands
1991	MV G.B. Church[2]	British Columbia	Canada
1990	Fontao	Durban	South Africa
1990	T-Barge	Durban	South Africa
1987–2000	Wreck Alley	San Diego, California	United States
1987	USCGC Bibb[11]	Florida	United States
1987	USCGC Duane[11]	Florida	United States
1980	Oro Verde[12]		Cayman Islands
1970	Glen Strathallen (sunk to produce a diver training facility)	Plymouth	United Kingdom

Planned sites

• HMCS Annapolis. An Annapolis class destroyer decommissioned by the Canadian Forces in 1996. The ship was purchased by the Artificial Reef Society of British Columbia in 2008, which plans to sink her in Port Graves (Long Bay) on Gambier Island in Howe Sound.^[13]

See also

• Artificial Reef Society of British Columbia
• Rigs-to-Reefs
• Archaeology of shipwrecks
• Diver training
• List of shipwrecks
• List of wreck diving sites
• Wreck Alley

Notes

1. ^ "Vandenberg sinking this morning". Associated Press. MSNBC. 2009-05-27. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30958675. Retrieved 2009-05-28. 
2. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h} "ARSBC". Artificial Reef Society of British Columbia. http://www.artificialreef.bc.ca. Retrieved 2010-08-20. 
3. ^ Barnette, Michael C. (2008). Florida's Shipwrecks. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7385-5413-6. 
4. ^ "Charlie Brown Artificial Reef". Golden Rock Dive Center. http://www.goldenrockdive.com/cb.htm. Retrieved 2011-06-07. 
5. ^ "5 Star PADI IDC Centre, Kenya, Zanzibar". Buccaneer Diving. http://www.buccaneerdiving.com. Retrieved 2010-08-20. 
6. ^ "The ''Spiegel Grove'' is believed to be the largest ever wreck deliberately sunk as a diving site". Fla-keys.com. http://fla-keys.com/spiegelgrove/. Retrieved 2010-08-20. 
7. ^ "HMAS Perth (II) - Royal Australian Navy". Navy.gov.au. http://www.navy.gov.au/HMAS_Perth_%28II%29. Retrieved 2010-08-20. 
8. ^ "HMAS Swan (III) - Royal Australian Navy". Navy.gov.au. http://www.navy.gov.au/HMAS_Swan_(III). Retrieved 2010-08-20. 
9. ^ "BVI Dive Site: Wreck of the Inganess Bay". Bvidiving.com. http://www.bvidiving.com/divesites_inganess_bay.html. Retrieved 2010-08-20. 
10. ^ "Cooper Island". Dive BVI. http://www.divebvi.com/cooper_island.htm. Retrieved 2010-08-20. 
11. ^ ^{a b} Williams, Chris; Bowen, Linda (2008). "Wrecks of the Duane and Bibb". Advanced Diver Magazine Ezine (1, reprinted from ADM issue 4): 62–72. http://www.advanceddivermagazine.com/ADMEZINE/Issues/admezineissue1.pdf. Retrieved 2009-06-04. 
12. ^ "The Cayman Islands Shipwreck Expo Directory Capt. Dan Berg's Guide to Shipwrecks information". Aquaexplorers.com. http://www.aquaexplorers.com/cayman_shipwrecks.htm. Retrieved 2010-08-20. 
13. ^ "Anouncing, Annapolis!". Artificialreef.bc.ca. http://www.artificialreef.bc.ca/OurReefs/265_Annapolis/index.htm. Retrieved 2010-08-20. ^{[dead link]}

References

• National Geographic channel, "The Ship Sinkers"