teke184... Did you see this?
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From: Rock Hill, SC
teke184... Did you see this?
This is from the Sun Sentinel... I dove the Grove in 2003 when she was resting on her side... Hard to believe that Dennis rolled her upright! I'm going to have head down to the Keys again!
Steve
"Dennis fixes artificial reef by turning Spiegel Grove upright
By Steve Waters
Staff Writer
Posted July 12 2005
In a few hours, Hurricane Dennis overcame three years of economic and engineering obstacles: The storm righted the Spiegel Grove artificial reef off Key Largo.
The Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, in whose waters the 510-foot Navy ship was scuttled, reported Monday that the ship is upright. When the ship went down in the spring of 2002, it landed on its side.
Although the ship has been a popular attraction, members of the diving community wanted the ship to be upright because that makes it a more impressive sight.
Rob Bleser, the project manager for the sinking of Spiegel Grove, dove the wreck late Monday afternoon and confirmed that the ship is sitting as originally intended.
"The ship is facing exactly the same direction, with the same orientation, except it's absolutely flat upright," Bleser said. "It looked just like it did in the shipyard. It's wild to see it that way.
"It was a great dive the way it was, but with it upright, it's just going to be absolutely spectacular."
Spiegel Grove was supposed to be filled with water, blown up and sunk on May 17, 2002. During final preparations, but before explosives were placed in the ship, Spiegel Grove started to sink on its own and turned over, its bow poking 20 feet out of the water. It took nearly a month for salvage crews to sink the ship in 130 feet of water about six miles off Key Largo.
Bleser and others theorized that the northeast-flowing current eroded sand under the ship where a cable was attached for a tugboat to hook up to in case another salvage operation was attempted.
"Evidently, [the eroded sand] gave it just enough instability to make a final rotation" with the storm surge provided by Dennis, Bleser said.
The ship might be closed to the public until Sanctuary officials are convinced that it is safe to dive. "
Steve
"Dennis fixes artificial reef by turning Spiegel Grove upright
By Steve Waters
Staff Writer
Posted July 12 2005
In a few hours, Hurricane Dennis overcame three years of economic and engineering obstacles: The storm righted the Spiegel Grove artificial reef off Key Largo.
The Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, in whose waters the 510-foot Navy ship was scuttled, reported Monday that the ship is upright. When the ship went down in the spring of 2002, it landed on its side.
Although the ship has been a popular attraction, members of the diving community wanted the ship to be upright because that makes it a more impressive sight.
Rob Bleser, the project manager for the sinking of Spiegel Grove, dove the wreck late Monday afternoon and confirmed that the ship is sitting as originally intended.
"The ship is facing exactly the same direction, with the same orientation, except it's absolutely flat upright," Bleser said. "It looked just like it did in the shipyard. It's wild to see it that way.
"It was a great dive the way it was, but with it upright, it's just going to be absolutely spectacular."
Spiegel Grove was supposed to be filled with water, blown up and sunk on May 17, 2002. During final preparations, but before explosives were placed in the ship, Spiegel Grove started to sink on its own and turned over, its bow poking 20 feet out of the water. It took nearly a month for salvage crews to sink the ship in 130 feet of water about six miles off Key Largo.
Bleser and others theorized that the northeast-flowing current eroded sand under the ship where a cable was attached for a tugboat to hook up to in case another salvage operation was attempted.
"Evidently, [the eroded sand] gave it just enough instability to make a final rotation" with the storm surge provided by Dennis, Bleser said.
The ship might be closed to the public until Sanctuary officials are convinced that it is safe to dive. "