The largest artificial reef on the East Coast is coming in cheaper than predicted but later than expected, with anglers and scuba divers possibly using the site by August.
The state of Delaware announced Wednesday that it had received from the U.S. Navy the title to the USS Arthur W. Radford. Delaware taking ownership of the mothballed 563-foot destroyer was a key development in the plan to sink it at the Deljerseyland Reef, an underwater site that serves New Jersey, Delaware and Maryland.
The reef is 30 miles from Cold Spring Inlet, 30 miles from Ocean City, Md., and 26 miles southeast of Indian River Inlet, Del.
“The ship will be released within the next couple weeks and moved to dry dock for tentative sinking in late summer or early fall,” said Bill Figley, a retired reef coordinator for New Jersey working on the project.
Jeff Tinsman, administrator of Delaware’s Reef Program, is shooting for a sinking in August at the height of the summer tourist season. He said the latest date would be in October, when the weather could be dicey.
Tinsman said the contractor that will get the ship ready to scuttle, the Virginia-based American Marine Corp, has six months to do its work but believes is can be accomplished in 110 days.
The announcement of the title transfer was made by Secretary Collin P. O’Mara of the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control.
“Delaware is proud to be at the helm of a conservation project from which sportsmen and the environment alike can expect to derive great benefits,” O’Mara said.
Florida sank the 904-foot U.S. Navy aircraft carrier Oriskany in the Gulf of Mexico in 2006, but the USS Radford will be the largest ship ever reefed in the Atlantic Ocean, Tinsman said.
It will be the culmination of an effort that began in 2004 when the Navy announced it would release large vessels for reef sites, he said. The project was so huge Tinsman and Figley hatched the plan to create a joint deepwater reef.
“It’s starting to bear fruit,” said Tinsman.
When the project was first announced in 2008, the organizers said the project could cost as much as $4 million and be done by the end of that year. It has taken longer, but Tinsman said costs are expected to come in at just $795,000. The three states and the U.S. Navy will share the costs. Recreational fishermen and divers are expected to pay much of New Jersey’s share through donations.
The ship is currently at the Philadelphia Navy Yard. The next step would be to move the ship to dry dock — Pier 5, Dry Dock 2 — where the contractor will begin removing toxic materials and some of the superstructure.
Tinsman said there are “minimal toxics” on the vessel but some polychlorinated biphenyls or PCB’s have been found and would be removed.
The superstructure on the 9,000-ton ship will be lowered to achieve a navigational clearance of 60 feet at the reef site, which is in about 130 feet of water.
“We need to reduce it to 70 feet from the keel to the top of the wheelhouse. It’s now over 100 feet. It would be nice to have it completely intact, but then you have to sink it in deeper water,” said Tinsman.
Deeper water would also reduce diving times. Water depth is a factor in how long divers can stay on a site. From a scuba diving perspective, Tinsman said, the shipwreck would be set up for recreational divers with the keel at 130 feet but the deck at only about 65 feet.
“The deck allows quite a bit of diving time,” said Tinsman.
At almost two football fields in length, and 55 feet wide, it would still take several dives to see the whole ship.
Fishing is the other draw, and Tinsman noted it should draw enough growth and baitfish where black sea bass and lobsters are not the only attraction.
“There’s no reason bluefin tuna won’t be attracted to this site,” said Tinsman.
The ship is named for U.S. Navy Admiral Arthur W. Radford. The Navy will help tow the ship to its final resting place before the hull is cut open to allow water to come in.
“It will take two or three days,” Tinsman said.
If it happens in August, the height of the summer boating season, the sinking should attract quite a bit of attention.
