ARTIFICIAL REEF OFF GALVESTON

3 February 2017: Wow! Hard to believe it's February already! Spring and summer will be on us before we know it! (Not a bad thing!). Our subject today deals with the sinking of a retired cargo ship, SS Kraken, off the port of Galveston, Texas in the Gulf of Mexico. Interesting to us here at Maritime Maunder, as from where I am sitting, about 200 meters off the beach is a sunken former US Navy ship which was put down to create not only a fish habitat but also a very popular dive site. It was the (formerly) USS Kitiwake and many of us sat on the beach or hovered nearby in our boats and watched her go down.... a sad spectacle indeed, but not one that many get to witness. Perhaps we'll offer that subject in a future post. 

So today's offering comes to us through the good offices of gCaptain, an online site for maritime news. Thanks to Mike Schuler for this interesting item.


"A 371-ft cargo vessel named Kraken has been scuttled off Galveston, Texas to create a new artificial reef for fishermen and divers in the Gulf of Mexico.
The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department Artificial Reef Program sank the ship on January 20, 2017 approximately 67 miles off the coast.

"The Kragen now lies at depth of about 140 feet. Over time it will become an artificial reef that attracts fish, coral and other marine species as well as divers and anglers. The Kraken’s proximity to the Flower Gardens Marine Sanctuary also makes it a premiere dive location in the Gulf of Mexico.

 



"Texas Parks and Wildlife Department says before the sinking it worked with contractors at Cahaba Disaster Recovery to remove all fuel, oil and hazardous materials from the vessel in order to comply with the Environmental Protection Agency’s best management practices. The ship began its journey in May 2016 when it was towed from Trinidad to Brownsville, Texas to be re-purposed for its new life as an artificial reef.

gone but not forgotten!

"As an Artificial Reef Program Ships-to-Reefs project, the sinking of the Kraken was made possible by donations and funds from the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill natural resource damage settlement.
“"The entire marine ecosystem benefits from artificial reef projects like the Kraken,” said TPWD Artificial Reef Program Leader J. Dale Shively. “The Gulf of Mexico has only a few naturally occurring reefs so whenever we are able to add a new structure like this, the whole area benefits from the added habitat and species diversity.”"

Here's a short video of the actual sinking: 

click here: 

Note the hatch cover which someone forgot to secure before the ship went down!

My only comment on this addition to the Gulf of Mexico ecosystem is this: Kraken is intended to be a dive site, but it is 67 miles off shore and over 140 feet deep. Diving this one is not for the novice diver. Most sport diving is limited to 100-120 feet, and without the option of a "live-aboard" dive boat, Kraken would not be a day trip dive site. I suspect for those who do get out there, it will be a fascinating dive experience.

Until next time,

                                 Fair Winds,
                                       Old Salt

US COAST GUARD REMEMBERS

28 January 2017: Today, 28 January is the anniversary of a possibly the worst peacetime disaster in the annals of the United States Coast Guard: the collision between a merchant tanker and the USCGC Blackthorn in Tampa Bay, Florida. Yesterday the Coast Guard in Tampa held a memorial observance of the event.

 

Courtesy of gCaptain, here's the story: 

 


The USCGC Blackthorn, a 180-foot buoy tender, sank January 28, 1980 shortly after the collision with the tanker Capricorn near the Sunshine Skyway Bridge. The Blackthorn lost 23 of its 50 crew members in what is considered the Coast Guard’s worst peacetime disaster.

Here's the back story - (the collision):

 Having just completed her overhaul at the Gulf Tampa Drydock Company, which included overhaul of the main propulsion generators, Blackthorn was outward bound from Tampa Bay on the night of 28 January 1980. Meanwhile the tanker S.S. Capricorn, owned by Kingston Shipping Company and operated by Apex Marine Corporation of New York, was standing (traveling with right-of-way) into the bay. The Blackthorn's captain, Lieutenant Commander George Sepel had departed the bridge to investigate a problem with the newly installed propulsion shaft. Ensign John Ryan had the conn.

Earlier they had been overtaken by the Russian passenger ship Kazakhstan, Blackthorn pulled to the side to allow her to pass, when requested, and then continued almost in mid-channel. Some contend that the brightly lit passenger vessel obscured the ability of the crews of Blackthorn and Capricorn to see each other.

Capricorn began to turn left, but this would not allow the ships to pass port-to-port. Unable to make radio contact with the tender, Capricorn’s pilot blew two short whistle blasts to have the ships pass starboard-to-starboard. With the officer of the deck confused in regard to the standard operating procedure, Blackthorn’s Captain issued orders for evasive action.

Though collision was imminent, initial damage was not extensive. However, Capricorn’s anchor was ready to be let go. The anchor became embedded in the tender's hull and ripped open the port side, but above the water line. Then as the two ships backed away from each other, the chain became taut. The force of the much larger ship pulling on it, caused it to tip on its side until it suddenly capsized. Six off-duty personnel who had mustered when they heard the collision alarm, were trapped in the skin of the ship. Several crew members who had just reported aboard tried to escape and in the process trapped themselves in the engine room. Though 27 crewmen survived the collision, 23 perished. In the end the primary responsibility for the collision was placed with Commander Sepel as he had permitted an inexperienced junior officer to conn the ship in an unfamiliar waterway with heavy traffic.

 

22 days after the tragedy, Blackthorn was raised from her watery grave. Here's the news video of the recovery operation:

 click below:

Blackthorn raised 

Rest in peace, shipmates.

That's about it for now. See you next time.

                                           Fair Winds,

                                                Old Salt

ZUMWALT HOME IN SAN DIEGO

24 January 2017: Not exactly new news, but kind of closes out a previous series on this amazing new US Navy destroyer which has now been successfully installed in her new home port of San Diego. She arrived on 8th December; sorry about the delay in reporting the news!

Here she is, in case you might have forgot what she looks like.....

Here's the Navy's press release on her arrival...... note that it kind of glosses over the issue she experienced in the Atlantic and the little problem she had in the Panama Canal. In case you missed it, she had an engine failure but it was repaired successfully and on she went. But now she's hopefully fully functional and well into her crew training. 

The US Navy's largest and most technologically advanced destroyer, the USS Zumwalt (DDG 1000), arrived at its new homeport of San Diego, California today. The first-in-class warship left the Bath Iron Works shipyard in Bath, Maine on September 7 and made passage through the Panama canal, making goodwill visits to various ports along the way.

According to the Navy, the US$4 billion Zumwalt's advanced design meant the crew has been kept extremely busy at training exercises as they familiarized themselves with the ship's operations since the Navy took formal possession of it last May. In addition, the vessel suffered many teething incidents, including a propulsion malfunction en route to its commissioning ceremony in Baltimore and another breakdown in the Panama canal.

Named after Admiral Elmo R. "Bud" Zumwalt Jr., former chief of naval operations from 1970 to 1974, the Zumwalt is notable for its composite superstructure and wave-piercing tumblehome hull designed to make it 50 times stealthier than current ships, which will help it in its task as a multi-mission land attack and littoral dominance warship. In addition, it's the first US Navy ship with an integrated power system capable of both providing propulsion and powering the next generation of directed energy weapons.

We have not heard a definitive solution to the $800,000 per shot issue with her main armament, but one must suppose there is something in the works on that.

That's it for now....until next time, 

                                     Fair Winds,

                                         Old Salt