Close
MyNorthwest
News
Opinion
Sports
Tools
Connect

20 years since Navy ship sunk for artificial reef in Keys

FILE - In this photo provided by the Florida Keys News Bureau, the sun sets over the upside-down hull of the Spiegel Grove. The 510-foot-long retired Naval Landing Ship Dock was to be scuttled upright to create an artificial reef off the Florida Keys, but sank prematurely May 17, 2002, and rolled over. The vessel was eventually fully sunk. The Spiegel Grove's storied past is to be celebrated May 17, 2022, the 20th anniversary of the sinking, with an event at a local cultural center that features key individuals reminiscing about the project. (Andy Newman/Florida Keys News Bureau via AP, File) In this photo provided by the Florida Keys News Bureau, fish swim among coral, Sunday, May 15, 2022, that has grown on the retired Naval Landing Ship Dock Spiegel Grove, sunk 20 years earlier, six miles off Key Largo, Fla., to become an artificial reef. The vessel's storied past is to be celebrated May 17, 2022, the 20th anniversary of the sinking, with an event at a local cultural center that features key individuals reminiscing about the project. (Frazier Nivens/Florida Keys News Bureau via AP) In this Sunday, May 15, 2022, photo provided by the Florida Keys News Bureau, Lisa Mongelia swims between gun turrets of the retired Naval Landing Ship Dock Spiegel Grove, sunk 20 years earlier, six miles off Key Largo, Fla., to become an artificial reef. The vessel's storied past is to be celebrated May 17, 2022, the 20th anniversary of the sinking, with an event at a local cultural center that features key individuals reminiscing about the project. (Frazier Nivens/Florida Keys News Bureau via AP) In this Sunday, May 15, 2022, photo provided by the Florida Keys News Bureau, Karen Berrios, right, watches Jon Hazelbaker install a commemorative plaque on the Spiegel Grove, a decommissioned 510-foot-long Naval Landing Ship Dock that was sunk in 2002 to become an artificial reef in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary off Key Largo, Fla. Installation of the plaque was one of several activities that are being staged to mark the 20th anniversary of the sinking. Barrios' father and uncle served on the Spiegel Grove. (Frazier Nivens/Florida Keys News Bureau via AP) In this Sunday, May 15, 2022, photo provided by the Florida Keys News Bureau, divers swim near the bow of the retired Naval Landing Ship Dock Spiegel Grove, sunk 20 years earlier, six miles off Key Largo, Fla., to become an artificial reef. The vessel's storied past is to be celebrated May 17, 2022, the 20th anniversary of the sinking, with an event at a local cultural center that features key individuals reminiscing about the project. (Frazier Nivens/Florida Keys News Bureau via AP)
20 years since Navy ship sunk for artificial reef in Keys