French shipyard threatens to sell THE Calypso

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So, hypothetical, where in the seven seas would make a great site for such an artificial reef? And why?
 
nowhere.... she's wood hulled, and thus a real finite life as such. Then again, some cold deep fresh water...... nah, just can't see it as a just ending...
 
My first thoughts was Key Largo. Make an association with the Dive Museum. And with the high diving traffic that Largo gets she would get a lot of exposure. But I did not know she was wooden...warm water wouldn't work too long.
 
True, but you can't charge an admission fee to an artificial reef. The most cost-effective solution is probably to move her where she can be put on blocks (out of the water). She would not have to be made or maintained water-tight, moving her inland away from salt water would save a lot of money, and the real estate costs are less.

Edit: Sad to say it, but if she doesn't float she will probably be scrapped in place at a loss just to get the space back. Not much value in the wood.

The Calypso weighs a lot less than U-505 on display at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago.
Museum of Science and Industry | The Exhibit

U505_wide_608.jpg

Call your U-505 and raise you a AGSS-569.
albcr2.jpg

Museum at Albacore Park Portsmouth, NH

and

Seawolf_Park_damage_following_Ike.jpg

SS-244 and DE-238
Seawolf Park Galveston,TX after Hurricane Ike.

There are a lot of Museums with larger ships out of the water, it is all a mater of desire, work and of course money. Considering the lack of interest up to this point, I don't hold out much hope for it being saved.



Bob
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There is no problem that can't be solved with a liberal application of sex, tequila, money, duct tape, or high explosives, not necessarily in that order.
 
The ship that became the Calypso was built as a minesweeper in Seattle and lend-leased to the UK during WWII and served as a passenger ferry between Malta and Gozzo after the war. For some strange reason I enjoy re-reading her story in Chapter Two, La Calypso, in Cousteau’s book The Living Sea. The original plan was to have a much smaller vessel built, in the 75' range. Calypso is 140' and 360 tons.

I got to visit her in San Diego in 1969, my last year of high school. She was in a local shipyard. It was a Saturday so not many people were around to ask what I was doing here. I just walked up and asked if I could come aboard and look around. None other than André Laban essentially said sure kid… I was too stunned to remember his exact words. I climbed down in the observation chamber at the bow, visited the engine room, wheelhouse, aft hold, and solon. I could hardly believe it. It seems like I knew every inch (OK, millimeter) of her from obsessing over photos and documentaries for years.

The two one-man submersibles, the Sea Fleas, were ashore in a workshop and I spent about an hour studying them and taking pictures but didn’t go inside. I don’t remember anyone saying a word to me.

Calypso is well over 70 years old now and made of wood. I suspect the refit and maintenance costs to resume her old roll would be far more than replacing her with a much newer and efficient vessel.
 
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As far as I have read in french scubaforum, the hull is virtually destroyed. So apparently no way to bring her any place by sea. So I think that, sadly enough, she will end up as scrap and a few artefacts saved for a museum. Sad ending :(
 
…There are a lot of Museums with larger ships out of the water, it is all a mater of desire, work and of course money. Considering the lack of interest up to this point, I don't hold out much hope for it being saved...

You are probably right. There are fewer and fewer people who remember the ship’s significance every year. Besides, the guy who could raise the funds to keep feeding the beast is gone along with the era that made it possible. I’m afraid the landfill and firewood are in her future.
 
Well, It's not like wood hulls totally disappear after a hundred years. We have one or two here on the NC coast still good for a visit. I'd vote for the Sanary France, myself. Seems a fitting home should be close to home in the first place!
 
From a French point of view :

- Calypso's long dead and gone since the wreckage in Singapore harbour
- too much bad blood between the shipyard and the Cousteau Society
- Cousteau Society is a mere ghost now, you can hear it but not see it nor its actions
- the myth is gone : only old timers still remmember Cousteau and Calypso here
- twice money was raised to mend Calypso and people were never really kept informed of the use made of it

A very sad ending for that ship. Really makes feel like puking. Sorry for speaking rough and trash, but I was brought up in front of a TV in the 70's with Cousteau TV shows running in a loop, I took up diving because of them, so I really feel like they're flushing part of my childhood down the drain, that's not a pretty feeling.

My 2 cents, raise money one last time to settle the debt and bury Calypso at sea, in the Med and let her rest in peace at last.
 
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