Diving the USS Tecumseh

[wjefferis]

I went to Ft. Morgan today and once I got home I took a closer look at the fort information guide. It talks about and shows on the map that the USS Tecumseh sunk just off Ft. Morgan and there is a buoy marking its position. Is this considered a protected war grave site or is it accessable to divers? I would be pretty cool to see civil war history on a dive. I may try to call the Ft. Morgan information center tommorow to see what they say.

I did some digging on the internet and this is what the ship looked like:

 

[SuPrBuGmAn]

Last I heard, the site was covered in mud?

 

[Hetland]

Currents scream past that area, and I'd imagine that vis is measured in inches, not feet.

I may be mixing my wrecks up in my mind, but it seems like the last I read of a research dive on that spot, the report was that she was under 5-6 feet of mud.


al.com: Special Report

 

[algulfdiver]

Your not suppose to dive Her with out a permit (if U can get one)

 

[tom wicker]

You will be jacked up before you hit the bottom. The site has been vandalized before and is carefully watch now days and rightly so. Do a search and the Flour target ship (Mine Layer) on up in the bay if you want an old wreck to dive Viz sucks but doable Winter is the wrong season to dive the bay the North winds keep the clean saltwater pushed out

 

[LtCol R. Marriott]

You will be jacked up before you hit the bottom. The site has been vandalized before and is carefully watch now days and rightly so. Do a search and the Flour target ship (Mine Layer) on up in the bay if you want an old wreck to dive Viz sucks but doable Winter is the wrong season to dive the bay the North winds keep the clean saltwater pushed out

 

[LtCol R. Marriott]

This a current reply to an older thread subject, as new laws are going into effect.
Tom and Gary were on target, but it will now carry fines to be near the USS Tecumseh. The wreck is
on the National Register of Historic Places as well as being registered and protected as a US Navy Memorial
under the same laws as the USS Arizona-Pearl Harbor. It is the final resting place
for 93 Union/US sailors and is an official US grave site.

New laws carry increased penalties and fines. A new buoy will carry the warnings about no anchoring
or any disturbance of the site area. Diving of any sort is prohibited. The staff at Fort Morgan, as well as the US Coast Guard and Marine Police are regularly monitoring the site. The US Navy takes the Tecumseh seriously.

LtCol Ridge Marriott
Special Forces Underwater Operations Course (1972) Key West,FL