how not not to be seen

[maotsewhat]

I was on Grand Cayman circa the early '80s. I took a day to tour around the island, and somewhere (Bodden Town area?) along the way to East End, offshore about 500 yards or so, was a USN warship which had run aground. It faced bows on toward shore, a huge, rusting hulk of non-deniability left over from the Bay of Pigs era, very visibly belying the U.S. claim of only minimal naval presence in the region during that time of very heightened U.S. - U.S.S.R. tensions.

I recently visited Grand Cayman, and had the chance to cruise eastward along the south coast. No boat, which was not a surprise. What was surprising, however, was the complete lack of any memory of it having been there. No one seemed to know anything about it. I've done some cursory research, but so far have come up empty. I'm wondering if anybody out there has any information, memories, etc., regarding this? Of course, it could be I'm simply hallucinating again, but I don't think so. The hallucinations always come with soundtracks, the good ones, Hendrix, the inexpiable ones, Iron Butterfly.

Thanks for any help here.

mao

 

[nipi]

You have the wrong island. The fringing reef off Bodden Town is less than 100 yards offshore - nowhere is the reef 500 yards offshore in this area.

 

[Doc]

It was on the East End, somewhere South of the Blow Holes, and maybe North of the East End Diving Lodge. Gun Bay? Sand Bluff? The mind aint what it used to be.

It was a commercial freighter, not military. Quit breaking the pills in half. The NSA might be listening.

When I saw it (1985), it was dead aground, bolt upright, yet split in two seperate pieces. I had been diving GC since the 70's, but I never bothered to go that far... 7 Mile Beach still had great shore diving- no need to travel !

A subsequent hurricane dashed it to bits. The East end can be pretty rough - even on a good day.

In 1985 the Georgetown Harbor "placed wreck" of the Oro Verde (get it?) was intact. In 1995 when I next saw her, she was a pile of twisted metal.

 

[caymaniac]

I think I might have some old photos of that wreck, maybe it's not the same one, but I was first on Grand Cayman in 1981 and took some pix of that ship. I'm thinking it wasn't a military ship but I could be wrong. If I find the photos, I'll post them.

 

[H2Andy]

very visibly belying the U.S. claim of only minimal naval
presence in the region during that time of very heightened U.S. - U.S.S.R. tensions.

huh?

first, the Cayman Islands are (and were in the early 60's) a British dependency.
any warship found there is likely to be British, not American.

second, if you saw the wreck in 1985, i can guarantee you that wreck wasn't
there in the early to mid 60's. as has been pointed out, wrecks in that area
(in most areas, in fact) just don't last that long intact.

and the US never claimed "minimal" naval presence in the area. quite the
contrary, the US highlighted how many assets it had in place, from Guantanamo
Bay to Puerto Rico, to the Florida bases, to Panama .... you name it...

it was a coordinated show of force by the US, leading up to the blockade
of Cuba to stop nuclear weapons from entering the island aboard Soviet
freighters...

i mean, if you call a naval blockade a "claim of minimal naval presence" then...

boy, i am at a loss for words

 

[carlislere]

I remember an old rusted, about to collapse wreck in 1983 on the east end. I thought it might have been a freighter of some kind.

 

[Walter]

It was still there (east end) when I last visited GC in '87. I was told it was a freighter.

BTW, the "blockade" of Cuba in '62 was "officially" a "quarantine." Funny how important words are in politics.

 

[nipi]

The East End wreck is the wreck of the Ten Sails which has been there since 1788 & is the reason why we pay no tax. See here for more details - http://www.wreckofthetensails.com/

 

[H2Andy]

nope, we're talking about a more modern wreck ... possibly a freighter

 

[nipi]

Is this it? http://home.hiwaay.net/~brogers/Ridgefield.html If so, it is the Ridgefield. See here for more on it & Cayman's other wrecks - http://www.aquaexplorers.com/cayman_shipwrecks.htm.
Might go & see if there's any beer left at the weekend.