Spiegel Grove uprighted by Hurricane Dennis !!??

[gpatton]

I'm not sure I understand why the dive would be deeper now. I would expect a slightly shallower dive as the ship became upright (unless the hurricane really did a number on the sand below). What am I missing?

The Spiegel has a 84 ft beam. It is in about 135 ft of water. 135 - 84 = 51
Laying on its starboard side the port side came up to 50 ft. So most of the port side, except where the bow tapered to a point was a 50 ft dive. The gun turrets are just in board of the outside rail.

With the Spiegel on it side about 70% of the ship could be reach at 50 ft. Now, I estimate may 25% will be a 50 ft dive.

Glenn

 

[gpatton]

I'm not sure I understand why the dive would be deeper now. I would expect a slightly shallower dive as the ship became upright (unless the hurricane really did a number on the sand below). What am I missing?

Also, basically most of the Spiegel's vertical profile is not as tall as it is wide.

So, now in an upright position most of the ship will not come up to the previous depth of 50 ft.

All of the Speigel's masts and radar towers were remove prior to it leaving the ship yard.

Glenn

 

[Scuba_Jenny]

Nice video Glenn. Thanks for posting a link to it.

 

[simbrooks]

Also, basically most of the Spiegel's vertical profile is not as tall as it is wide.

So, now in an upright position most of the ship will not come up to the previous depth of 50 ft.

All of the Speigel's masts and radar towers were remove prior to it leaving the ship yard.

Glenn

That they wouldnt have been squashed when it landed upside down.

Also one of the theories is that SG rotated into an erosion feature, which if this is the case would mean its a little deeper as it is wedged into that erosion feature than if i were laying on a uniform bed of sand. Who knows though. I still think the deck is a nice height if its around 80ft, just deep enough for nitrox to come in useful, but not too deep. I guess the screws are in the 130 range now rather than at about 100ft+/- when she was on her side.

 

[Henryville]

Are the props still pretty accessible? I loved getting photos of divers in front of those monsters, they'll need to be deeper divers now...

 

[cal776]

Glenn:

Thanks for the explanation as to depth and the video footage. I look forward to diving the Grove again in her new upright position.

- Chris

 

[mike_s]

Are the props still pretty accessible? I loved getting photos of divers in front of those monsters, they'll need to be deeper divers now...

I read in a news story that the current had underwashed the sand out of the "down" side of the hull and when it uprighted it that the hull fell into that shallow depression and in doing so "buried" the screws in the sand. ....

So from this report I read, the props/screws are not accesible.

 

[simbrooks]

I read in a news story that the current had underwashed the sand out of the "down" side of the hull and when it uprighted it that the hull fell into that shallow depression and in doing so "buried" the screws in the sand. ....

So from this report I read, the props/screws are not accesible.

The sand is eroded out from the side that the current isnt hitting, but also at the ends where the flow is "whipping" around due to eddying and the velocity of that water passing that point compared to elsewhere in open water. So both bow and stern, plus the side away from the flow (north side?, now the ships port side) will have sand removed from around them eventually, but probably not immeadiately. I would link to a picture if i can, but its just like scour around a bridge pier foundation in a river, except SG is at an angle which just exacerbates the amount of scour as there is a larger object to get past/around.

See these links on scour due to flow around an object and flow over an object(about 1/3 of way down page) for nice pics of what i am talking about.

 

[riddler]

From DiveNewsWire

Wow! :11:

After Three Years, Spiegel Grove is Finally Upright, Courtesy of Hurricane Dennis


KEY LARGO, Florida Keys -- What man could not achieve, nature apparently has for the largest intentionally sunk ship in the world.

The Spiegel Grove is now in an upright position, apparently courtesy of Hurricane Dennis, whose core stayed at least 100 miles west of the Keys island chain.

It's a position project organizers have dreamed of since the retired 510-foot Navy Landing Ship Dock prematurely sunk and rolled over May 17, 2002, leaving the ship's upside-down bow protruding above the water.

Three weeks later, a salvage team managed to fully sink the vessel on its starboard side.

For more than three years, the Spiegel Grove has been the most popular artificial wreck in the Florida Keys and home to more than 160 different species, according to Lad Akins, executive director of the Reef Environmental Education Foundation.

"I'm flabbergasted," said Rob Bleser, the volunteer project director, Monday afternoon after he surfaced following a dive on the newly oriented Spiegel Grove. "Nature took its course and put it where it belongs."

Bleser said the ship is still facing in an easterly direction and has not changed location.

"This will mean a whole new dive for those that have dove it before," Bleser said. "It's orientation is now less confusing for new divers and it's a big deeper dive now.

According to Matt Strahan, meteorologist in charge at the National Weather Service Office in Key West, the waves above the Spiegel Grove wrecksite could have been has high as 20 feet Friday afternoon.

"While we don't have the equipment in the Keys to accurately measure wave height, when Dennis was southeast of Cuba it would have produced very high waves that computer models project could have reached Key Largo," said Strahan. "Waves that high in close proximity to the reef can produce unusually strong currents with tremendous force."

The Spiegel Grove is positioned in 130 feet of water, about six miles off Key Largo. The ship, designed to carry cargo and craft for amphibious landings, was retired by the Navy in 1989.

Bleser says there have been about 75,000 sport dives on the wreck since it opened to divers.

Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary officials say they will temporarily close the wrecksite to divers to analyze stability and replace lost mooring buoys.

 

[dlndavid]

This only the 5th thread on that topic.