USS Kittiwake-Grand Cayman

[Sorrows]

My dad was the diving officer on the Kittiwake, 1962-1964. He passed away last summer and the family--we are also divers--came up with the idea of putting a plaque on the ship to his memory. It wasn't his favorite ship, but it is the only one that has been sunk as a dive attraction/artificial reef. It seemed fitting, and a good way to honor my father, a master diver who joined the Navy when he was barely 15 years old during the last year of WWII. The people in charge were very agreeable to our request (we had originally thought to do this surreptitiously--dad would have loved that!) and could not have been more accomodating.

Anyway, we went down to Norfolk today to install the plaque on the ship. The ship goes into drydock on Friday, so it is pretty much on schedule, I think. A lot of it is going to be open, btw, and you'll even be able to swim into the decompression chamber. (look for my dad's plaque, please!) I was also taken aback by the fee and by the shallow depth--apparently they are hoping to attract snorkelers as well--but she was a good ship and this is a good end for her.

I hope that the divers who visit the USS Kittiwake will pause and remember the crew who sailed her.

 

[Sorrows]

photographs from the USS Kittiwake (Norfolk, VA)

 

[MandaPuffer]

What a great tribute!

 

[NvScubaSteve]

Where on the vessel is your father's plaque located. My wife and I will be in Cayman in August and we would love to see your father's memorial while diving the Kittiwake. That is as long as she goes down on schedule.

 

[kallardnyc]

We will be there August 15-22. Hope to see the tribute as well.

 

[Marek K]

Where on the vessel is your father's plaque located.

Sounds like it's on the actual decompression chamber onboard.

There's a low-res diagram of Kittiwake here... as a former Army officer, I'd guess the chamber is one of those round features just aft of the superstructure, even with the lifeboat?

We'll be there for a week, starting the day Kittiwake is sunk. I really hope we get to dive it too, and pay tribute to Sorrow's dad.

 

[Scubamike16]

I will be there and diving on the 29th and I am really looking forward to diving it. Anyone diving with Dive Tech around that time?

 

[Scubamike16]

According to the website, its $10.00 to dive her, that seems like a lot to dive one site or am I off base with my thinking? Will dive shops add that fee onto dives to that site do you think? I Nassau they don't charge additional $ to dive a wreck there.

 

[Sorrows]

Thanks for your kind comments! My dad's plaque is located in the decompression chamber room--main deck, aft. They actually offered us the bridge, but I thought it should be where he spent the most time--not to say he spent a lot of time in the chamber! Just that as a master diver and the diving officer, he would have been with the divers.

Also I figured the decompression chamber room is one place divers will want to visit! Especially since you can actually swim through the chamber as they've welded the door open. And he would still want to be with the divers. He didn't give up diving until very late in life. He was always a diver and, of course, always a Navy man.

 

[Sorrows]

Have you guys seen these diagrams? They give you an idea of what and where you'll be diving. Having seen what they have planned, my feeling is that there is a lot more open than on most wrecks I've dove.