USTC Texas Clipper to become part of artificial reef

Ally · 11-03-2007, 10:05 AM

With a long, distinguished service record, including serving as a transport and attack ship during World War II, the USTC Texas Clipper has received its final orders.

The ship, which also saw time as a cruise ship, will become the newest artificial reef in the Gulf of Mexico.

The 473-foot vessel was mothballed twice before being retired as the oldest ship in the United States Merchant Marine fleet in 1996 and has been at the Port of Brownsville since last fall.

Texas Parks and Wildlife Department says weather permitting, on Nov. 14, the ship will be towed from Brownsville 17 miles off the coast of South Padre Island. The next day, workers will open valves to flood the ship, which will sink 134 feet to the bottom of the Gulf.

If all goes as plan, on Nov.17, the site will be open to the public for diving and fishing.

“This ship has an incredible history,” said TPWD Artificial Reef Program Coordinator J. Dale Shively. “Of course, after three decades as a Galveston-based training vessel, she has a very strong Texas connection. But we like to say she’s already had three lives, starting in the Pacific theatre during World War II, and her role as a reef will be her fourth life and final journey.”

According to Brownsville Herald archives holes were punched into the ship and welders sealed off sections of the ship to make it safe for divers, said Kris Wood, the dismantling project manager.

Hydrocarbons, 1,680 cubic yards of asbestos, wiring and more than 76,000 pounds of PCB-containing chemicals were removed. Esco Marine completed the project at the Port of Brownsville.

As an artificial reef, the Texas Clipper will be the site of several scientific programs.

The University of Texas at Brownsville and Texas Southmost College will partner with TPWD to monitor biological growth on the hull of the ship and Texas A&M University and the National Marine Fisheries Service will conduct experiments on corrosion in Gulf waters.

For more information of the USTS Texas Clipper, including photos, visit:

http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/newsmedi...texas_clipper/

Ally · 11-17-2007, 11:38 AM

**Update

Quote:

SOUTH PADRE ISLAND — A ship that over the past six decades brought World War II troops to Iwo Jima, ferried the well-to-do across the Atlantic, and gave maritime cadets their sea legs will spend a fourth life attracting marine life and divers eager to explore it.

The Texas Clipper was scheduled to sink to its final resting place 17 nautical miles offshore and 134 feet under water today as boatloads of fans and media look on.

"You hate to think of ships being under the water, but in this case we've got a ship that's going under deliberately and tenderly and I think honorifically," said Stephen Curley, who taught freshman English on the ship during its incarnation as a training vessel for Texas A&M-Galveston.

He said he has tried to imagine people swimming through his former cabin.

The controlled sinking was delayed several days because of weather. But what is a few more days for a project that's been 10 years in the making and has cost $4 million, Texas Artificial Reef Program coordinator Dale Shively asked......

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/...o/5309593.html

Ally · 11-19-2007, 04:12 PM

**Update

Video footage of the sinking of Texas Clipper....

http://www.keyetv.com/mediacenter/lo...om&navCatId=24

Ally · 11-25-2007, 12:03 PM

Apparently Texas Clipper has not 'landed' in the right position...

Quote:

As many feared, the Texas Clipper is resting on its left side on the Gulf of Mexico’s sandy floor.

The old war ship and training vessel was submerged last week some 17 miles off the coast of South Padre Island. As it was ceremoniously sunk, turbulent waters shifted the ship to its side and that’s how it landed, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department officials said.

“It’s on its side,” Tim O’Leary of the island’s American Diving confirmed.

“For us, it doesn’t matter, but I don’t suspect it’s going to stay that way,” O’Leary said. “At the end, it was Mother Nature.”

It was hoped the Clipper, now an artificial reef, would serve as an underwater attraction for divers. A lopsided ship might be less of a draw for the millions in tourist dollars area vendors were hoping to get from the anticipated traffic. ......

http://www.brownsvilleherald.com/new...pper_ship.html