Cayman Islands sinking US ship to create reef
KINGSTON, Jamaica — A decommissioned U.S. Navy ship was scuttled Wednesday in the clear Caribbean waters of the Cayman Islands, where officials say the sunken vessel will attract fish and tourists.
The USS Kittiwake, a 1945-vintage submarine rescue ship, rests on a sandy bottom off Grand Cayman's Seven Mile Beach. The 47-foot-tall (14-meter) ship is at a depth of 62 feet (19 meters), so the top deck is close to the Caribbean Sea's surface, making it easily accessible for snorkelers and divers.
Crews carefully flooded the rusty hulk so the 2,200-ton (1,995 metric ton) ship would settle upright. Holes were punched in the hull and large pumps gradually piped sea water into the ship, which was compartmentalized into three sections.
As it began to sink in a cascade of bubbles, the Kittiwake leaned a bit to its starboard side. But divers reported it landed upright on its keel.
"It was just perfect execution, nice and even. She landed exactly where she was supposed to," project manager Nancy Easterbrook said during a phone interview from a nearby boat on Seven Mile Beach.
The Kittiwake's scuttling raised mixed emotions in Jon Glatstein, who was a sailor on the vessel from 1984 to 1986. He traveled to this wealthy British Caribbean territory to watch his old ship sink beneath the waves.
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