NEWS

WWII vessel becomes latest fish habitat off Delaware

Molly Murray
The News Journal

For much of the last decade, the MV Shearwater caught menhaden by the ton, but in its new life, as part of the Del-Jersey-Land reef 26 miles off the coast, it will become a fish habitat and diving destination in the state's artificial reef program.

The ship didn't go easy into the deep last week. The stern sank first, and the ship started to turn leaving just the bow out of the water. It took about six hours to fully sink after the seacocks opened and the interior compartments flooded.

The 176-foot-long vessel went down in 120 feet of water. It lays about one-half nautical mile from the 568-foot-long USS Arthur W. Radford, a former Navy destroyer. The Radford was sunk at the artificial reef site in 2011 and has become a popular destination for divers and anglers.

"About three weeks ago, a state-record bluefish was caught there," said Jeff Tinsman, the state artificial reef coordinator.

“These old freighters make ideal reefs because of the voids and cavities in them – they’re really the perfect sanctuary for fish,” Tinsman said. “But not long after this ship sinks, the fish will start to come ‘outside’ it to feed. Within a few weeks, blue mussels, sponges, barnacles and soft corals will attach themselves to the structure, and in about a year, the reef will be fully productive, for fish and fishermen alike.”

The Shearwater has an interesting history. It was built at Hickenbotham Brothers in Stockton, California, in 1944 – hull number FS-411. It was commissioned as a 176-foot-long, steel hulled, army transport vessel. But the Army turned it over to the Coast Guard to operate in the Pacific.

The Coast Guard manned the Shearwater until 1950. Then, it was taken out of service until the early 1960s when it was transferred to the Navy as vessel AG 177. It was operated by a civilian crew doing survey work along the Atlantic Coast. In the 1970s, it was returned to the Army and later sold to Omega Protein as a vessel in its menhaden fishing fleet.

Tinsman said that as a menhaden boat, the ship was gutted so that the small, oily fish could be stockpiled inside. It was sold in 2012 and ended up at Coleen Marine, a Virginia Beach, Virginia, shipyard that specializes in converting and sinking retired vessels to create artificial reefs.

Tinsman said the vessel was very clean to start, but before sinking it, Coleen Marine removed all the wiring, the ductwork, the oil and lubricants and anything that would float.

It was described as a “dead ship,” on the manifest.

Delaware has 14 permitted artificial reef sites from Delaware Bay into the Atlantic Ocean. The program started in 1985 and is supported by the Federal Aid in Sport Fishing Restoration Program.

“The artificial reef system has supported Delaware's recreational fishing industry since its inception – and has grown into a flourishing program through DNREC's dedicated efforts and strong partnerships with the private sector and federal agencies," said David Small, secretary of the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control.

The state's artificial reef network includes more than 1,000 sunken New York City subway cars, tugboats, smaller fishing boats and old, decommissioned military vehicles besides the Shearwater and the Radford.

Reach Molly Murray at (302) 463-3334 or mmurray@delawareonline.com. Follow her on Twitter @MollyMurraytnj.