USS Spiegel Grove

The USS Spiegel Grove is a deliberately sunk 510-foot U.S. Navy landing ship dock that now serves as a large artificial reef and a very popular wreck dive off Key Largo. The wreck sits upright on a flat white-sand bottom at about 134 feet and is heavily encrusted with hard corals and sponges, offering extensive exterior decks, cranes, and other ship features to explore. Access is by boat only using mooring buoys and descent lines; divers descend in open water to depths ranging from about 45 to 130 feet, with the top of the wheelhouse near 60 feet, the bow near 90 feet, and the stern around 100 feet. Visibility is often good and water temperatures are warm year-round; currents can be moderate to strong and surface swells are possible. Much of the wreck lies below 60 feet and there are numerous overhead spaces, open hatches, and entanglement hazards, so the site is considered challenging and is recommended for advanced or properly trained wreck and technical divers. The Spiegel Grove was built in the 1950s, commissioned in 1956, and decommissioned in 1989; it was cleaned and scuttled off Key Largo in 2002 after an initial unintended roll on May 17 and a final sinking on June 10, 2002, and was later righted by Hurricane Dennis in 2005. Notable wreck features include the open well deck, large port and starboard cranes, exhaust stacks, coral-encrusted gun mounts, anchor chains, deck reels, the open stern well door, and commemorative plaques.