USS Spiegel Grove
A 510-foot Navy ship intentionally sunk off Key Largo in 2002 to create an artificial reef. It landed upside down. A hurricane flipped it right-side up.
The USS Spiegel Grove was a Navy landing ship decommissioned in 2002 and donated to the Florida Keys for use as an artificial reef. The sinking did not go as planned — the ship rolled and sank upside down, with the bow sticking out of the water. Three years later, Hurricane Dennis flipped it right-side up. It now sits at 130 feet, the largest intentionally sunk ship in the world.
The Spiegel Grove is accessible from Key Largo dive operators. The top of the ship is at 60 feet, accessible to recreational divers. The full wreck requires advanced certification. Visibility is typically excellent. Dive charters run daily from Key Largo.
The ship is now covered in coral and swarming with fish — goliath grouper, barracuda, sharks. The scale is difficult to process underwater: you are swimming through the corridors of a 510-foot warship. The hurricane that righted it is part of the story now, which feels appropriate for the Keys.