Former destroyer to become part of reef today
Today’s the big day–a former Navy destroyer will get a new purpose as an artificial reef off the East coast.
Officials say the 563-foot Arthur W. Radford will be the longest vessel ever sunk as an artificial reef in the Atlantic Ocean.
The sinking is scheduled for today after much preparation at the Navy Yard, as WHYY’s Peter Crimmins reported.
Its resting spot is to be in the Del-Jersey-Land reef created by the states of Delaware, Maryland and New Jersey. It’s about 26 miles off the Indian River Inlet in Delaware; Ocean City, Md., and Cape May, N.J.
The ship was retired in 2003 after 26 years of use by the Navy. It will join many other man-made items in that part of the Atlantic, including retired New York City subway cars.
Peter Crimmins will also be at the ship’s sinking today–check back here for the full story tomorrow. We promise cool pictures.
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