MV Adolphus Busch

MV Adolphus Busch was a cargo ship that was sunk off of Looe Key, Florida, as an artificial reef and dive site.[1]

History
Name: Adolphus Busch
Operator: Dundee, Perth & London Shipping Co Ltd, Dundee
Builder: Burntisland Shipbuilding Company, Fife
Yard number: 336
Launched: 20 December 1950
Completed: 12 March 1951
Renamed:
  • 1951-1967: London
  • 1967-1988: Topsail Star
  • 1988-1994: Sophie Express
  • 1994-1995: Princess Tarrah
  • 1995-1998 Ocean Alley
  • 1998 Adolphus Busch I
Fate:

Wrecked at Port-au-Prince on 24 September 1998;

Scuttled 5 December 1998
General characteristics
Class and type: Cargo ship
Tonnage:
Length:
  • 213 ft (65 m) overall
  • 197 ft (60 m) pp
Beam: 36 ft (11 m)

The ship was built as London by the Burntisland Shipbuilding Company, Fife, Scotland, for the Dundee, Perth & London Shipping Co Ltd, Dundee and was launched on 20 December 1950. She sailed under a number of names during her career before she was wrecked at Port-au-Prince on 24 September 1998 under the name Ocean Alley.

The wreck was bought by August Adolphus Busch IV and named after his great-grandfather, Adolphus Busch. He had the ship stripped out and arranged for its sinking as an artificial reef to help preserve marine habitat.[2] The ship was sunk on 5 December 1998.[3]

Current status

The Adolphus Busch rests upright on a sand bottom at an average depth of 80 feet (24.3 meters). Maximum depth is 110 feet (33.5 meters). The wreck is fully penetrable, and can be entered through the bridge or cargo holds. The machinery in the engine room is still present and presents the only major entanglement hazard to divers. The glass from the wheelhouse windows and the covers to the cargo holds have been removed.

Multiple mooring balls are secured to the wreck to allow boats to tie up to the site. Reef fish are common on the site, as are large jewfish, eels, and large pelagic fish. Sharks have been seen on the reef, but are not considered typical.[4]

References
  1. "Dive Sites - Florida Keys". Archived from the original on 2007-04-05. Retrieved 2007-03-25.
  2. "Adolphus Busch - Marathon SCUBA Site - Dive Spots". Archived from the original on 2007-02-09. Retrieved 2007-03-25.
  3. South Florida Divers, Inc. SCUBA Club The Wrecks We Dive
  4. Dive site page: Adolphus-Busch - wreck -LowerKeysDivesites.com:Scuba diving in Paradise, the lower Florida Keys scuba divers Key West to Big Pine Key with underwater tropical reef fish and see maps of wrecks at diveshops Archived 2008-01-01 at the Wayback Machine

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