#scubadiving #caribbean #shipwrecks #wreckdive #wrecking #usnavy #keylargo

Filmed and edited by Juan Iribarren ‪@Underwater_Explorations‬
Dive Operator: Horizon Divers (www.horizondivers.com) Special thanks to Ashlee Zoe (@letsdive84) Divemaster and guide of the exploration.

THE DIVES: Total bottom time 140 min / Nitrox 31. Water temperature 85F, mild moderate currents average depth 75105 feet, great visibility.The wreck is in excellent shape, with rich marine life, tons of opportunities for penetration explorations. Overall one of the best dives you can do worldwide. Advanced certification required, nitrox recommended.

USS Spiegel Grove (LSD32) was a Thomastonclass dock landing ship of the United States Navy. She was named for Spiegel Grove, the home and estate in Fremont, Ohio of Rutherford B. Hayes, the 19th President of the United States.

On 9 January 1957, Spiegel Grove, with other ships of Transport Amphibious Squadron 4 (TransPhibRon 4) sailed off North Carolina with elements of the 6th Marines embarked, for a tour with the 6th Fleet in the Mediterranean. In April 1961 she took part of "Solant Amity II" with Task Force 88. She participated in "Operation Steel Pike I" off Spain in October 1964 and made a midshipman cruise to England and Denmark in 1970. On 22 July 1974, she participated in the evacuation of American citizens from Cyprus along with several other ships of the U.S. Sixth Fleet, and again in 1976, this time in Lebanon, during "Operation Fluid Drive". Additionally USS Spiegel Grove operated with the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit in Eastern Wind in August 1987 in the area of Geesalay, Somalia. She was purposefully sank on 17 May 2002 to become an artificial reef.