Scuba Diving - New Jersey & Long Island New York

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Here is a chronological listing of all the vessels sunk by the New Jersey Artificial Reef Program in recent history. Nicknames given by the Reef Program are enclosed in quotes. For a description of reef-building activities prior to this list, see Pre-History.

1970s
Drydock
#	Date		Name	Type	Size	Location
1	Jun 1973		Carlson II	trawler	70	Sea Girt *
2	1977		Railroad	barge	200	Sea Girt *
3	Feb 1979		Drydock	barge	100	Sea Girt *
* Predates current Artificial Reef Program these are the earliest NJ reefs for which records exist.
1982
Cranford
#	Date		Name	Type	Size	Location
4	Mar 30	(Tue)	Cranford	ferry	191	Sea Girt *
* Predates current Artificial Reef Program
1983
Dykes
#	Date		Name	Type	Size	Location
5	Jun		Kiley B	trawler	75	Sea Girt *
6	Jul		Dykes	sch. barge	306	Sea Girt *
7	Mar 15	(Tue)	Cinderella	trawler	70	Sea Girt *
* Predates current Artificial Reef Program
1984
Good Times
#	Date		Name	Type	Size	Location
8	Aug 15	(Wed)	Good Times	other	52	Garden State N
1985
Pauline Marie
#	Date		Name	Type	Size	Location
9	Mar 29	(Fri)	Pauline Marie	freighter	165	Atlantic City
10	May 09	(Thu)	Shirley Ann	barge	80	Garden State N
11	Jun 03	(Mon)	American	sailboat	125	Atlantic City
12	Jul 03	(Wed)	First Lady	trawler	95	Atlantic City
13	Nov 18	(Mon)	Morania Abaco	tanker	264	Atlantic City
1986
Spartan
#	Date		Name	Type	Size	Location
14	Jan 31	(Fri)	Spartan	tugboat	85	Sea Girt
15	Feb 14	(Fri)	Rockland County	tugboat	105	Sea Girt
16	Apr 12	(Sat)	Queen Mary	other	31	Garden State N
17	Apr 13	(Sun)	Francis S Bushey	tanker	247	Atlantic City
18	Jun 10	(Tue)	YO-54 A.H. Dumont	tanker	247	Garden State N
19	Jul 25	(Fri)	Swenson I	barge	130	Sea Girt
20	Oct 16	(Thu)	Laita	trawler	120	Cape May
1987
Coney Island
#	Date		Name	Type	Size	Location
21	Aug 17	(Mon)	Molasses	barge	250	Garden State N
22	Sep 10	(Thu)	YO-31 Alan Martin	tanker	160	Shark River
23	Sep 10	(Thu)	Coney Island	tanker	250	Shark River
24	Sep 10	(Thu)	Sam Berman	tanker	160	Shark River
25	Sep 16	(Wed)	Swenson II	barge	130	Sea Girt
26	Nov 07	(Sat)	Aqua II	barge	110	Garden State N
27	Nov 14	(Sat)	Peggy Diana	other	56	Cape May
1988
Fatuk
#	Date		Name	Type	Size	Location
28	Feb 10	(Wed)	car float #52	barge	270	Sea Girt
29	May 27	(Fri)	Rhino	other	50	Garden State S
30	Jun 06	(Mon)	Morania 180	barge	230	Sea Girt
31	Oct 27	(Thu)	Fatuk	freighter	160	Garden State N
1989
Coleman
#	Date		Name	Type	Size	Location
32	?		Marie "Horseshoe" (scrap metal)	tugboat	95	Sea Girt
33	?		"Horseshoe" (scrap metal)	barge	70	Sea Girt
34	?		"Horseshoe" (scrap metal)	barge	80	Sea Girt
35	?		"Horseshoe" (scrap metal)	barge	140	Sea Girt
36	?		Miller	barge	90	Garden State S
37	Apr 23	(Sun)	Nils S	trawler	122	Atlantic City
38	Jun 03	(Sat)	Dorothy (scrap metal)	tugboat	65	Sandy Hook
39	Jun 03	(Sat)	V.L. Keegan (scrap metal)	tanker	110	Sandy Hook
40	Jun 27	(Tue)	Coleman	barge	45	Sandy Hook
41	Jul 12	(Wed)	Winthrop	trawler	120	Cape May
42	Oct 11	(Wed)	A.C. Wescoat	barge	60	Atlantic City
43	Oct 30	(Mon)	Vicki-Pat	trawler	67	Atlantic City
1990
PATH subway cars
#	Date		Name	Type	Size	Location
44	Apr 27	(Fri)	Troy	tugboat	90	Atlantic City
45	May 06	(Sun)	Captain Henry	other	56	Cape May
46	Jul 17	(Tue)	Carol Moran "Wagner's Point Pub"	tugboat	110	Atlantic City
47	Jul 19	(Thu)	PATH subway cars	other	51	Sea Girt
48	Aug 08	(Wed)	Lisa Michelle	barge	110	Cape May
49	Oct 30	(Tue)	Mary C	barge	240	Garden State N
50	Oct 30	(Tue)	Margaret Nancy	trawler	75	Atlantic City
1991
USS Algol - the biggest NJ artificial reef
#	Date		Name	Type	Size	Location
51	Apr 07	(Sun)	Choctaw	tugboat	90	Garden State N
52	Jul 25	(Thu)	Becky Lee	trawler	60	Cape May
53	Oct 11	(Fri)	Ada Adelia	trawler	65	Atlantic City
54	Nov 22	(Fri)	USS Algol AKA-54 / LKA-54	freighter	459	Shark River
55	Dec 07	(Sat)	Wyoming	trawler	100	Cape May
1992
Beach Haven
#	Date		Name	Type	Size	Location
56	Aug 06	(Thu)	Beach Haven	trawler	125	Atlantic City
57	Aug 21	(Fri)	Sea Transporter	trawler	135	Cape May
1993
Onondaga
#	Date		Name	Type	Size	Location
58	Apr 09	(Fri)	VCF-17 "Salt Barge"	barge	150	Cape May
59	Jul 19	(Mon)	Onondaga	barge	205	Cape May
60	Aug 05	(Thu)	Ronde Joyce II	tugboat	62	Sea Girt
61	Aug 16	(Mon)	Celia Brown	tugboat	85	Cape May
62	Sep 09	(Thu)	USCG Cape Straight WPB-95308	other	95	Cape May
63	Sep 09	(Thu)	"Johnny Buoy"	other	46	Cape May
1994
WLV-189 Boston
#	Date		Name	Type	Size	Location
64	Jan 28	(Fri)	USCG Boston WLV-189	lightship	128	Atlantic City
65	May 11	(Wed)	Starcraft	barge	150	Garden State S
66	Jun 10	(Fri)	Blue Crown	freighter	205	Atlantic City
67	Jul 06	(Wed)	YC-1504 "Capt Etzel"	barge	110	Sea Girt
68	Sept ?		Lockwood	sailboat	40	Sandy Hook
69	Sep 29	(Thu)	"VP Pessolano"	tugboat	97	Garden State N
70	Oct 25	(Tue)	Holgate I	trawler	65	Garden State S
1995
#9
#	Date		Name	Type	Size	Location
71	May 16	(Tue)	USCG "VHFC"	other	44	Garden State S
72	Jun 09	(Fri)	Big Mama	tugboat	103	Atlantic City
73	Jun 21	(Wed)	Coleman II	barge	60	Garden State N
74	Jun 21	(Wed)	Weeks 218 "Penn Reels Reef"	barge	106	Garden State N
75	Jul 11	(Tue)	USCG "OWD I"	other	44	Garden State S
76	Jul 31	(Mon)	#9	tow boat	40	Barnegat Light
1996
"G.A.Venturo" with nearby M113 "tanks"
#	Date		Name	Type	Size	Location
77	Feb 27	(Tue)	"Michael DePalma"	barge	70	Wildwood
78	Apr 19	(Fri)	Antares	sailboat	41	Barnegat Light
79	Aug 03	(Sat)	Colleen "G-Force"	tugboat	92	Axel Carlson
80	Aug 20	(Tue)	"John Dobilas"	tanker	165	Garden State N
81	Oct 17	(Thu)	"G.A.Venturo"	tugboat	99	Sea Girt
1997
Jessie C
#	Date		Name	Type	Size	Location
82	Feb 12	(Wed)	Jessie C	other	65	Little Egg
83	Jun 11	(Wed)	YON-97 "Rothenbach I"	barge	165	Cape May
84	Jun 12	(Thu)	Libra	barge	195	Ocean City
85	Jun 23	(Mon)	"Kathy & Maria"	barge	32	Ocean City
86	Jul 27	(Sun)	Billy D	tugboat	80	Shark River
87	Aug 07	(Thu)	ST-18 "the Fisherman"	barge	242	Sea Girt
88	Sep 15	(Mon)	Jerry	tugboat	41	Garden State N
89	Oct 08	(Wed)	YON-81 "Ed Schmidiger"	barge	174	Axel Carlson
90	Oct 08	(Wed)	YON-84 "OWD III"	barge	174	Axel Carlson
91	Dec 19	(Fri)	Golden Eagle	trawler	80	Sea Girt
92	Dec 19	(Fri)	Restorer	tugboat	62	Sea Girt
1998
"DVD / King / Banana"
#	Date		Name	Type	Size	Location
93	Jul 10	(Fri)	YON-96 "Rothenbach II"	barge	165	Great Egg
94	Jul 16	(Thu)	YW-27 "Mako Mania"	tanker	165	Shark River
95	Aug 07	(Fri)	"OWD IV"	tanker bow	85	Sea Girt
96	Sep 14	(Mon)	"DVD / King / Banana"	barge	140	Sea Girt
1999
WLM-689 Red Oak
#	Date		Name	Type	Size	Location
97	Sep 13	(Mon)	USCG Red Oak WLM-689	other	157	Cape May
98	Dec 03	(Fri)	"Waldorf"	barge	110	Little Egg
2000
YOG-58 "Captain Bart"
#	Date		Name	Type	Size	Location
99	Mar 30	(Thu)	USCG Point Swift WPB-82312	other	83	Cape May
100	Jun 09	(Fri)	YOG-58 "Captain Bart"	tanker	174	Shark River
101	Sep 12	(Tue)	Patrick McHugh "Charles McGurr"	tugboat	85	Axel Carlson
102	Sep 22	(Fri)	Stephen McAllister "HRFA-NJ"	tugboat	98	Shark River
2001
APL-31 "Jack's Spot"
#	Date		Name	Type	Size	Location
103	Jul 23	(Mon)	APL-31 "Jack's Spot"	barge	261	Shark River
104	Sep 20	(Thu)	USCG Heritage Hull "Dr Tom's"	other	120	Cape May
105	Oct 30	(Tue)	E-13 "Jim Lynch"	barge	178	Axel Carlson
106	Oct 30	(Tue)	Brooklyn "Joan LaRie III"	tugboat	95	Axel Carlson
107	Oct 31	(Wed)	Lewis F Boyer "Travis"	tugboat	95	Sea Girt
2002
Vincent Tibbetts "Capt Walt Hendee"
#	Date		Name	Type	Size	Location
108	Jan 15	(Tue)	"Wedding"	barge	109	Sea Girt
109	May 21	(Tue)	"Tuna Sub"	barge	42	Barnegat Light
110	Sep 05	(Thu)	Mantank "BassBarn.com"	barge	224	Deepwater
111	Sep 05	(Thu)	AOG-33 Vincent Tibbetts	tanker	244	Deepwater
112	Sep 13	(Fri)	Butterick "Southwick's"	barge	62	Little Egg
2003
Redbirds subway cars
#	Date		Name	Type	Size	Location
113	Jun 27	(Fri)	"Barbara Ann"	barge	75	Axel Carlson
114	Jun 27	(Fri)	Swenson "Patrick S Murphy"	barge	50	Axel Carlson
115	Jul 03	(Thu)	Redbirds subway cars	other	51	Cape May
116	Jul 16	(Wed)	Redbirds subway cars	other	51	Deepwater
117	Jul 25	(Fri)	Redbirds subway cars	other	51	Atlantic City
118	Sep 03	(Wed)	Redbirds subway cars	other	51	Garden State N
119	Sep 25	(Thu)	"Diver's Abyss"	tugboat	104	Deepwater
120	Sep 25	(Thu)	"Anne E Clark"	tugboat	120	Deepwater
121	Oct 14	(Tue)	Redbirds subway cars	other	51	Shark River
2004
Lady Dee "Vandegrift"
#	Date		Name	Type	Size	Location
122	Mar 26	(Fri)	Lady Dee "Vandegrift"	trawler	85	Wildwood
123	Mar 26	(Fri)	"Allen R"	tugboat	110	Cape May
124	Mar 26	(Fri)	"Guido's"	tugboat	110	Cape May
125	Aug 23	(Mon)	"Fallen Friends"	barge	40	Wildwood
126	Nov 10	(Wed)	Captain Bill "Veronica M"	tugboat	110	Axel Carlson
2005
Elizabeth "Hooters"
#	Date		Name	Type	Size	Location
127	Jan 09	(Sun)	Bay King "MRMTC"	tugboat	100	Axel Carlson
128	Jan 09	(Sun)	Megan Sue "Four of Clubs"	tugboat	75	Axel Carlson
129	Apr 16	(Sat)	Maelstrom	trawler	71	Wildwood
130	May 04	(Wed)	Lollipop "Ed Hall"	other	62	Garden State S
131	May 17	(Tue)	YO-153 "Helis"	tanker	156	Garden State N
132	Aug 03	(Wed)	Elizabeth "Hooters"	ferry	200	Cape May
133	Aug 10	(Wed)	"Pair of Kings"	barge	132	Wildwood
134	Sep 02	(Fri)	Jet Trader "Captain Andy Applegate"	tanker	170	Atlantic City
135	Sep 12	(Mon)	Shamrock	barge	48	Ocean City
136	Nov 8	(Tue)	Bay Jack	tugboat	60	Townsends
137	Dec 20	(Tue)	Jill Adventure "Donna's Star"	trawler	82	Townsends
2006
Heavy Metal
#	Date		Name	Type	Size	Location
138	Jan 28	(Sat)	Snug Harbor "Lucky Seven"	trawler	65	Axel Carlson
139	Jul 18	(Tue)	Heavy Metal "Margie Starns"	tow boat	31	Townsends
140	Jul 26	(Wed)	AC Wescoat 2	barge	60	Ocean City
141	Oct 3	(Fri)	MRMTC 8	barge	90	Axel Carlson
142	Oct 3	(Fri)	MRMTC 9	barge	178	Axel Carlson
143	Nov 4	(Sat)	Hail Mary II "Angelo's Reef"	trawler	65	Axel Carlson
144	Nov 28	(Sat)	"Joe Houston"	barge	40	Barnegat Light
145	Nov 28	(Sat)	"Johnny Mesday"	barge	40	Barnegat Light
2007
Miss Doxsee
#	Date		Name	Type	Size	Location
146	Apr 10	(Tue)	Long Bay "TI Fluke #06"	trawler	77	Townsends
147	Apr 24	(Tue)	Caterina.D "MRMTC 10"	trawler	70	Axel Carlson
148	May 25	(Fri)	Sulzer barge "Smoot Reef"	barge	100	Ocean City
149	Aug 13	(Mon)	Miss Doxsee "TI Fluke #07"	trawler	80	Townsends
2008
Response
#	Date		Name	Type	Size	Location
150	Jan 8	(Tue)	Response	buoy tender	46	Sea Girt
151	Jan 29	(Wed)	Miss Beth	?	?	Cape May
152	Jun		Sonta barge	barge	100	Axel Carlson
153	Aug 8	(Fri)	Smoke II "Ed Bogaert"	fire boat		Sea Girt

 

New Developments in Artificial Reefs

By Evelyn DeWitt Myatt & Bill Figley, 1986

The Pauline Marie sinks slowly on the Atlantic City Reef.

It's hard to imagine anything that could have looked more forlorn than the rusty old freighter whose proud seagoing days were a thing of the past. Floating idly at her berth awaiting her fate, she was a victim of nature's ravages that had left her beautiful only in the eyes of her old captain and crew. The Pauline Marie, however, was not destined to be the victim of a cutting torch that would turn her into a tangle of scrap steel. Instead, she was acquired by the New Jersey Artificial Reef Program and went down with dignity as an artificial reef in March 1985. She now provides continuing services from her watery grave in the Atlantic, some twelve miles off Atlantic City, and her appeal to marine life is undeniable. Her interior compartments now shelter fish and crustaceans; her decks now provide substrate for mussels, soft corals, and plant life; and her newfound productivity has put delicious seafood on many tables.

The Pauline Marie literally "went down" as part of New Jersey's more recent artificial reef history. Artificial reefs, as most anglers know, are man-made structures placed on the ocean floor to attract fish. This practice has a history going back about two centuries in the United States. New Jersey's artificial reef history spans about fifty years, beginning in 1935 with the industrious efforts of the Cape May - Wildwood Party Boat Association. Veteran saltwater sport fishing enthusiasts may remember that this group sank vessels and other materials about 10 miles off Cape May Inlet to form the Cape May - Wildwood Fishing Preserve, then enticed trainloads of Philadelphia anglers to the area with the fulfillable promise of excellent fishing on the preserve.

So successful was this venture that the idea of artificial reefs caught on quickly, with Atlantic City Chamber of Commerce being the next group to build a reef nearby. After that, the trend spread northward along the coast, and by 1937 the Brielle Chamber of Commerce had begun construction of a reef off Manasquan Inlet. The same year another reef was built off Sandy Hook, utilizing rocks and rubble excavated during the construction of New York's subway system. Soon artificial reefs, or "fish havens," dotted the New Jersey coastline, imaginatively built from a hodge-podge of materials that included Christmas trees, car bodies, tires, old vessels, and concrete rubble.

Artificial reef construction declined in the 1940's because of World War II, but during that period hundreds of vessels were torpedoed and sunk by German U-boats, becoming de facto artificial reefs. The 1950's and 1960's brought renewed efforts at artificial reef construction, as recreational salt water fishing became a popular pastime for millions and privately owned pleasure boats became more commonplace. By the mid-60's, the scientific community also became involved in artificial reef construction in New Jersey when Sandy Hook Laboratory began investigating experimental artificial reefs as fishery management tools.

In addition to research of artificial reefs to better understand their effects, Sandy Hook personnel were instrumental in promoting reef construction, advising potential reef builders on how to build reefs for best results and serving as intermediary for obtaining surplus government materials, such as decommissioned Navy vessels, for use on artificial reefs. This promotion led to new artificial reef construction by private groups between the late 1960's and early 1980's, when Sea Girt, Garden State, and Stork reefs were built.

It's obvious from this brief history that artificial reefs aren't novel to our coastline, but just where are these artificial reefs into which historic efforts were placed? With few exceptions, like the Subway Rocks and Sea Girt reefs, most have not withstood the harsh demands of the marine environment and have subsequently disappeared into the ocean floor or have been swept away by storms and currents. Others may still be doing their jobs, but for all practical purposes they're lost to the fisherman because they're unmarked and their locations generally unknown.

To keep history from repeating itself, significant new artificial reef developments are taking place. The Department of Environmental Protection's Marine Fisheries Administration has planned a statewide network of artificial reefs that will involve the placement and management of a reef ( or series of reefs ) within reasonable traveling distance from each major inlet between Sandy Hook and Cape May. For saltwater anglers, this means many more exciting sport fishing opportunities will be available than have been in recent years, and catches should show notable increases as the new artificial reef network becomes well established.

This article first appeared in New Jersey Outdoors - May/June 1986