"G.A. Venturo"

Type:

tugboat, U.S. Navy

Specs:

( 99 ft )

Sunk:

Thursday October 17, 1996

Sponsor:

Sean Maubray & FCO

Depth:

80 ft, main deck at 65 ft

This has become one of the most popular wrecks in the area, especially for training dives. A large tugboat, it is upright on a sandy bottom close to shore, and is almost completely intact. With the addition of several APCs and some damage to the wreck after sinking, this site has become an underwater playground, and is an ideal site for beginners. This wreck seems to lie in an area of unusually good visibility for an in-shore site.

Off the stern about 15 yards are the five APCs, several of them upsidedown - the "FCO Reef", also sunk in 1996. You may find a permanent line to guide you to the closest one. Each APC forms a miniature cave. Over the winter of '99-'00 something swiped away the pilot house, leaving just the smokestack. The crushed remains of the pilot house lie upsidedown a short distance off to the port side of the wreck, with smaller wreckage hard by the starboard side. The rudder and propeller may still be seen in a large washout under the stern.

Side-scan sonar image of the tugboat and APCs, flipped to match the drawing above.
My drawing turns out to be not too bad.

Looking up the bow at the pilot house, when it was still on the wreck.

The interior of the wreck is just as interesting. The tug is easily penetrated through large cutouts on either side, which lead directly to the large and impressive diesel engine. It is easy to swim through the spacious engine room from one side to the other, or drop down and grub around in the silt.

Many fish are to be found, including some fair-sized blackfish and Sea Bass. Spearfishermen would do well to investigate the APCs and the wreckage of the pilot house. Around the top of the deck house you may find large triggerfish munching on the mussels, as well as huge schools of baby jacks. Be sure to take a look down the square opening in the top of the stack.

Look at the difference between these two shots; the first in 1997, not long after the sinking, and the second in 2000. Hydroids have replaced mussels, and the floor is covered with a foot of silt. In 2002, the "head" was gone. In fact, the entire interior of the deckhouse was demolished.

Just aft of the pilot house on the upper deck - my guess is that this is a
high-pressure water manifold. Many tugboats carry fire-fighting equipment.

The propeller - about 5 ft across; no rudder.

All that remains of the pilot house atop the wreck.

The torn-off pilot house lies upsidedown off the port side of the wreck.

After almost six years in the water, rust damage is evident on the deck house.

Towing bit - stern

The reinforced stern of the tug, with a dive boat anchor attached

M-113 Armored Personnel Carrier

The nearest APC off the stern of the wreck.

The tread of another upsidedown APC