Two More Artificial Reefs ~ New Jersey Scuba Diving

July 4, 2022

Two More Artificial Reefs

July 4, 2022

Well, it's that time of year again, time to renew the web hosting. And for those of you that don't know, that has become a lot more expensive than it used to be. Fifty dollars a year is now several hundred. Not to mention the price of domain names has gone up ten-fold.

And I just found out that the nice folks at PayPal disabled all my Support buttons, and I never got a notice (although that may be my fault.) In any case, it is all working again now, so if you would like to make a small donation to help defray these costs, it would be greatly appreciated.

After the bad news of Dutch Springs closing, here is some good news. Delaware has sunk two new reefs - the Texas Star, and the John S Dempster Jr.

Uncategorized, 07/4/22

Texas Star

Type:: artificial reef, scallop dredge
Built:: 1977, Halter Marine, Lockport LA USA, as Southern Prince
Specs:: ( 156 x 39 ft ) 269 gross tons
Sunk:: Wednesday, June 29, 2022 - Delaware #11 Artificial Reef
GPS:: 38°40.494' -74°43.868'
Depth:: 85 ft

The Texas Star was built in 1977 on a multi-purpose supply ship hull, probably to service offshore oil platforms. The vessel was refitted as a floating casino in 1986, originally named Millionaire’s Casino, out of Savannah Georgia, but later moved to Texas and renamed Texas Star Casino. "The 12,000 square-foot vessel featured games such as craps, blackjack, roulette, poker and slot machines, with a bingo parlor situated on the nearby dock."

More: Texas Star ...

John S Dempster Jr. (FS-355)

Type:: artificial reef, freighter, purse seiner
Built:: 1944, JK Welding - Yonkers NY, as FS-355 (US Army)
Specs:: ( 166 x 32 ft ) 542 tons
Sunk:: Thursday, Jan 21, 2021 - DelJerseyLand Artificial Reef
GPS:: 38°31.340' -74°30.671'
Depth:: 125 ft

John S Dempster Jr. is sister to Shearwater and Reedville, see those vessels for details, links in the sidebar. All three vessels were originally small Army transports, converted to Menhaden fishing by Omega Protein company. FS-355 was USCG-manned, and retained by USA as PVT Carl V. Sheridan (see below) until sold in 1972.

The aging Shearwater and Reedville were retired when Omega got two new modern vessels in 2017, but Dempster was kept as a reserve. Finally, almost 80 years old, the Dempster was sent to her reward as well. Another sister, Tangier Island, was reefed off Georgia in 2020. As of 2023, one old sister remains - Smuggler's Point, FS-400, launched in 1944!

More: John S Dempster Jr. (FS-355) ...