Recent Edits ~ New Jersey Scuba Diving

Bonito

Type:: shipwreck, charter boat
Built:: 1929, Carvel Beach, MD
Specs:: ( 48 ft ) 25 GT
Sunk:: Wednesday 7/20/1960
scuttled
Depth:: 80 ft

The Bonito was sunk as a "fish haven", an artificial reef in modern parlance. I'm sure there is nothing left of the wooden hull, and anything else has long since disappeared into the sand, but it is interesting for being one of the earliest documented reefs.

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Calcasieu Pass

Type:: artificial reef, purse seiner
Built:: 1982, Bay City Shipbuilding, Panama City FL USA, as Judy V
Specs:: ( 164 x 38 ft ) 409 tons
Sunk:: Aug 12, 2026 - DelJerseyLand Artificial Reef
GPS:: 38°30.715' -74°30.830'
Depth:: 120 ft

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New Orleans

Type:: shipwreck, steamer, USA
Built:: 1872, Pusey & Jones, Wilmington DE
Specs:: ( 249 x 33 ft ) 1564 gross tons
Sunk:: Monday October 11, 1917
foundered in a storm, 1 casualty
GPS:: 38°36.93' -74°55.82' (DNREC)
Depth:: 60 ft

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Dual Wrecks

Shipwreck Rusland — The *Rusland*, aground, with onlookers.

Type:: Adonis - shipwreck, wood-hulled bark
Rusland - shipwreck, iron-hulled steamer, England
Built:: Adonis - 1853, Germany
Rusland - 1872, Scotland, as Kenilworth
Specs:: Adonis - 550 tons, 12 crew
Rusland - ( 345 x 37 ft ) 2538 gross tons, ~200 passengers & crew
Depth:: 25 ft
Sunk:: Adonis - Tuesday March 8, 1859 - ran aground in bad weather, no casualties
Rusland - Saturday March 17, 1877 - ran aground in bad weather, no casualties

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Mohawk

Type:: shipwreck, liner, USA, Clyde-Mallory Lines ( sailing under Ward Lines )
Name:: A tribe of Iroquoian Indians of the eastern New York area.
Three identical sisters were named Cherokee, Seminole, and Algonquin
Built:: 1926, Newport News Shipbuilding, Newport News VA USA
Specs:: ( 387 x 54 ft ) 5897 gross tons, 163 passengers & crew
Sunk:: Thursday January 25, 1935
collision with Norwegian freighter Talisman - 45 casualties
Depth:: 80 ft max

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Iberia

Type:: shipwreck, steamer, France
Name:: Iberia is Latin for Spain or the Spanish peninsula.
Built:: 1881, Scotland
Specs:: ( 255 x 36 ft ) 1388 gross tons, 30 crew
Sunk:: Saturday November 10, 1888
collision with liner Umbria ( 7798 tons) - no casualties
Depth:: 60 ft

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July 3, 2026

This is a Sad Thing

July 3, 2026

This is the trailer for a movie that came out several years ago, but I just found out about it. Old hands will recognize the boat - it is the famous SEEKER. From IMDB:

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Andrea Doria

Type:: shipwreck, liner, Italy
Name:: A 16th century Genoese Admiral. This name had been previously carried by a number of Italian warships ( see page bottom )
Built:: 1951, Italy
Specs:: ( 700 x 90 ft ) 29083 displacement tons, 1706 passengers & crew
Sunk:: Thursday July 26, 1956
collision with freighter Stockholm ( 12000 tons) - 46 casualties
GPS:: 40°29.405' -69°52.028' (AWOIS)
Depth:: 240 ft ( 190 ft minimum )

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Artificial Reefs History

New Developments in Artificial Reefs

Pauline Marie reef — The *Pauline Marie* sinks slowly on the Atlantic City Reef.

By Evelyn DeWitt Myatt & Bill Figley, 1986

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.

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September 19, 2026

Very Soon Artificial Reef

September 19, 2026

This Rustic Ferry is Getting Dismantled in Queens to Become an Artificial Reef

The Prudence Ferry has been abandoned for years, but will get a second life in the waters off Fire Island this summer.

The City, News Partner
Mon, Apr 20, 2026

Volunteers clean off paint and trash before the *Prudence Ferry* can be sunk into the East River, April 4, 2026. (Alex Krales/*The City*)

By Lilly Sabella, The City

Behind the gate of a waterfront restaurant, a rusted ferry wobbles on the waves of the East River. It’s become a familiar eyesore for residents of Long Island City, Queens since it was first moored to the Anable Basin in 2012 and has floated there since, a forgotten lump of metal - until now. The abandoned ferry, named Prudence, is getting a second life as an artificial reef. Each Saturday morning this spring, residents in masks and safety goggles leap from stable ground onto the ferry to remove any hazardous materials and make it fit for sea creatures to move in.

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