New Jersey Scuba Diving

Rockaway Belle (US Army T-1)

At Point Pleasant, 1981

Rockaway Belle is listed as Army tug-transport T-1, built by Simms Brothers, Dorchester MA, 1942. 'T-boats' were 65-foot, 45 ton diesel-powered, passenger-cargo boats that doubled as harbor tugs. 170 of them were constructed during WWII, and many more afterwards. From 1940 through 1951 all T-Boats were built of wood, thereafter steel. Rockaway Belle was T-1 of the T-1 class, sold as surplus in 1947.

Rockaway Belle sank some time after 1977, there is a record of her active then.

Sister T-47, wood hull

The photo above is a sister. It looks like a natural fishing boat. T-1s probably needed very little to convert them to side-trawlers, already having a sturdy-looking hull, tugboat engine and cargo boom. I can find no details or date for the sinking, but there might still be something down there, and the first person who gets to it is going to find a giant lobster.

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Rail Cars

Redbird Subway Car - in service

There is a great deal of controversy over the use of subway cars as artificial reefs. There shouldn't be. Subway cars are fish condos. They are the perfect size and shape to provide homes for all sorts of fishes, as well as large attachment areas for other organisms. The fact that they come complete with large door and window openings is even better. Most reef materials, such as ships and barges, improve with age because they open up, allowing easier access to the interior. Indeed, some of the most barren reefs I have seen are those that are completely intact, since they offer little shelter.

More: Rail Cars ...

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