Beth Dee Bob

Shipwreck Beth Dee Bob
Type:
shipwreck, clam dredge, USA
Built:
1990, Bock Marine - Beaufort NC USA
Specs:
( 84 ft ) 96 tons, 4 crew
Sunk:
Wednesday January 6, 1999
foundered in rough seas - no survivors
Depth:
120 ft
Book: The Sea's Bitter Harvest
Shipwreck Beth Dee Bob

The Beth Dee Bob sits upright on a hard sandy bottom with a slight list to starboard. She is completely intact. although in 2004 the outriggers fell down into the sand. The vessel is much like a bigger, cleaner version of the Lana Carol. The wheelhouse is easily penetrated, although the rest of the interior is more difficult. The aft hold is still full of clam cages, while the hold covers are torn off and lie in the sand off the stern.

Shipwreck Beth Dee Bob

The exact cause and details of the sinking are not known, but it must have occurred very quickly, and only one of the four-man crew managed to escape. In 2000, divers from the Dina Dee cut off the six-foot propeller to donate it to the Fishermen's Memorial. Instead, it was confiscated by the insurance company.

In the time she has been down, the Beth Dee Bob has turned into a very productive dive site. Mussels are abundant and so clean that they hardly need to be dragged. Sea Bass and ling swarm around in the sand, and lobsters are common, if not very large.

Shipwreck Beth Dee Bob
The fluted port outrigger, still extended, shortly after sinking. ( Now fallen. ) The thin line off the top is the dive boat's anchor.
Shipwreck Beth Dee Bob
Looking up through the rigging, two years later.
Shipwreck Beth Dee Bob
The plaque on the bow, changed from the original in the photo at top. Now completely overgrown with mussels.
Shipwreck Beth Dee Bob
Looking down at clam cages in the cargo hold.
Shipwreck Beth Dee Bob
An up-ended clam cage

From the Coast Guard Report:

(2) F/V Beth Dee Bob. Sinking, 6 January 1999, loss of four lives, no survivors.

The F/V Beth Dee Bob left Point Pleasant, NJ for a 24-hour trip to dredge for ocean quahogs. After an uneventful trip, the vessel was returning home when the seas grew rough and the 84-foot vessel foundered and sank approximately 13 miles off Manasquan, NJ. The Coast Guard received a distress call at around 0540 local time, saying the vessel was taking on water. The sister ship Danielle Maria, two Coast Guard vessels, and a USCG helicopter raced to the location pinpointed by satellite receivers. An hour later, a crew member was found by the helicopter floating in a life preserver, holding a strobe light and bobbing in a 39-degree heaving sea. He was airlifted to Jersey Medical where he died. Two empty rafts were found. The Beth Dee Bob sank before help could arrive.

Preliminary Finding:

A former Captain of the Beth Dee Bob stated he believed the vessel's stability letter did not serve its purpose. He knew the vessel had a stability letter, but never bothered to read it because he "knows better how the vessel should be loaded." He further stated "The more water in the hold, the better she rode - as long as you kept her on an even keel" and "The hatch covers were only to protect the clams from the sun and heat; after all, many boats have no hatches at all!" While the Beth Dee Bob's stability letter seems to be very clearly written, there are indications that the only information of concern to the crew was the maximum number of full cages of clams.

Shipwreck Beth Dee Bob
Shipwreck Beth Dee Bob
Shipwreck Beth Dee Bob
Shipwreck Beth Dee Bob
Shipwreck Beth Dee Bob
Shipwreck Beth Dee Bob

Courtesy of Dan Crowell

Michelle K sunk Manasquan inlet

If the water was much clearer or much shallower, the Beth Dee Bob might look a lot like this - the Michelle K sunk in the Manasquan River, 2004.


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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!

Printed from njscuba.net