USS Duane 322 foot Shipwreck ~ Scuba Diving Florida Keys (Marathon)

320ft Wreck USS Duane dive in Florida Keys Steve Gartner and Darren Malone (near Marathon FL) This was shot approximately February 27th, 2012. We're in fairly strong currents (that's why were holding lines all the way down) "To Sand" (bottom) is about 120 feet. Awesome visibility this day :) The USS Duane is the 2nd largest artificial reef created in the US. It was sunk about 1987 so it has much algae barnacle growth. Enjoy! Skip here 11:10 to enter the wreck with us!

The U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Duane, hull #WPG 33, was built at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. as the William J. Duane, named after Secretary of the Treasury, under President Jackson. Her keel was laid on May 1, 1935, and she was launched a year latter on June 3, 1936. The Duane was commissioned on August 1, 1936. She was 327 feet long, had a 41 foot beam and was powered by two Westinghouse double reduction geared turbines. Her armament consisted of three 5-inch guns, three 3-inch guns, fourteen 40-mm and eight 20-mm guns.

The Duane was originally stationed in California until being transferred to the East coast in 1939. During World War II, the Duane was credited, along with her sister cutter Spencer, with sinking the German submarine U-175. The Duane also served as a flagship in the 1944 allied invasion of Southern France and was sent to serve as coastal surveillance during the Vietnam war. On another occasion, the Duane rescued 250 survivors from the Dorchester. The rescue lasted for three days from February 3rd through the 6th. The Duane also escorted boats full of refugees during the 1980's Cuban boat lifts. On August 1, 1985, the Duane was decommissioned.

She was purchased along with her sister ship the Bibb for $160,000. The money was raised by the Monroe County Tourist Development Council and local dive shop donations. The Duane was cleaned of contaminants, her hatches were removed and she was sunk in an Army Corps of Engineers approved site near Molasses Reef as an artificial reef on the evening of November 27, 1987. Her sister ship the Bibb was sunk the next day. The ships now rest only 100 yards apart.
The Duane sits upright and intact with a slight starboard list in 118 feet of water. The Duane's crow's nest is first reached in 60 feet of water, while her wheel house is in 80 feet. Her main decks are at 98 feet