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USS Spiegel Grove (LSD 32)

Named after the home and estate in Fremont, Ohio, of Rutherford B. Hayes, the 19th President of the United States, the USS SPIEGEL GROVE was the fifth THOMASTON - class dock landing ship. Decommissioned after 33 years of service on October 2, 1989, the SPIEGEL GROVE was stricken from the Navy list on December 13, 1989. The SPIEGEL GROVE spent the following years at the James River Reserve Fleet, Fort Eustis, Va., until she was sunk as an artificial reef at Key Largo, Fla., on May 17, 2002.

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Crew List:

This section contains the names of sailors who served aboard USS SPIEGEL GROVE. It is no official listing but contains the names of sailors who submitted their information.

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USS SPIEGEL GROVE Cruise Books:

• Mediterranean Cruise 1971
• Mediterranean Cruise 1980

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Accidents aboard USS SPIEGEL GROVE:

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USS SPIEGEL GROVE History:

The keel of USS SPIEGEL GROVE was laid by Ingalls Shipbuilding Corporation at Pascagoula, Mississippi, on September 7, 1954. She was launched on November 10, 1955, sponsored by Mrs. Webb C. Hayes, and commissioned on June 8, 1956, with Captain S. Filippone in command. Following commissioning, USS SPIEGEL GROVE sailed to Hampton Roads and arrived at Norfolk, Virginia, on July 7, 1956. On July 26, she departed for the Guantanamo Bay area to begin her shakedown cruise. This period allowed the newly assembled crew to develop proficiency in propulsion, engineering, communications, weapons, landing-craft handling, damage control and the other systems required to operate a large amphibious ship. She returned to Norfolk on September 15. During October, USS SPIEGEL GROVE underwent a shipyard availability in which deficiencies identified during trials and shakedown could be corrected. In November, she participated in amphibious exercises off Onslow Beach, North Carolina, beginning the recurring pattern of Marine embarkations and ship-to-shore training that characterized much of her subsequent career.

On January 9, 1957, USS SPIEGEL GROVE departed Morehead City, North Carolina, with other units of Transport Amphibious Squadron 4. Elements of the 6th Marines were embarked for service with the Sixth Fleet in the Mediterranean. The deployment introduced USS SPIEGEL GROVE to the forward amphibious role she would repeatedly perform during the following decades. American amphibious forces in the Mediterranean trained with allied forces while remaining available for contingencies in southern Europe, North Africa and the Middle East. USS SPIEGEL GROVE completed this first Mediterranean deployment and returned to Norfolk on June 3, 1957. She spent much of the remainder of the year operating along the U.S. East Coast. In November, she performed a separate transport mission when she carried 364 United States Army personnel to Labrador.

In January 1958, USS SPIEGEL GROVE again deployed with her squadron to the Mediterranean for what became an unusually long Sixth Fleet tour. During the summer, the ship was in the region when the political crisis in Lebanon developed into an American military intervention. Lebanese President Camille Chamoun requested Western assistance as internal fighting intensified and regional tensions increased following the July 14 revolution in Iraq. American Marines began landing near Beirut on July 15 under Operation Blue Bat. USS SPIEGEL GROVE was subsequently credited with Lebanon-related operational service from July 18 through August 6, from August 23 through September 7, and again from September 14 through September 16. The crisis gradually eased after a political settlement was achieved, permitting the American force to withdraw. USS SPIEGEL GROVE finally returned from the extended Mediterranean deployment on October 6, 1958.

Only sixteen days later, on October 22, USS SPIEGEL GROVE was assigned to Amphibious Squadron 10, which was then being developed as a rapidly deployable amphibious organization. During 1959 and 1960, she participated in numerous amphibious operations along the Atlantic coast and in the Caribbean. Training areas around North Carolina, Puerto Rico, Vieques and Guantanamo Bay provided the Atlantic Fleet with locations where landing craft, embarked Marine forces and supporting ships could repeatedly practice the movement of troops and equipment between ship and shore.

In April 1961, USS SPIEGEL GROVE began one of the most distinctive deployments of her career when she became the flagship for Operation Solant Amity II. Rear Admiral Eugene B. Fluckey, Commander Amphibious Group Four, embarked aboard her. The naval group also included USS JONAS INGRAM (DD 938), USS YORK COUNTY (LST 1175) and USS CHEWAUCAN (AOG 50). Solant Amity was designed as a goodwill deployment around Africa and into the Indian Ocean at a time when numerous former European colonies were becoming independent and both the United States and the Soviet Union were seeking political influence in newly established states.

The mission differed substantially from conventional amphibious operations. The ships carried medical and dental equipment, relief supplies, books and other donated material while also providing platforms for official receptions, public visits and contacts with political and military representatives. USS SPIEGEL GROVE and the other ships visited a series of African ports and territories during the lengthy cruise. The deployment included visits in West Africa, southern Africa and East Africa and eventually carried the group into the Indian Ocean. At Libreville, Gabon, medical supplies were provided for the hospital established by Dr. Albert Schweitzer at Lambarene. USS SPIEGEL GROVE completed the extensive African deployment and returned to the United States on September 8, 1961.

Following Solant Amity II, USS SPIEGEL GROVE entered Horne Brothers Shipyard at Newport News, Virginia, for overhaul. The work extended into early 1962. After leaving the yard she conducted refresher training and during March and April participated in amphibious exercises in the Caribbean designed to restore the ship and crew to full operational readiness.

In May 1962, USS SPIEGEL GROVE received another specialized assignment when she joined the naval recovery organization supporting Mercury-Atlas 7. Astronaut Malcolm Scott Carpenter was launched aboard Aurora 7 from Cape Canaveral on May 24, 1962, for a three-orbit flight around the Earth. The Navy stationed ships and aircraft over a wide geographical area so that forces would be available if the spacecraft landed outside the primary recovery zone. USS SPIEGEL GROVE formed part of this contingency recovery network. Carpenter ultimately landed substantially beyond the intended splashdown point, and USS SPIEGEL GROVE did not make the actual recovery. Her participation nevertheless connected the ship with the extensive Navy support structure required for the early American crewed space program.

During July and August 1962, USS SPIEGEL GROVE returned to amphibious training during Exercise Phibulex 2-62 in the Caribbean. Later that year, the strategic situation changed dramatically when American reconnaissance revealed Soviet medium- and intermediate-range ballistic missiles being installed in Cuba. President John F. Kennedy announced a naval quarantine of the island on October 22. The confrontation brought the United States and Soviet Union into one of the most dangerous periods of the Cold War. USS SPIEGEL GROVE was among the amphibious ships placed in readiness and received official operational credit associated with the Cuban crisis from October 24 through November 30, 1962. Amphibious forces were held ready as a contingency in case the confrontation escalated beyond the maritime quarantine and required military operations ashore.

After the immediate Cuban crisis subsided, USS SPIEGEL GROVE began preparations for another diplomatic deployment. On December 1, 1962, she entered a tender availability in preparation for Operation Solant Amity IV. During January 1963, supplies were loaded for the mission, and on February 15, USS SPIEGEL GROVE sailed on the second major Solant Amity cruise of her career. The deployment lasted until late May and covered more than 21,000 miles. Nine countries were visited during the cruise. As in 1961, the mission combined American naval presence with diplomatic contact, public visits and humanitarian assistance. The deployment took USS SPIEGEL GROVE through African and South Atlantic waters and included a visit by the American force to Freetown, Sierra Leone, during the African phase of the cruise.

After returning from Solant Amity IV, USS SPIEGEL GROVE deployed to the Caribbean from July through September 1963 with Amphibious Squadron 8. She subsequently returned to the recurring Atlantic Fleet schedule of amphibious training, maintenance and preparations for overseas service.

From January through June 1964, USS SPIEGEL GROVE deployed to the Mediterranean with the Sixth Fleet. Later that year, she returned to European waters to participate in Operation Steel Pike I. Conducted in October off southern Spain, Steel Pike was one of the largest American amphibious exercises of the era. The major landing phase began near Huelva on October 26. The exercise tested the ability of the United States to move a large amphibious force across the Atlantic and conduct a major landing in cooperation with Spain. For USS SPIEGEL GROVE, Steel Pike represented a much larger version of the amphibious techniques routinely practiced along the U.S. East Coast and in the Caribbean.

The political crisis in the Dominican Republic brought the Atlantic Fleet's amphibious forces into another contingency operation in 1965. Fighting erupted in April after an attempt to restore former President Juan Bosch, and the United States intervened under Operation Power Pack. American forces initially entered the country in connection with protection and evacuation of foreign nationals, after which an Inter-American Peace Force was established. USS SPIEGEL GROVE received official campaign credit for operations connected with the Dominican Republic from July 19 through July 21, 1965.

By 1966, the international military presence in the Dominican Republic was being progressively reduced. USS SPIEGEL GROVE became directly involved in the withdrawal. On August 25, she embarked American personnel belonging to the Inter-American Peace Force at Haina together with their vehicles and equipment. The embarked force included personnel from the 839th Transportation Company, the 864th Ordnance Detachment, the 248th Military Police Detachment and the 47th Engineer Company. Altogether, 132 officers and enlisted personnel and 138 military vehicles were embarked. Their departure aboard USS SPIEGEL GROVE completed the third phase of the scheduled withdrawal. The ship received official Dominican Republic campaign credit extending from August 25 through September 16, 1966.

On November 3, 1966, USS SPIEGEL GROVE departed on another Mediterranean deployment with the Sixth Fleet. She remained overseas until May 11, 1967. The deployment occurred during a period of increasing tension in the Middle East that culminated soon after her departure from the theater in the Arab-Israeli Six-Day War of June 1967.

USS SPIEGEL GROVE continued Atlantic and overseas operations during 1968. One documented port visit occurred on August 30, 1968, when she arrived at Lisbon, Portugal. The call formed part of the wider pattern of American amphibious operations in the eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean during a period when ships moved regularly between exercises, readiness stations and port visits. In 1969, the ship remained engaged in Atlantic Fleet amphibious duties. During 1970, she also served in a training role for future naval officers. USS SPIEGEL GROVE conducted a midshipman cruise that included visits to England and Denmark. Such cruises gave Naval Academy and Reserve Officer Training Corps midshipmen practical experience with shipboard organization, navigation, engineering, watchstanding and normal naval operations.

Early in 1971, USS SPIEGEL GROVE again became part of the naval support system for the American space program. She was assigned to the recovery force for Apollo 14, launched on January 31, 1971, carrying astronauts Alan Shepard, Stuart Roosa and Edgar Mitchell. USS NEW ORLEANS (LPH 11) served as the primary recovery ship in the Pacific, while USS SPIEGEL GROVE supported one of the secondary Atlantic landing areas. Other Atlantic recovery-support ships included USS HAWKINS (DD 873) and USS PAIUTE (ATF 159). Apollo 14 splashed down successfully in the planned Pacific recovery area on February 9, so the Atlantic contingency forces were not required to recover the astronauts.

On April 17, 1971, USS SPIEGEL GROVE departed on another Mediterranean deployment. She remained with the Sixth Fleet until October 9. The deployment combined the normal requirements of amphibious readiness, multinational exercises and the continuing ability to respond to political or military crises around the Mediterranean.

During 1972-73, she remained part of the Atlantic Fleet amphibious force and continued the cycle of training, upkeep, inspections and readiness operations necessary to maintain deployment capability. The reduction of direct American combat involvement in Southeast Asia did not reduce the requirement for amphibious forces in the Atlantic and Mediterranean, where instability in the Middle East and on NATO's southern flank continued to create contingency requirements.

A major crisis developed in Cyprus during July 1974. On July 15, a coup backed by the Greek military government overthrew Cypriot President Archbishop Makarios. Turkey invaded the northern part of Cyprus on July 20, and fighting involving Greek Cypriot, Turkish Cypriot, Greek and Turkish forces created an immediate danger to civilians. On July 22, United States Ambassador Roger Davies requested the evacuation of Americans caught by the fighting.

The Sixth Fleet organized Operation Patience. Helicopters of Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 362 operating from USS INCHON (LPH 12) began evacuating civilians from the British Sovereign Base Area at Dhekelia. During the principal July 22 airlift, 466 people, including 384 American citizens, were carried offshore in 22 helicopter sorties. USS CORONADO (LPD 11) received these evacuees and subsequently carried them to Beirut. USS TRENTON (LPD 14), USS SPIEGEL GROVE and USS SAGINAW (LST 1188) also participated in the evacuation operation. Subsequent evacuations brought the total number removed during the crisis to 752 people, including 498 Americans.

The Cyprus crisis was strategically significant because Greece and Turkey were both members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, yet the two states were confronting one another over the island. American naval forces therefore had to conduct evacuation operations while avoiding direct involvement in the dispute. After the immediate emergency subsided, USS SPIEGEL GROVE resumed Mediterranean duties. On August 28, 1974, she was at Catania, Sicily, while other ships of the amphibious group made separate Italian port visits.

USS SPIEGEL GROVE remained active with Atlantic Fleet amphibious forces during 1975. In January 1976, USS SPIEGEL GROVE began another major Mediterranean deployment. The amphibious ready group included USS GUADALCANAL (LPH 7), USS RALEIGH (LPD 1), USS CHARLESTON (LKA 113), USS SPIEGEL GROVE and USS BARNSTABLE COUNTY (LST 1197). The ships carried the 34th Marine Amphibious Unit and crossed the Atlantic for turnover with the outgoing amphibious force at Rota, Spain.

The deployment coincided with the Lebanese Civil War, which had begun in 1975 and was progressively weakening the Lebanese central government while fighting intensified among Lebanese factions and Palestinian organizations. Normal exercises and port visits were repeatedly affected by events ashore. On March 26, the amphibious force was ordered toward a holding area east of Crete because of the deteriorating situation in Lebanon. For weeks, the ships remained at sea or in remote anchorages while contingency plans for a possible evacuation of American citizens were repeatedly reviewed and rehearsed. By late May, the amphibious force had moved closer to Lebanon.

After 69 days at sea, a temporary reduction in fighting allowed elements of the group to proceed to Naples from June 1 through June 4. The ships then conducted amphibious training at Carboneras, Spain, before returning to the eastern Mediterranean and once again assuming a position off Lebanon. The situation worsened dramatically after United States Ambassador Francis E. Meloy Jr. and Economic Counselor Robert O. Waring were kidnapped and killed in Beirut in June 1976. President Gerald Ford subsequently authorized a sea evacuation. On June 20, USS SPIEGEL GROVE closed to approximately 25 miles from the Lebanese coast and dispatched landing craft utility 1654 into Beirut as part of Operation Fluid Drive.

The landing craft entered the port and embarked American citizens and other foreign nationals who had gathered for evacuation. It then returned offshore and entered the well deck of USS SPIEGEL GROVE. Later official Navy accounts give the total number of evacuees carried by USS SPIEGEL GROVE as 276. The ship transported them from the Lebanese combat zone to Athens, Greece. USS LITTLE ROCK (CLG 4), the Sixth Fleet flagship, and other American warships remained in the area to provide protection and assistance. USS AMERICA (CVA 66) was also available in the eastern Mediterranean in support of the contingency.

The June 20 evacuation was followed by another American evacuation from Lebanon in July, but that later movement involved different amphibious shipping. After completing the June evacuation, SPIEGEL GROVE's amphibious group withdrew toward the Crete area and prepared for turnover with its relief. USS BARNSTABLE COUNTY reached Rota on June 30 as elements of the outgoing force began their return to the United States.

During the later 1970s, USS SPIEGEL GROVE became involved in the evaluation of technology that would eventually transform American amphibious operations. During 1978 and 1979, she participated in trials involving the experimental air-cushion landing-craft prototypes known as Jeff A and Jeff B, predecessors of the later Landing Craft Air Cushion. Photographs document an experimental air-cushion craft entering the well deck of USS SPIEGEL GROVE in the Gulf of Mexico. The trials helped determine whether high-speed air-cushion landing craft could be safely and effectively operated with existing amphibious ships originally designed for conventional displacement landing craft.

USS SPIEGEL GROVE departed Little Creek on January 10, 1979, for another Mediterranean deployment as part of Amphibious Ready Group 1-79. The group included USS INCHON, USS AUSTIN (LPD 4), USS SPIEGEL GROVE, USS SPARTANBURG COUNTY (LST 1192) and USS BARNSTABLE COUNTY. After calling at Morehead City to embark elements of the 32nd Marine Amphibious Unit, the force crossed the Atlantic and reached Rota on January 23. Following turnover with the outgoing group, the ships entered Sixth Fleet service.

At the end of January, USS SPIEGEL GROVE was at Almeria, Spain, while other ships of the group visited Malaga. The amphibious force subsequently conducted training in the Carboneras area. During the deployment, the ships alternated between exercises, readiness periods, logistics stops and port visits. By April, USS SPIEGEL GROVE was at Naples, Italy, with records indicating her planned departure from Naples on April 17. During May, the amphibious group participated in additional exercises, including Dawn Patrol 79, conducted from May 11 through May 24. These activities maintained the ability of the Sixth Fleet's amphibious forces to conduct combined operations with allied navies and Marine forces throughout the Mediterranean.

USS SPIEGEL GROVE began another Mediterranean deployment on January 30, 1980. The amphibious force again included USS INCHON, USS AUSTIN and USS SPIEGEL GROVE, together with USS SPARTANBURG COUNTY and USS FAIRFAX COUNTY (LST 1193). The 34th Marine Amphibious Unit was embarked. While crossing the Atlantic on February 5, USS INCHON and USS SPIEGEL GROVE collided during an underway replenishment evolution. Both ships sustained only minor damage and no injuries were reported. The incident did not prevent either ship from continuing the deployment.

At the beginning of March, USS SPIEGEL GROVE was at Lisbon, Portugal, while other elements of the group were at Rota. She was subsequently photographed at Barcelona, Spain, on March 15. During the spring, the amphibious group conducted training throughout the Mediterranean, including amphibious operations at Capo Teulada, Sardinia. Such exercises included the movement of landing forces, operation of landing craft, helicopter support and coordination with allied naval units.

In March 1981, USS SPIEGEL GROVE was assigned another goodwill mission. On March 9, USS JOSEPHUS DANIELS (CG 27) departed Norfolk and joined USS SPIEGEL GROVE in Hampton Roads for a cruise through Central America and the Caribbean. The deployment occurred during a period of increasing American concern about political instability and armed conflict in Central America, although the stated purpose of the cruise centered on diplomatic engagement and regional cooperation.

The ships anchored in Limon Bay, Panama, on March 14. Senior Atlantic Fleet officers and diplomatic representatives embarked during various portions of the cruise. The two ships subsequently visited Cartagena, Colombia; Willemstad, Curacao; La Guaira, Venezuela; Castries, Saint Lucia; Roseau, Dominica; and Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. At Willemstad, the ships exchanged ceremonial honors with Dutch naval forces and were opened to local visitors. Public tours formed an important part of the deployment, and thousands of people visited USS SPIEGEL GROVE and USS JOSEPHUS DANIELS during the cruise.

USS SPIEGEL GROVE carried an embarked Marine detachment and provided space for demonstrations of Marine Corps equipment. Her well deck was used to display vehicles and weapons including an M60 tank, amphibious vehicles, antitank weapons and a 155-millimeter howitzer. Humanitarian supplies were also transported during the wider goodwill deployment, although contemporary documentation specifically attributes the delivery of urgently needed medical supplies at Roseau, Dominica, to USS JOSEPHUS DANIELS rather than USS SPIEGEL GROVE.

Early in 1983, USS SPIEGEL GROVE participated in Exercise Ahuas Tara I in Honduras. The exercise occurred amid increasing American concern over the conflicts in Nicaragua and El Salvador and the stability of neighboring Central American states. USS SPIEGEL GROVE landed a battalion of Honduran troops at Puerto Lempira on Honduras's remote Caribbean coast. The wider exercise involved approximately 450 United States Army personnel, about 520 Navy personnel and roughly 175 additional communications and planning personnel. Its purpose included practicing the movement and reinforcement of Honduran forces with American naval and air support.

Later in 1983, USS SPIEGEL GROVE began a lengthy Latin American deployment associated with the annual Unitas exercise series. Marine personnel began embarking at Morehead City on June 16. USS SPIEGEL GROVE then proceeded south to Puerto Rico, where amphibious training took place in the Vieques area on June 21 and 22. The ship subsequently moved toward northern South America. From June 24 through June 26, embarked personnel conducted cross-training with Dutch Marines at Aruba. USS SPIEGEL GROVE then proceeded toward Colombia. Training was conducted in the San Andres and Providencia area from June 30 through July 6, followed by operations at Coveñas from July 8 through July 11. An amphibious rehearsal took place in the Gulf of Morrosquillo on July 12, followed by an amphibious landing and operations ashore on July 13. The ship then proceeded to Cartagena, where training and port activities continued from July 14 through July 18.

After leaving Colombia, USS SPIEGEL GROVE proceeded to Panama and was in the Rodman area from July 20 through July 24 for resupply and preparation for the next phase of the deployment. She then continued toward Ecuador as the Unitas schedule moved into Pacific South American waters. Other American ships participating in portions of the extended Unitas deployment included USS JESSE L. BROWN (FF 1089), USS SCOTT (DDG 995) and USS CONOLLY (DD 979). The force conducted bilateral and multinational exercises while moving along the Pacific coast of South America. Operations and port visits involved Ecuador, Peru and Chile. Training with the South American navies included communications, maneuvering, surface warfare and other naval skills, while USS SPIEGEL GROVE also provided her embarked Marines with opportunities for amphibious and ground-force training with regional partners.

In Peru, the American force conducted operations associated with Callao before continuing south. In Chile, the deployment included activities in the areas of Valparaiso, Talcahuano and Puerto Montt. The cruise represented a substantially different operating environment from a normal Mediterranean deployment, requiring the ship to support prolonged multinational training over a very large geographical area. USS SPIEGEL GROVE's performance during 1983 was subsequently associated with recognition through the Marjorie Sterrett Battleship Fund Award for the Atlantic Fleet.

During early 1984, USS SPIEGEL GROVE again participated in trials associated with the development of the future Landing Craft Air Cushion. Navy photographs from waters off Florida show the Bell Jeff B prototype approaching and entering her well deck during docking tests. During one documented test, the experimental craft carried an M60 tank and two 155-millimeter howitzers. USS SPIEGEL GROVE subsequently participated in Exercise Teamwork 84, conducted from February 28 through March 22, 1984. Teamwork was one of the year's major North Atlantic Treaty Organization exercises and tested the ability of allied forces to reinforce northern Norway under cold-weather conditions in the event of a conflict with the Soviet Union. The principal amphibious landing took place on March 16.

The American amphibious force supporting the exercise was large. It included USS MOUNT WHITNEY (LCC 20), USS SAIPAN (LHA 2), USS NASSAU (LHA 4), USS INCHON, USS RALEIGH, USS AUSTIN, USS PONCE (LPD 15), USS SPIEGEL GROVE, USS PENSACOLA (LSD 38), USS CHARLESTON, USS EL PASO (LKA 117), USS SUMTER (LST 1181), USS SAGINAW, USS SPARTANBURG COUNTY and USS LA MOURE COUNTY (LST 1194). The size of the force reflected the strategic importance assigned during the Cold War to reinforcing NATO's northern flank if Soviet forces threatened Norway.

By 1987, USS SPIEGEL GROVE was again preparing for a major overseas deployment. Mediterranean Amphibious Ready Group 3-87 deployed with the 24th Marine Amphibious Unit beginning in June. The force consisted of USS GUADALCANAL, USS AUSTIN, USS SPIEGEL GROVE, USS SAGINAW and USS LA MOURE COUNTY. Battalion Landing Team 1/2 was distributed among the amphibious ships together with its vehicles and equipment. The group crossed the Atlantic and reached the Rota area at the beginning of July. Turnover with the outgoing amphibious group was completed in early July, after which the new force assumed Sixth Fleet readiness responsibilities.

The deployment soon extended beyond the Mediterranean. During August, the 24th Marine Amphibious Unit participated in Exercise Eastern Wind in Somalia. From August 2 through August 9, USS SPIEGEL GROVE, USS SAGINAW and USS LA MOURE COUNTY operated together as part of the amphibious task organization supporting the exercise near Geesalay. Eastern Wind involved training with Somali forces at a time when the United States maintained a strategic relationship with Somalia because of its location near the approaches to the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden and western Indian Ocean. The exercise exposed the amphibious force to a very different operating environment from the Mediterranean before the ships returned to their wider deployment schedule. USS SPIEGEL GROVE continued operating with the 1987 amphibious force during the remainder of the deployment.

The ship remained active during 1988. On October 9, 1988, USS SPIEGEL GROVE was at Baltimore, Maryland, where she participated in an open-house event and was made accessible to the public. Such visits formed part of the ship's ceremonial and public-relations responsibilities during her final period of active service.

By 1989, the Navy was withdrawing the remaining THOMASTON-class dock landing ships as newer amphibious vessels increasingly assumed their functions. USS SPIEGEL GROVE was decommissioned on October 2, 1989, ending more than thirty-three years of commissioned service. Her name was struck from the Naval Vessel Register on December 13, 1989. She was subsequently placed in inactive status and became part of the reserve fleet at the James River in Virginia. The former USS SPIEGEL GROVE remained inactive for years while various options for final disposal were considered. Rather than being immediately sold for conventional scrapping, the ship eventually became the focus of an ambitious artificial-reef project in Florida. The intention was to prepare the large former dock landing ship for placement within the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, where the hull could provide additional marine habitat and become a controlled wreck-diving site.

The formal transfer process advanced during 2001. Title to the former USS SPIEGEL GROVE was transferred to the State of Florida on May 30, 2001, for use as an artificial reef. Maritime Administration inventory records show the vessel being withdrawn from the reserve-fleet inventory in June 2001; she left the James River area in mid-June to begin the next stage of preparation for reefing. The environmental and physical preparation of the ship continued for months. Openings were cut through portions of the hull and internal structure both to facilitate flooding during the eventual sinking and to provide safer access routes for divers. Potential pollutants were removed or treated, and the ship was prepared to remain permanently on the sea floor.

The selected reef site lay approximately six miles off Key Largo, Florida, within the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. The water at the site was approximately 130 feet deep. The plan called for the 510-foot former dock landing ship to be deliberately flooded and placed upright on the seabed, providing both a large artificial reef and a recreational diving destination.

The sinking, however, did not proceed according to plan. On May 17, 2002, while final preparations for the controlled sinking were still taking place, the former USS SPIEGEL GROVE began flooding earlier than intended. Water entered the ship faster than the operation could be controlled. The stern descended first and the hull rolled as it sank. Rather than settling upright on the bottom, the ship rolled through an extreme angle and initially came to rest in an undesirable orientation, essentially inverted, while part of the bow remained above the surface. The premature sinking created a complex salvage problem. The ship could not simply be left in that position because portions remained close to or above the surface and the orientation differed substantially from that planned for the reef. Salvage teams therefore began a difficult operation involving buoyancy equipment, compressed air, lifting devices and tugboats in an attempt to move the approximately 510-foot hull.

During June 2002 the salvage team succeeded in changing the ship's position. By June 10-11 the hull had been completely submerged and stabilized resting on its starboard side. This was not the upright position originally intended, but it placed the entire ship safely beneath the surface and allowed the artificial reef project to proceed. The wreck subsequently became accessible to experienced divers.

Three years later a natural event changed the wreck's orientation again. Hurricane Dennis passed through the wider Florida region in July 2005. Although the center of the hurricane did not pass directly over Key Largo, the storm generated strong underwater surge and large waves capable of moving even an object as massive as the former USS SPIEGEL GROVE. During the passage of the hurricane the wreck rolled from its starboard side and settled upright on its keel. Divers inspecting the site after the storm confirmed the new position on July 11, 2005.

The movement left USS SPIEGEL GROVE in approximately the orientation reef planners had originally sought in 2002. The wreck remains upright off Key Largo, with the lower hull in deep water and parts of the superstructure accessible at shallower recreational diving depths. Over time, the ship has become increasingly colonized by marine organisms, while the large hull, well deck, deckhouses and other structures provide habitat for marine life and make the wreck one of the most prominent artificial reefs in the Florida Keys.

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About the Sinking of USS SPIEGEL GROVE:

On June 13, 2001, the SPIEGEL GROVE was transferred to the State of Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission, Largo, Fla., by the Maritime Administration, so that the ship could be sunk as an artificial reefing and to become a tourist attraction for divers. Following the transfer, the SPIEGEL GROVE was towed to Norfolk, Va., to be prepared for the upcoming sinking. On May 17, 2002, the sinking was conducted. The idea was to flood the hull so that the SPIEGEL GROVE would sink to the bottom of the sea, finally ending up sitting on her keel to allow divers to explore the vessel later on in the shallow waters off Key Largo. However, during the sinking the SPIEGEL GROVE suddenly started rolling on her starboard side, ending up upside down on the sea bottom and leaving her bow protruding slightly out of the ocean. Eventually she was sent to her watery grave laying on her starboard side. The SPIEGEL GROVE is now located 6 miles off the Florida Keys in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. Her exact location is 025° 04' 00.2" North, 080° 18' 00.7" West.

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USS SPIEGEL GROVE Image Gallery:

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