USS Kittiwake (ASR-13)

The USS Kittiwake was a US Navy submarine rescue ship built during WWII, and commissioned on July 16, 1945. Decommissioned in 1994, the Kittiwake was sunk early in 2011 as an artificial reef just off the island of Grand Cayman in the Caribbean Sea.

Though not a warship - in comparison to most modern corvettes and other such vessels the Kittiwake certainly ranks as good sized. She displaced approximately 2,000 tons (coming in over this weight fully loaded and crewed with her complement of just over 100 officers and men and less when stripped at the time of her sinking) and measuring 251 feet in length from bow to stern. Featuring five decks the Kittiwake is 47 feet tall from keel to upper decks. She currently rests in 64 feet of water on a flat and sandy ocean bottom not far from the deepest marine trench in the Caribbean. She participated in a number of important support, salvage, and training missions during her Cold War era service, but she now serves as a spectacular diving and snorkeling site - which this author heartily enjoyed on his recent visit.