41 Ships sunk as artificial reefs

USS Accokeek (ATA-181) was an ATA-174 class auxiliary ocean tug in the service of the United States Navy, named after the Accokeek tribe of Native Americans.

USS Aeolus (ARC-3) began service as USS Turandot (AKA-47), an Artemis-class attack cargo ship built by the Walsh-Kaiser Co., Inc. of Providence, Rhode Island. In 1954 she was converted into a cable repair ship to support Project Caesar, the unclassified name for installation of the Sound Surveillance System SOSUS. Aeolus was the first of two ships, the other being USS Thor (ARC-4), to be converted into cable ships. Aeolus performed cable duties for nearly thirty years, from 1955 to 1973 as a commissioned ship and from 1973 until 1985 as the civilian crewed USNS Aeolus (T-ARC=3) of the Military Sealift Command (MSC). The ship was retired in 1985 and sunk as an artificial reef in 1988.

Al Munassir was an amphibious warfare vessel operated by the Royal Navy of Oman. It was purchased to enable the kingdom to respond to threats to the strategically important Musandam Governorate. The vessel was launched in 1978 and, after decommissioning, was sunk as an artificial reef in 2003. It is now a popular diving site.

USS Algol (AKA-54) was an Andromeda-class attack cargo ship. She was the first ship of the United States Navy by this name, after Algol, a fixed star in the constellation Perseus. Algol served as a commissioned ship for 22 years and 1 month.

USS Arthur W. Radford (DD-968) was a Spruance-class destroyer in the United States Navy. She was named for Admiral Arthur W. Radford USN (1896–1973), the first naval officer to be Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

USS Benewah (APB-35) was a barracks ship of the United States Navy, and lead ship of her class. She was notable for her service in World War II, Korean War, and Vietnam War.

The USCGC Bibb (WPG-31) was a 327-foot (100 m) Secretary-Class Coast Guard ship commissioned in 1936. Seven similar "combat cutters" were built and named for secretaries of the United States Treasury. Bibb was named for U.S. Secretary of the Treasury George M. Bibb.

USS Blenny (SS/AGSS-324), a Balao-class submarine, was a ship of the United States Navy named for the blenny, a fish found along the rocky shores of the Atlantic Ocean.

HMCS Cape Breton was a Royal Canadian Navy Cape-class maintenance ship. Originally built for the Royal Navy as HMS Flamborough Head in 1944 she was transferred in 1952. Upon her commissioning she was the second ship to bear the name Cape Breton. She served operationally from 1953–64, when she was laid up. She was used as a floating machine shop until the late 1990s, before being sold for use as an artificial reef off the coast of British Columbia.

Carthaginian II was a steel-hulled sailing boat, which served as a symbol of the whaling industry in the harbor of the former whaling town Lāhainā on the Hawaiian island of Maui. Built in 1920 and brought to Maui in 1973, it served as a whaling museum until 2005, and after being sunk to create an artificial reef, now serves as a diving destination.

USS Fort Marion (LSD-22) was a Casa Grande-class dock landing ship of the United States Navy. She was named for the Castillo de San Marcos in St. Augustine, Florida, which was named Fort Marion from 1821 till 1942.

HMAS Derwent , named for the Derwent River, was a River-class destroyer escort of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). She was laid down by Williamstown Naval Dockyard in 1959, and commissioned into the RAN in 1964. During the ship's career, she was deployed to South East Asia on 23 occasions, including operations during the Indonesia-Malaysia Confrontation, and escort of the troopship HMAS Sydney to and from the Vietnam War. Multiple flag-showing cruises were also embarked upon, with port visits throughout Asia, the Indian Ocean, and the Pacific Ocean. Derwent was also briefly used to portray a fictional vessel for the British drama series Warship.

The USCGC Duane (WPG-33/WAGC-6/WHEC-33) was a cutter in the United States Coast Guard. Her keel was laid on May 1, 1935 at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She was launched on June 3, 1936 as a search and rescue and law enforcement vessel.

USS Fort Marion (LSD-22) was a Casa Grande-class dock landing ship of the United States Navy. She was named for the Castillo de San Marcos in St. Augustine, Florida, which was named Fort Marion from 1821 till 1942.

USS Fred T. Berry (DD/DDE-858) was a Gearing-class destroyer of the United States Navy, named for Commander Fred T. Berry (1887–1933).

USNS General Hoyt S. Vandenberg (T-AGM-10) was a General G. O. Squier-class transport ship in the United States Navy in World War II named in honor of U.S. Army Chief of Engineers Harry Taylor. She served for a time as army transport USAT General Harry Taylor, and was reacquired by the navy in 1950 as USNS General Harry Taylor (T-AP-145).

HMAS Hobart was a Perth-class guided missile destroyer of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). Built in the United States of America to a slight variant of the United States Navy (USN) Charles F. Adams class, she was commissioned into the RAN in 1965. In March 1967, Hobart became the first RAN combat ship deployed to fight in the Vietnam War. This marked the start of consistent six-month deployments to the warzone, which continued until late 1971; Hobart was redeployed in 1969 and 1970. During the 1968 tour, the destroyer was attacked by a United States Air Force aircraft.

USS Indra (ARL-37) was one of 39 Achelous-class landing craft repair ships built for the United States Navy during World War II. Named for Indra, she was the only US Naval vessel to bear the name, and only one of three ships to be named after a Hindu deity.

USS Jubilant (AM-255) was an Admirable-class minesweeper built for the United States Navy during World War II. She served in the Atlantic during World War II. She was decommissioned in May 1946 and placed in reserve. Although she did not see service in the war zone, Jubilant was recommissioned in May 1951 during the Korean War and remained in commission until April 1954, when she was placed in reserve again. While she remained in reserve, Jubilant was reclassified as MSF-255 in February 1955 but never reactivated. In October 1962, she was sold to the Mexican Navy and renamed ARM DM-01. In 1994 she was renamed ARM General Miguel Negrete (C50). She was stricken in 2000, and sunk as an artificial reef off Veracruz in August 2001.

USS Kittiwake (ASR-13) was a United States Navy Chanticleer-class submarine rescue vessel in commission from 1946 to 1994.

USS Leonard F. Mason (DD-852) was a Gearing-class destroyer in the United States Navy, She was named for Private First Class Leonard F. Mason USMC (1920–1944), who was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his heroism during the Battle of Guam.

Major General Wallace F. Randolph (ship)

USAMP Major General Wallace F. Randolph, sometimes also known as MG Wallace F. Randolph, was a 188.2-foot (57.4 m) mine planter built by the Marietta Manufacturing Company, and delivered to the United States Army Mine Planter Service in 1942. The ship was transferred to the U.S. Navy in 1951, placed directly into the Atlantic Reserve Fleet without being commissioned classed as the auxiliary minelayer ACM-15, then reclassified minelayer, auxiliary (MMA) and named MMA-15, and finally given the name Nausett without any active naval service. After being stricken from the Naval Vessel Register, the ship was transferred to different owners, and eventually was scuttled off the coast of Florida as an artificial reef and fish aggregating device. The site is currently known as the Thunderbolt Wreck, and is considered to be an excellent and challenging dive site for advanced divers.

USS Mindanao (ARG-3) was a Luzon-class internal combustion engine repair ship that saw service in the United States Navy during World War II. Named for the Island of Mindanao, second largest and southernmost island in the Philippines, it was the second U.S. Naval vessel to bear the name.

The fifth US Coast Guard cutter named Mohawk (WPG-78) was built by Pusey & Jones Corp., Wilmington, Delaware, and launched 1 October 1934. She was commissioned on 19 January 1935.

USS Muliphen (AKA-61/LKA-61) was an Andromeda-class attack cargo ship named after Muliphen, a star in the constellation Canis Major.

USS Oriskany (CV/CVA-34) – nicknamed Mighty O, and occasionally referred to as the O-boat – was one of the few Essex-class aircraft carriers completed after World War II for the United States Navy. The ship was named for the Battle of Oriskany during the Revolutionary War.

HMS Pelorus was an Algerine-class minesweeper built for the Royal Navy (RN) during World War II. Upon completion, the ship became the flotilla leader of the 7th Minesweeper Flotilla, clearing mines off the east coast of England. In June 1944, the flotilla was assigned to sweep one of the beaches during the Normandy landings until she struck a mine the following month. After her repairs were completed, Pelorus was reassigned to the English Channel and the 6th Minesweeping Flotilla. The flotilla was transferred to the Indian Ocean in 1945 and spent some time escorting convoys. They participated in Operation Collie, a bombardment of Japanese positions in the Nicobar Islands, in July and then swept the Strait of Malacca and the approaches to Singapore in August.

The sinking of the Rainbow Warrior, codenamed Opération Satanique, was a bombing operation by the "action" branch of the French foreign intelligence services, the Direction générale de la sécurité extérieure (DGSE), carried out on 10 July 1985. During the operation, two operatives sank the flagship of the Greenpeace fleet, the Rainbow Warrior, at the Port of Auckland in New Zealand on its way to a protest against a planned French nuclear test in Moruroa. Fernando Pereira, a photographer, drowned on the sinking ship.

USS Rankin (AKA-103/LKA-103) was a Tolland-class attack cargo ship in service with the United States Navy from 1945 to 1947 and was recommissioned between 1952 and 1971. She was finally sunk as an artificial reef in 1988.

USS Jubilant (AM-255) was an Admirable-class minesweeper built for the United States Navy during World War II. She served in the Atlantic during World War II. She was decommissioned in May 1946 and placed in reserve. Although she did not see service in the war zone, Jubilant was recommissioned in May 1951 during the Korean War and remained in commission until April 1954, when she was placed in reserve again. While she remained in reserve, Jubilant was reclassified as MSF-255 in February 1955 but never reactivated. In October 1962, she was sold to the Mexican Navy and renamed ARM DM-01. In 1994 she was renamed ARM General Miguel Negrete (C50). She was stricken in 2000, and sunk as an artificial reef off Veracruz in August 2001.

MV Rozi was a tugboat, built in Bristol in 1958. She was originally called Rossmore, and was later renamed Rossgarth. She was sold to Tug Malta in 1981 as the Rozi and operated in the Grand Harbour. After being decommissioned, she was scuttled off Ċirkewwa as an artificial reef. It is now one of the most popular dive sites in Malta.

HMCS Saguenay was a St. Laurent-class destroyer that served in the Royal Canadian Navy and later the Canadian Forces from 1956–1990. She was the second vessel in her class and the second Canadian naval unit to carry the name HMCS Saguenay. After being discarded by the Canadian Forces, the ship was sunk as an artificial reef off the coast of Nova Scotia.

HMS Scylla (F71) was a Leander-class frigate of the Royal Navy (RN). She was built at Devonport Royal Dockyard, the last RN frigate to be built there as of 2016. Scylla was commissioned in 1970, taken out of service in 1993 in accordance with Options for Change, and sunk as an artificial reef in 2004.

USS Spiegel Grove (LSD-32) was a Thomaston-class dock landing ship of the United States Navy. She was named for Spiegel Grove, the home and estate in Fremont, Ohio of Rutherford B. Hayes, the 19th President of the United States.

USCGC Tamaroa (WAT/WMEC-166), originally the United States Navy Cherokee-class fleet tug USS Zuni (ATF-95), was a United States Coast Guard cutter. Following the U.S. Coast Guard custom of naming cutters in this class of ship after Native American tribes, she was named after the Tamaroa tribe of the Illiniwek tribal group.

Um El Faroud was a 10,000 ton Libyan-owned single screw motor tanker. Following a gas explosion during maintenance work in 1995, she was scuttled off the coast of Malta as an artificial reef and diving attraction.

USS Unimak (AVP-31) was a United States Navy Barnegat-class small seaplane tender in commission from 1943 to 1946 that saw service in World War II. After the war, she was in commission in the United States Coast Guard as the cutter USCGC Unimak (WAVP-379), later WHEC-379, WTR-379, and again WHEC-379, from 1949 to 1975 and from 1977 to 1988

USS Vermilion (AKA-107/LKA-107), was a Tolland-class attack cargo ship of the United States Navy, named after a parish in southern Louisiana and a county in eastern Illinois. She served as a commissioned ship for 25 years and 9 months.

USS Woodpecker (AMS/MSC-209) was a Bluebird-class minesweeper of the United States Navy, that saw service during the Vietnam War, and was later sold to the Republic of Fiji where she served as HMFS Kikau (MSC-204).

USS Yancey (AKA-93/LKA-93) was an Andromeda-class attack cargo ship built by the Moore Dry Dock Company of Oakland, California for the United States Navy during World War II. The ship was named in honor of Yancey County, North Carolina.