Shipwreck · West Bay, Cayman Islands
Kittiwake
A US Navy submarine rescue ship, sunk on purpose as a dive site on 5 January 2011, about half a mile off the north end of Seven Mile Beach. Commissioned in 1946, she served for nearly fifty years, and in 1986 she recovered one of the Space Shuttle Challenger's rocket boosters. Tropical Storm Nate rolled her onto her port side against the reef in October 2017, so the highest point is now about 30 to 35 ft (9 to 11 m) down, with sand at 62 to 72 ft (19 to 22 m). She lies in the West Bay Marine Reserve and is run by the Cayman Islands Tourism Association: visits are with a licensed operator only, for a fee, and swimming out from shore is not allowed. Look, don't touch, and take nothing.
Open in the viewer from By boat at the Kittiwake →
Quick facts
| Type | Shipwreck, Chanticleer-class submarine rescue ship |
|---|---|
| Sunk as a reef | 5 January 2011 |
| Charted depth | 9 m (30 ft) below MLLW |
| Position | 19.3619°N, 81.4012°W (approximate, ±50 m) |
| Position known from | An agency's record of where it was placed or found |
| From By boat at the Kittiwake | 0 m (0 ft), bearing 0° N |
| Source | Curated: Wikipedia, NavSource, the Cayman Islands Department of Environment and Department of Tourism, and the dive operators (see seed/references/kittiwake-grand-cayman.md) |
How to see it
Underwater. From By boat at the Kittiwake, 0 m (0 ft) away, CoastFinder marks where it lies, at its bearing and distance, with its charted depth.
Further reading: USS Kittiwake (ASR-13) on Wikipedia.
On the website for now. This shipwreck is in the web viewer first. The CoastFinder app covers the North Carolina coast today; follow @coastfinderapp to hear when more coasts arrive.
Nearby
- Breakers' CutbackDive site · 23 km
- Eeny Meeny Miny MoDive site · 24 km
- Julie's WallDive site · 25 km
- BabylonDive site · 15.2 m · 25 km
- Frank Sound GardensDive site · 25 km
- McCurley's WallDive site · 14.6 m · 25 km
Not for navigation. Positions and depths come from public charts and records, with their sources named above; they are for looking, not for piloting a boat.