Three Divers Killed While Diving USS Spiegel Grove
The Florida Sun Sentinel reports the unfortunate death of 3 recreational divers on the ex- USS Spiegel Grove off Key Largo (see map below). According to the article:
One of the divers was stationed at the entrance of the and the other three went inside. The release did not say how deep the divers were. The ship was sunk about 5 miles off Key Largo in the Atlantic.
The diver left outside the wreck began to run out of air, according to detectives. He surfaced safely.
Two divers from another boat went down to look for the others. They surfaced with one diver who was in distress. That diver was taken on board a Coast Guard vessel where CPR was performed. Paramedics met the boat at shore and transported the victim to Mariner’s Hospital where he was pronounced dead.
The two other divers did not surface and initial searches of the wreck failed to locate them.
According to the report, the last two divers bodies have been located within the wreck but have not been removed.
The USS Spiegel was the largest intentionally sunk reef in the United States prior to the sinking of the aircraft carrier USS Oriskany in 2006. The website Divespots.com offers a good overview of the wreck.
