NEWS

World War II-era ship to be reefed off DE-NJ coast

Adam Duvernay
The News Journal

A World War II-era ship has been cleared for sinking by Delaware and New Jersey to create an off-the-coast reef.

The Coast Guard's Tamaroa, known as the USS Zuni in World War II, will be sunk off Cape May as part of an artificial reef.

Delaware’s Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control and New Jersey’s Department of Environmental Protection announced Wednesday the Zuni/Tamaroa, a "ship with a famed history at sea that continued into the 1990s," got EPA approval to go down about 25 nautical miles from Lewes and Cape May, New Jersey.

The EPA and Coast Guard recently inspected Zuni/Tamaroa at the Norfolk, Virginia, shipyard of contractor Coleen Marine. Extensive environmental preparation for reefing the 74-year-old vessel included removing interior paneling and insulation and emptying and cleaning the vessel of all fuel and fluids.

DECEMBER: The Shearwater sinks to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean as part of the state’s artificial reef program. Delaware’s artificial reef network also includes more than 1,000 sunken New York City subway cars, tugboats, smaller fishing boats and old, decommissioned military vehicles.

The Coast Guard approved the ship as fit for reefing on the Del-Jersey-Land site, which comprises military ships including the destroyer USS Arthur W. Radford, the longest ship reefed on the Atlantic Coast; the minesweeper Gregory Poole, and the Shearwater, in service for both the U.S. Army as a freighter and the U.S. Navy as a support ship.

STORY: WWII vessel becomes latest fish habitat off Delaware

GALLERY: Shearwater sinking creates artificial reef

Jeff Tinsman, DNREC Division of Fish and Wildlife reef program coordinator, said in a news release plans call for Zuni/Tamaroa to be reefed when a weather window of 48-72 hours for calmer seas allows for the ship to be towed up the coast and to the reef site.

“We are certain that it will happen sooner rather than later,” he said. “Optimally, it would be right after the Easter holiday weekend. If that scheduling holds, anglers and divers should be working the Zuni/Tamaroa for recreational opportunities that she presents almost immediately.”

DNREC is the lead agency on the Zuni/Tamaroa reefing project, providing 75 percent of the funding from the Federal Aid in Sport Fish Restoration program administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. New Jersey is providing 25 percent matching funds from The Fisherman Magazine’s Sportfishing Fund.

Contact Adam Duvernay at (302) 324-2785 or aduvernay@delawareonline.com