On 08/10/11 the USS Arthur W Radford was sunk off Delaware, Maryland and New Jersey. On 08/12/11 we did initial survey dives and submitted the a report on Atlantic Diver.
On 08/19/11 we did a second trip to the wreck and noted the following:
We found that the deck at the base of the front of the wheelhouse deck structure was starting to form a crease / valley across the entire deck. Corresponding with the crease, there was a crease and minor tearing on each side of the hull from the deck to the keel. This creasing was the result (IMO) of the hull being unsupported from the very bow to beyond mid ship. Nick Caloyianis (Emmy Winning U/W film maker) was out with us and shot footage of this creasing and tearing.
Fast forward to 09/29 /11:
We dove the Radford for the first time since hurricane Irene. The ship is now in 2 parts approximately 200' apart. The large main section (from the bridge to the stern) is still upright and actually moved about 200' from where it was. That's right, the entire section moved 200' to a parallel position from where it was. What is also remarkable is that it didn't tip over and it moved Southeast which is toward the storm surge waves. Hurricane Irene's storm surge waves traveled Southwest then West then North west as she passed over the area. Finally the bridge end of this section has scoured into the bottom about 5'. This bodes well for it staying up right. The bow section (100+') is another story. This section is in the same location as where it was before Irene. While we didn't dive this section, it appears that this section has fallen over as it didn't profile as high on the depth sounder. This likely happened as the bow section has a very narrow beam as compared to the main body of the ship. I will hopefully confirm this next week.
So what happened:
While I'm not a naval architectural engineer, nor did I play one on TV, here is what I think happened. The tears in the hull go right along side a vertical bulkhead from the keel up. The bulkhead likely kept the the hull from distorting and forced it to tear from the keel up from the downward pressure. IMO, this happened before Irene hit. When Irene pushed the large section away from the bow, the deck which was the only metal holding the 2 sections together, likely tore apart. Sadly, if the bulbous bow had been jetted into the bottom, most of the keel would have been supported and the ship would possibly / likely still be in one piece. So, Irene a Category 1 hurricane helped break the Radford into 2 pieces, and yes I know the Radford is a destroyer not a battleship. It just sounded better for a title.
Ted
Ted Green
TDI Instructor Trainer #029
TDI Advanced Trimix Instructor #029
USCG Licensed 100 Ton Master (Captain)
Charter Boat "OC Diver"
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