Home Page  of our 650+ page complete directory of businesses and organizations, tourism and travel guide.
Click here for Home Page & web searchbox

Florida Keys Dive Sites - The Wreck Alligator
 


650 PAGES OF FLORIDA KEYS INFO  You are here:  Home»  Diving Site Guide»  Alligator

  » InfoPages Directory

HOME PAGE  |  comments  |  contact us  | rates 

  Related Listings:  more Florida keys Scuba dive sites

0704-G2/Y5/MSN

USS Alligator (armed schooner lost November 23, 1822)

USS Alligator was launched, November 2, 1820, and commissioned in March 1821. Alligator's short, but intensive, period of naval service was involved with combating the problem of the slave trade. In 1821, Alligator was dispatched to the coast of Africa, where her officers helped negotiate the purchase of Liberia as an American protectorate. The new territory was intended to serve as a haven for former American slaves, where they could start a new life. Alligator was one of the first Navy ships dispatched to Florida following the acquisition of Florida by the U.S. from Spain in 1821. Alligator was assigned patrol duty to help suppress the rampant piracy which existed in the Florida Keys, and off the coasts of Cuba. While returning from a naval action against pirates off the coast of Cuba, Alligator ran aground on Carysford (later renamed Alligator) Reef, in the Florida Keys, near present-day Islamorada, on November 19, 1822. When Alligator's officers and crew determined that she couldn't be saved, they set fire to her to prevent her re-capture by pirates. The vessel exploded when fire reached her munitions' areas. Her officers and crew were rescued and taken off the Reef. Alligator may be considered to be the first Navy ship wrecked in Florida.
   The site of USS Alligator is located in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary (FKNMS) and its location has been generally known by divers for many years. The site of USS Alligator is presently being nominated to the National Register of Historic Places by the Naval Historical Center. A brief reconnaissance survey project was completed in October 1995 by several state and federal agencies. One longer-term objective is to determine a management strategy for the site

 

Location Lat 24 51.07 Lon 80 37.21
200 yards offshore of Alligator Light, between coral heads
3.5 NM SE of Lower Matecumbe Key


view
FKNMS
map

 











 

Markers Mooring Buoys (also see FKNMS drawing below)
E 24 50.98 80 36.84        S 24 50.51 80 37.35
W 24 50.81 80 37.63       N 24 51.23 80 37.17
Depth

8' - 40'

Experience Level:  Novice to Intermediate
History See Above
Present Condition Little left but encrusted ballast stones
Sea-Life morays and scorpion fish around the ballast, corals and sea fans around site
Risks
Warnings
Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary
Local Dive Shops Islamorada
Web Sources Dive site: USS Alligator - Wreck       Alligator Reef (SPA)

     Any suggestions or comments on this dive site? Help us help you with an e-mail.
 

This page last updated: 01/04/2008