Florida’s Palm Beach County — already the site of 150-plus artificial reefs — may be getting a unique addition: a reef created from the USS Clamagore, a 320-foot Balao-class submarine built in 1945.

County officials unanimously approved $1 million for the project, to be sited 1.5 miles off Juno Beach, just south of Jupiter, at about 75 feet. The county’s commitment represents about a quarter of the estimated $4 million needed overall, says Joe Weatherby of Artificial Reefs International - USS Clamagore.

Dropping the sub is the easy part, especially for someone like Weatherby, the man who put down Key West’s Vandenberg as well as other artificial reefs the world over. More time-consuming is the process of evaluating environmental conditions, fund raising, addressing regulatory and government issues, insurance, engineering, materials and stability analysis and more. But time is short for the sub in its present location.

Since 1981, the Clamagore has been on display at Patriots Point Naval & Maritime Museum near Charleston, South Carolina. The sub’s deteriorating condition means its days as a tourist attraction are numbered, but that doesn’t phase Weatherby.

“When people are talking to me, we’re close to the end,” he says. “The sub’s in tough shape, but I never deal with anything that’s not — that’s sorta baked in the pie.”

At the time of this posting, Weatherby was in final negotiations with Patriots Point, the next step in Clamagore’s possible journey to a new home as Florida’s only submarine reef. Check scubadiving.com for the latest updates on this project.

• Check out this wreck diving video from another one of Palm Beach County's artificial reefs