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Currents: Florida Panhandle Shipwreck Trail

By Alec Nielson | Published On October 17, 2012
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Currents: Florida Panhandle Shipwreck Trail


USS Oriskany

Barry Shively

Twelve shipwrecks are tag teaming to boost tourism in the Florida Panhandle, which suffered after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill more than two years ago.

The Florida Panhandle Shipwreck Trail is a series of a dozen wrecks selected by the Florida Department of State’s Underwater Archaeology Team, with input from local dive operators, based on popular demand, ecological diversity and historical significance. It’s a way to combine “heritage tourism with recreational tourism with ecological tourism,” says Dr. Roger Smith, Florida’s state underwater archaeologist.

Along the trail, which runs roughly from Pensacola to Port St. Joe, there’s the USS Oriskany — the world’s largest artificial reef — the San Pablo, a fruit transport that was destroyed in a top secret U.S. military operation, and 10 other wrecks sitting in depths ranging from 25 to 212 feet.

The interactive website floridapanhandledivetrail.com makes it easy to find an operator who will take you to the dive sites. The website also features underwater videos, a current weather forecast and historical information about each wreck. You can find the trail on Facebook too. “We put this trail up on Facebook” — www.facebook.com/FloridaPanhandleShipwreckTrail — “so that people could share their experiences and also upload their own videos and photos as they go along the trail,” Smith says.

Passports for the trail are available at participating dive shops. The passport is a way to track the dives you’ve done; it has information about each wreck, a place to log each dive and a space to validate each stop with an official sticker.

Shipwreck Length Depth Year of Sinking
Three Coal Barges 140ft 50ft 1974
San Pablo 315ft 80ft 1944
Pete Tide II 166ft 100ft 1993
YDT-14 132.5ft 90ft 2000
USS Oriskany 888ft 80-212ft 2006
Miss Louise 95ft 60ft 1997
Black Bart 185ft 85ft 1993
FAMI Tugs 85 & 95ft 100ft 2003
USS Accokeek 143ft 100ft 2000
USS Strength 184.5ft 80ft 1987
USS Chippewa 205ft 100ft 1990
Vamar 170ft 25ft 1942
Barry Shively

Twelve shipwrecks are tag teaming to boost tourism in the Florida Panhandle, which suffered after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill more than two years ago.

Matthew Levey and Ana Garcia-Garcia

The Florida Panhandle Shipwreck Trail is a series of a dozen wrecks selected by the Florida Department of State’s Underwater Archaeology Team, with input from local dive operators, based on popular demand, ecological diversity and historical significance. It’s a way to combine “heritage tourism with recreational tourism with ecological tourism,” says Dr. Roger Smith, Florida’s state underwater archaeologist.

Franklin Price

Along the trail, which runs roughly from Pensacola to Port St. Joe, there’s the USS Oriskany — the world’s largest artificial reef — the San Pablo, a fruit transport that was destroyed in a top secret U.S. military operation, and 10 other wrecks sitting in depths ranging from 25 to 212 feet.

Eli Reiman

The interactive website floridapanhandledivetrail.com makes it easy to find an operator who will take you to the dive sites. The website also features underwater videos, a current weather forecast and historical information about each wreck. You can find the trail on Facebook too. “We put this trail up on Facebook” — www.facebook.com/FloridaPanhandleShipwreckTrail — “so that people could share their experiences and also upload their own videos and photos as they go along the trail,” Smith says.

Franklin Price

Passports for the trail are available at participating dive shops. The passport is a way to track the dives you’ve done; it has information about each wreck, a place to log each dive and a space to validate each stop with an official sticker.

Franklin Price

||||| |---|---|---|---| |Shipwreck| Length| Depth| Year of Sinking| |Three Coal Barges| 140ft| 50ft| 1974| |San Pablo| 315ft| 80ft| 1944| |Pete Tide II| 166ft| 100ft| 1993| |YDT-14| 132.5ft| 90ft| 2000| |USS Oriskany| 888ft| 80-212ft| 2006| |Miss Louise| 95ft| 60ft| 1997| |Black Bart| 185ft| 85ft| 1993| |FAMI Tugs| 85 & 95ft| 100ft| 2003| |USS Accokeek| 143ft| 100ft| 2000| |USS Strength| 184.5ft| 80ft| 1987| |USS Chippewa| 205ft| 100ft| 1990| |Vamar| 170ft| 25ft| 1942|

Franklin Price
Hal Lacey