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| War Hero Becomes Artificial Reef |
Divers who head to the Gulf of Mexico can find one of Texas' more unusual attractions - an artificial reef that was once a training ship for 30 years of cadets at Texas A&M University at Galveston.
At 473-feet and 7,000-tons, the Texas Clipper was sunk on November 17. 2007 and has already become home to a variety of fish and marine life as well as divers who make the 134-foot dive to see her.
To become an artificial reef, ten years of preparation and $4 million were need. Large holes were cut out of the ship to give divers and fish additional routes of escape. All pollutants had to be removed and the mast was cut off to ensure that the highest point of the ship would be at least 50-feet underwater.
Before becoming a tourist attraction, the Texas Clipper was known as the USS Queens during World War II where she served as a transport ship, ferrying wounded troops, including operating during the Battle of Iwo Jima.
After the war, she was renamed the SS Excambion and served as a luxury cruise liner, making frequent trips from New York City to the Mediterranean.
From 1965 to 1994, after becoming the USTS Texas Clipper, maritime cadets and students used he as a floating classroom around the world, studying maritime sciences, oceanography and marine biology.
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