15 Biggest Ships Sunk to Form Artificial Reefs, Ranked

Commissioned in 1963, HMCS Yukon served the Royal Canadian Navy across three decades before being purchased by the San Diego Oceans Foundation. Deliberately scuttled off Mission Bay in 2000, the 366-foot destroyer now lies in 100 feet of water, forming one of California premier artificial reef dive sites.

Sister vessel to the Yukon, HMCS Saskatchewan was sunk off Snake Island near Nanaimo, British Columbia, in June 1997. The 366-foot warship was prepared by the Artificial Reef Society of British Columbia, becoming an anchor point for vibrant cold water anemones, lingcod, and rockfish.

Decommissioned in 1996, the 370-foot Australian escort frigate HMAS Swan was sent to the seabed of Geographe Bay near Dunsborough in December 1997. Resting upright on sandy bottom at a depth of 30 meters, the vessel hosts hundreds of schooling fish species and encrusting marine invertebrates.

Originally built in Vancouver as a Flamborough Head class maintenance vessel for the British Royal Navy, this 441-foot ship later served Canada for decades. Scuttled near Nanaimo in 2001, she ranks among the largest purpose-sunk artificial reefs along the Pacific Northwest coastline.

Measuring 453 feet, HMAS Adelaide was the lead ship of her class for the Royal Australian Navy. Scuttled in April 2011 off Avoca Beach on the New South Wales Central Coast, the warship now lies in 32 meters of water, functioning as both an active reef ecosystem and an adventure dive attraction.

A veteran of the Vietnam War and Persian Gulf operations, HMAS Perth was a 437-foot Charles F. Adams class guided missile destroyer. Deliberately sunk in November 2001 off Albany in Western Australia, the massive warship sits in 35 meters of water, encrusted in vibrant sponges and soft corals.

Known affectionately as the Steel Cat, HMAS Brisbane served Australia in Vietnam and the Gulf War across 34 years of service. In July 2005, the 437-foot destroyer was scuttled three nautical miles off Mudjimba Island, transforming into a world-famous underwater conservation sanctuary.

USS Kittiwake dedicated decades to deep-sea rescue and salvage operations, including recovering the flight recorder of the Space Shuttle Challenger. In January 2011, the 251-foot vessel was sunk in just 60 feet of clear Caribbean water off Seven Mile Beach, creating an internationally renowned dive attraction.

Originally launched during World War Two as USS Admiral R. E. Coontz, this 609-foot transport later carried thousands of troops across European waters. Sunk in 1988 off Cape May under the New Jersey Artificial Reef Program, she remains one of the longest ships ever scuttled off the Mid-Atlantic shelf.

Measuring 510 feet in length, USS Spiegel Grove served as an amphibious dock landing ship from 1956 to 1989. Scuttled in June 2002 off Key Largo in 130 feet of water, the mammoth vessel initially rolled onto her starboard side before Hurricane Dennis uprighted her hull in 2005.

A C4-class troop transport spanning 523 feet, General James H. MacRae ferried military personnel across Pacific and European theaters. Decommissioned and later scuttled off Key Largo in 1987, the massive hull provides shelter for pelagic sportfish and deep marine invertebrates.

Stretching 563 feet, USS Arthur W. Radford was intentionally sunk in August 2011 about 26 nautical miles off Cape May. As the core of the collaborative Del-Jersey-Land Reef, the warship became the longest vessel scuttled on the Atlantic coast until recent years.

This 523-foot tracking vessel spent the Cold War monitoring Soviet missile launches and NASA Mercury missions with massive parabolic radar antennas. Scuttled in May 2009 south of Key West, the Vandenberg is the second largest ship ever sunk in Florida waters, creating an extraordinary artificial reef.

Nicknamed the Mighty O, this 888-foot Essex-class aircraft carrier earned battle stars in Korea and Vietnam. Sunk by controlled demolition in May 2006 off Pensacola, Florida, the 32,000-ton behemoth came to rest upright in 212 feet of water, earning global fame as the world largest artificial reef for two decades.

Holding the transatlantic speed record since 1952, the 990-foot SS United States remains a masterpiece of American naval engineering. Set to be scuttled off Destin-Fort Walton Beach, Florida, in 2026, the 53,000-ton superliner will surpass USS Oriskany as the largest vessel converted into an artificial reef.