USCG Cutter DUANE National Register of Historic Places Listing

She sits upright in over a hundred feet of water off Key Largo. Most divers just see a playground. But before she became an artificial reef in 1987, this 327-foot Treasury-class cutter spent half a century fighting wars. Launched in 1936, she braved the icy, U-boat-infested waters of the North Atlantic. It was brutal, freezing work. In April 1943, her crew worked with the cutter Spencer to bomb and sink the German submarine U-175 with depth charges. They pulled survivors out of the burning oil. That single battle secured her place in military lore. But she wasn't done. Decades later, she sailed to Vietnam, patrolling the muddy coastlines during Operation Market Time to choke off enemy supply lines.

So how did she end up at the bottom of the ocean After Vietnam, she returned to policing duties, mostly busting drug runners. In 1985, the government retired her. She was then the oldest active US military vessel. Rather than scrapping the historic ship, a local dive association bought her. They stripped her weapons, sealed her fuel tanks, and towed her off Key Largo. On November 27, 1987, explosives ripped her hull open. She sank in minutes. Unlike most wrecks that roll over, the Duane settled perfectly upright on the sandy bottom. Her listing on the National Register of Historic Places in 2002 highlights this remarkable preservation. She remains an intact, accessible example of 1930s naval architecture.