Environment

Photographer Captures ‘Funeral’ of a Retired Navy Destroyer Before It Sinks to Bottom of Ocean

Photographer Stephen Mallon Documents the Reefing of USS Radford in Project About Reclamation

The USS Radford was decommission in 2003 and was sunk in a "reefing" project in the Atlantic Ocean in August 2011. (Photo: Stephen Mallon)

What happens when military ships are past their prime? The retired ships aren’t always put on display for land lovers to tour or completely scrapped for metal. Some are put to bed forever in a watery grave, but there their job is not done. At least one company is sinking ships — and other items — to become infrastructure for reefs and marine life.

Photographer Stephen Mallon was able to document what Wired describes as the “euthanization” of the USS Arthur W. Radford. His exhibit of the “reefing” of the ship off the coast of New Jersey in August 2011 recently went on display in Williamsburg, New York.

Photographer Stephen Mallon Documents the Reefing of USS Radford in Project About Reclamation

The USS Radford is tugged off the coast of New Jersey. (Photo: Stephen Mallon)

Photographer Stephen Mallon Documents the Reefing of USS Radford in Project About Reclamation

(Photo: Stephen Mallon)

Wired has more on Mallon‘s project photographing the ship’s “funeral”:

[Mallon] went along for the ride with the contractors, American Marine Group, to document the ship’s final voyage. For Mallon, who never outgrew his childhood fascination with big trucks, airplanes and demolition equipment, it was a dream come true.

“I still get chills from the smell of airplane fuel,” says Mallon, who is probably most famous for his behind-the-scenes photos of US Airways Flight 1549 being hauled from the icy Hudson river after it made an emergency landing.

[...]

Mallon takes us into the ship’s guts as it is cleaned and prepped and we come across relics of time past like graffiti scrawled on the walls by sailors who were on one or more of the ship’s 10 world-wide deployments. There is a stark loneliness to the picture of the Radford being pulled out to its grave by a lone tugboat, calling up images in some ways of a mini funeral procession.

Wired notes that the process of retiring the ship — stripped and cleaned — to the bottom of the ocean is monitored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Coast Guard. Check out video of the scrapping and sinking by American Marine group here.

Photographer Stephen Mallon Documents the Reefing of USS Radford in Project About Reclamation

(Photo: Stephen Mallon)

Photographer Stephen Mallon Documents the Reefing of USS Radford in Project About Reclamation

Parts on the destroyer were salvaged before it was sunk in the Atlantic Ocean. (Photo: Stephen Mallon)

The USS Radford saw action from 1977 until 2003. According to The Front Room gallery’s press release, the 563-foot Navy Spruance destroyer was involved in the Persian Gulf War as well as Operation Enduring Freedom. While the ship once held more than 340 sailors, The Front Room states it has now “become an underwater eco system to house algae, fish, anglers, and other under water life alike. Creating an underwater community not only for fish, but for divers as well.”

Mallon’s exhibit will be on display in the Williamsburg gallery until June 17.

Mallon’s “The Reefing of the USS Radford” is part of his larger, over-arching project – “American Reclamation” – about recycling and reuse in the United States. Works Artists, a firm representing Mallon, hosts one of his first volumes for the project where he documented the transformation of New York subway cars into artificial reef infrastructure.

The Blaze asked Mallon in an interview whether he imagined when he started a project about reclamation if he’d be watching ships or subway cars being purposely sunk in the ocean. He said that his idea all started with looking for unique ways that items were being repurposed but he “did not completely realize it would be so cool.”

Here are a few of those images from the project called “Next Stop Atlantic:”

Photographer Stephen Mallon Documents the Reefing of USS Radford in Project About Reclamation

(Photo: Stephen Mallon)

Photographer Stephen Mallon Documents the Reefing of USS Radford in Project About Reclamation

(Photo: Stephen Mallon)

Photographer Stephen Mallon Documents the Reefing of USS Radford in Project About Reclamation

(Photo: Stephen Mallon)

After this the subway sinking, Mallon said in an interview with the Blaze he was asked by American Marine Group if he would like to document the sinking of a Navy destroyer, to which he responded “absolutely.”

As for where “American Reclamation” will go next, Mallon says he has ideas for a couple more volumes before the project could ultimately be turned into a book. When asked if he would consider going down to visit the structures he had once watched sink, Mallon said it is already part of his 10-year plan.

“I may have little delusions of grandeur that involves multiple divers coming down with me to light up the inside of the subway cars,” Mallon said to the Blaze. He also mentioned an artist who exclusively sculpts underwater creations that he would love to get a grant for to commission a “subway platform for the fish.”

See more photos of Mallon’s USS Radford here. Check out more of Mallon’s projects on his website here.

Comments (30)

  • Verum Ad Potentia
    Posted on May 31, 2012 at 12:50pm

    Rest in peace USS Radford. Thank you for your service!

    Report Post » Verum Ad Potentia  
  • bigdaddytrucker
    Posted on May 31, 2012 at 3:23am

    http://www.navsource.org/archives/05/968.htm usn archive, truly a waste of incredible firepower and resources (yes i know they removed all the goodies, but you still need a platform to fire them from) in the new “littoral ops” focused navy, she would have still served proud!

    Report Post »  
  • Harvey1
    Posted on May 30, 2012 at 7:54pm

    It would have been very respectful if we had been given the reason why this ship was named for him.
    It seems to me that a lot of energy was used to make the steel for this ship. How much energy would have been saved if it had been recycled? How many jobs would have been created to scrap? If we needed more reefs, GOD would provide more for the world.

    Report Post » Harvey1  
  • DoctorRon
    Posted on May 30, 2012 at 5:01pm

    Its going to “house …anglers”???

    Report Post » DoctorRon  
  • Tigress1
    Posted on May 30, 2012 at 1:58pm

    Hee! Hee! I love it! A great excuse for polluting the ocean. Just spew out some eco-bull and it will become legal! Is the whole bottom of the ocean supposed to become a reef?
    Hey, the neighborhood illegal dump is really an artificial habitat for birds and rats!

    Report Post » Tigress1  
    • Tax Revolt
      Posted on May 30, 2012 at 2:58pm

      Correct. That metal could have been used for other things here in the US. Reefs grow naturally, steel doesn’t.

      Report Post »  
  • Krutch
    Posted on May 30, 2012 at 1:39pm

    The USS Samual Gompers, AD-37, was sank in deep waters. How is anyone going to dive on that one? She was the first destroyer tender built from the keel up as a tender. Earlier tenders started as some other kind of vessel. I don‘t understand why the steel isn’t reclaimed instead of wasted. I do understand the reef idea, but at the depth the ‘sammy g’ rests, there is not much value from the waste of the materials. There were at least two other ships downed at the same time.

    Report Post »  
  • broken1
    Posted on May 30, 2012 at 11:42am

    I remember when I rotated back to sea duty from a shore command back in 2002. USS AWR was always the senior command on the pier. As such thier messenger of the watch had to come aboard my ship and the other ships berthed on the pier to get our reports. We also had to report to them for pier sweepers and such. I also had friends onboard and we took turns giving each other tours since I was on a DDG. I had good memories coming onboard that ship. Thanks Blaze for a good article. Fair Winds and Following Seas to you USS Aurther W. Radford (DD 968).

    Report Post »  
  • lukerw
    Posted on May 30, 2012 at 11:14am

    What happened to the GREEN Agneda & RECYCLING?

    Report Post » lukerw  
    • loriann12
      Posted on May 30, 2012 at 12:02pm

      That is recycling and they’ve been doing it for years. It becomes the basis for a reef in the future.

      Report Post »  
    • Tax Revolt
      Posted on May 30, 2012 at 3:01pm

      @loriann12; actually it is littering. Reefs grew naturally for millions of years before humans started sinking ships.

      Report Post »  
  • forthepeople
    Posted on May 30, 2012 at 11:07am

    If a normal citizen was to do this he would be in court , jail and fined . ‘ Do as I say not as I do’…… yeah thats it !

    Report Post » forthepeople  
  • HorseCrazy
    Posted on May 30, 2012 at 10:37am

    of course it is monitored by the epa. maybe we need the epa on every distress call to come and harass the drowning folks about their boats enviromental impact.
    enough with the eco system garbage and scrap that metal

    Report Post »  
  • Gatekeeper
    Posted on May 30, 2012 at 10:32am

    It’s landlubber not lover.

    Report Post » Gatekeeper  
  • idigidaho
    Posted on May 30, 2012 at 9:03am

    Seems like a waste of a lot of steel…. I’m sure the fish really needed it though. Why not scrap the whole thing and have the money go back to the Navy, or I’m sure a company somewhere could have used it. The possibilities are far better than what they did!

    Report Post »  
    • CatB
      Posted on May 30, 2012 at 10:00am

      They use them to promote tourism and diving .. they are going to do the same thing off the Southwest coast of Florida soon … making a reef where none exists.

      Report Post »  
    • barstooltestpilot
      Posted on May 30, 2012 at 11:44am

      That is exactly where my old ship is today. A steel reef of the Flordia Coast.

      Report Post » barstooltestpilot  
  • newmexicopatriots
    Posted on May 30, 2012 at 8:50am

    MOUSSIAGILDA…. ARE YOU MENTALLY DERANGED? What the F*** are you talking about? Garbage out of your mouth as usual.

    Report Post » newmexicopatriots  
  • ThePatriot07
    Posted on May 30, 2012 at 8:46am

    Here is the video of the USS Radford Sinking:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0-QBB_GojA

    Report Post »  
  • Steve28
    Posted on May 30, 2012 at 8:41am

    Actually, the sinking of ships as artificial reefs bring in a lot of money. I have dove on numerous wrecks. Not only does the dive shop make money but food and lodging places also. These are also used by fisherman. So you can see in the long term many of these wrecks bring in tons of money to local economies. Check some others like the Oriskany in Pensacola, Fl. or the Spiegel Grove off of Key Largo. Both great dives.

    Report Post »  
    • CatB
      Posted on May 30, 2012 at 10:01am

      A new one is going to be sunk soon … Southwest Florida .. I think it is close to Ft Myers ..

      Report Post »  
  • moussiagilda
    Posted on May 30, 2012 at 8:41am

    Mission accomplished!

    Report Post »  
  • purdue98
    Posted on May 30, 2012 at 8:37am

    Farewell USS Arthur W. Radford. Service to the United States of America accomplished!

    Report Post »  
  • po1amerca
    Posted on May 30, 2012 at 8:04am

    The USS Arthur W. Radford (DD968) was the last ship I was stationed on; from 1999-2002. I did two deployments with her and my shipmates. I left active duty in late 2002, a few months before she was decommissioned. I have a a lot of great memories of that ship and the crew, many of whom are still friends. Thanks for doing the article.

    Report Post »  
  • watashbuddyfriend
    Posted on May 30, 2012 at 8:01am

    Why waste so much metal? Give it to Japan. They can use it to turn it into something good!

    Report Post »  
    • wboehmer
      Posted on May 30, 2012 at 8:36am

      Exactly what I was thinking . . . all we hear is green, green, green & recycle, recycle, recycle . . .

      but the government’s answer is to simply deep six all those tons of steel?

      and about all that “marine eco systems” baloney – I’ll bet the marine life would be just fine without one more sunken destroyer.

      Report Post »  
    • loriann12
      Posted on May 30, 2012 at 12:04pm

      Have you never heard of burial at sea? It not only honors the service of the ship, but recycles it into a reef. Man are you landlubbers stupid.

      Report Post »  
    • Tax Revolt
      Posted on May 30, 2012 at 3:03pm

      Giving the metal to Japan would undercut the hold that China has on the steel market.

      Report Post »  

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