Allen
Liberty Ship · United States · Lost 1975 · The Gulf of Mexico
A WWII Liberty ship built at Mobile, later cut down and sunk with four sister ships as one of Alabama's iconic Gulf Coast Liberty ship reefs.
Become Captain of Record
The Vessel and Her Loss
Built as the Liberty ship William T. Barry at Alabama Dry Dock and Shipbuilding Company, the vessel was one of five reserve-fleet Liberty ships the State of Alabama cut down and sank off Mobile and Baldwin Counties in the mid-1970s, becoming known locally as Allen. Each of the five ships, over 400 feet long, now forms a monumental dive site prized for size and marine life.
Vessel
- Not established
- Hull No. 1980
- Alabama Dry Dock and Shipbuilding Company
- Mobile, Alabama
- Steel
- 416 ft
- 50 ft
- Not established
- Steam, single screw
- Not established
Loss
- January 1, 1975
- Intentional sinking
- Off Mobile/Baldwin County, Alabama, Gulf of Mexico
- Gulf of Mexico
- Not established
- Not established
- Not established
- 0
- Not established
The Wreck Today
- 80-93
- Cut down to about 15 feet in height before sinking
- Not established
- Not established
- Managed as an Alabama Marine Resources Division artificial reef
Position
- Not established
- Position not established
- Gulf Shores, Alabama
Checked government (TARP/THC/BOEM/NOAA/state reef program), museum, academic, and dive-resource sources; found only descriptive loss-location narratives with no published latitude/longitude for the wreck site.
Evidence
Overall confidence: Documented (75/100)
The precise year of construction and exact sinking date are not consistently reported across sources reviewed.
Former name, hull number, dimensions, sinking year.
Builder, group reefing context, depth range.
