USS Strength
Minesweeper · United States · Lost 1987 · The Gulf of Mexico
A WWII minesweeper that survived a kamikaze raid, later sunk as a Panama City Beach reef where divers swim between her severed bow and hull.
The Vessel and Her Loss
USS Strength was an Admirable-class minesweeper that swept invasion routes at Iwo Jima and Okinawa, surviving both a midget-submarine attack and a kamikaze strike. After the war she served as a Navy salvage-diver training hulk in Washington, D.C., and Panama City. She was sunk as an artificial reef in 1987, and a later hurricane broke and repositioned her hull, leaving two separated sections divers can explore.
Vessel
- 1944
- AM-309
- Associated Shipbuilders
- Seattle, Washington
- Steel
- 184.5 ft
- 33 ft
- 850
- Twin diesel-electric screws
- United States Navy
Loss
- May 19, 1987
- Intentional sinking
- Off Panama City Beach, Florida, Gulf of Mexico
- Gulf of Mexico
- Not established
- Not established
- Not established
- 0
- Not established
The Wreck Today
- 80 ft
- Broken into two sections, bow separated from the hull
- Not established
- Not established
- Part of the Florida Panhandle Shipwreck Trail
Position
- 30.032° N 85.707° W
- Surveyed position
- Panama City Beach, Florida
Position published by the Florida Panhandle Shipwreck Trail archaeological survey.
Evidence
Overall confidence: Well documented (90/100)
Florida Panhandle Shipwreck Trail
Sinking date, depth, dimensions, coordinates.
Panama City Beach Scuba Diving
Wartime service and shipbuilder detail.
