AH-WR-0754

YDT-15

Diving Tender · United States · Lost 2000 · The Gulf of Mexico

A WWII Navy freight lighter turned diving tender, sunk off Pensacola in 2000 beside her sister ship YDT-14 and now partly buried in sand.

Artistic recreation based on recorded historical documents. See the documented evidence.

Historically Reconstructed. Drawn from partial documentation of this vessel together with her known class and configuration. See the documented evidence.

The Vessel and Her Loss

Originally built in 1942 as the Navy freight lighter YF-336, the vessel was renamed Suitland and reassigned among several naval districts before being redesignated the diving tender YDT-15 in 1971. She was sunk off Pensacola in April 2000 alongside sister ship YDT-14, and storms have since partially buried her, leaving a more subsided, debris-strewn wreck than her sister.

Vessel

Built: 1942
Registry: YDT-15
Builder: Not established
Yard: Not established
Material: Steel
Length: Not established
Beam: Not established
Tonnage: Not established
Propulsion: Not established
Owners: United States Navy

Loss

Date: April 1, 2000
Cause: Intentional sinking
Location: About 15 miles off Pensacola, Florida, close to her sister ship YDT-14, Gulf of Mexico
Water: Gulf of Mexico
Voyage: Not established
Cargo: Not established
Aboard: Not established
Lives lost: 0
Master: Not established

The Wreck Today

Depth: 75-100
Condition: Significantly subsided, most of bridge missing, partially buried
Orientation: Not established
Discovered: Not established
Protection: Part of the Florida Panhandle Shipwreck Trail

Position

Coordinates: 30.42° N 87.22° W
Accuracy: General area only
Nearest: Pensacola, Florida
Region: The Gulf of Mexico

General area only: coordinate of Pensacola, Florida from the USGS Geographic Names Information System, marking the named place of loss recorded for this vessel ("about 15 miles off Pensacola, Florida"), not a surveyed wreck position.

Evidence

Overall confidence: Documented (78/100)

Overall length, beam, and precise coordinates for this vessel were not established in the sources reviewed.

Niuhi Dive Charters
Former designations, naval service history, sinking date, depth, condition.
Florida Panhandle Shipwreck Trail
Sinking year, depth, marine life.
USGS Geographic Names Information System — Pensacola, FL
coordinate of the named place of loss