Key Largo, Florida, United States

Benwood Wreck

The Benwood is a 110-metre Norwegian-flagged merchant freighter that played an unlikely role in WWII along the Florida reef line. On the night of 9 April 1942, while running blacked out from Tampa to Norfolk, she was struck by a torpedo from the German submarine U-67 and simultaneously collided in the dark with the SS Robert C. Tuttle. Her crew beached her on French Reef to keep her from sinking in deep water. The Navy later used the hulk for bombing and gunnery practice, and the bow was demolished as a navigation hazard. What is left is now one of the most popular and accessible wreck dives in the Keys: scattered ribs, plates, boilers and the stern section in 8 to 14 metres of water. The site is teeming with sergeant majors, grunts, glassy sweepers, French angelfish, green moray eels and giant resident barracuda. The Benwood is moored inside the Florida Keys NMS and the shallow profile makes it ideal for night dives.