THE
THUNDERBOLT is located about five and one half miles off Key Colony in 120 feet
of water, sitting majestically upright on the ocean floor. She was built by the U.S. Army
in 1942 as a cable layer and was named the U.S.S. Randolph. After the war she was sold to
Florida Power and Light Co. who converted the vessel to do lightning research, hence her
final name. She was outfitted with millions of dollars worth of sophisticated electronics
equipment and sent to sea during severe thunderstorms in an effort to attract lightning
strikes. The object of her missions was to study and possibly harness some of
nature’s tremendous energy. After her service with F.P.L. she was sold to a company
who intended to use her for long rang geological survey work. The company however, fell on
hard times and the ship was allowed to fall into a state of disrepair and eventually sank
at her dock on Miami River. She was raised by a salvage company and sold to the Florida
Keys Artificial Reef Association who cleaned her up, made her diver friendly and then
towed to her present position where she was allowed to go to her final resting place in
March of 1986. The R/V Thunderbolt is 188 feet in length, 37 feet in bean and has a top to
bottom relief of 45 feet. Maximum depth at the propellers is 119 feet and the top of the
super structure is at 74 feet. The ship sits up right, which makes it very diver friendly,
a fact reinforced by her excellent 11 year diving history.
Description and photo courtesy of The Diving
Site Dive Shop in Marathon.
THE
THUNDERBOLT is located about five and one half miles off Key Colony in 120 feet
of water, sitting majestically upright on the ocean floor. She was built by the U.S. Army
in 1942 as a cable layer and was named the U.S.S. Randolph. After the war she was sold to
Florida Power and Light Co. who converted the vessel to do lightning research, hence her
final name. She was outfitted with millions of dollars worth of sophisticated electronics
equipment and sent to sea during severe thunderstorms in an effort to attract lightning
strikes. The object of her missions was to study and possibly harness some of
nature’s tremendous energy. After her service with F.P.L. she was sold to a company
who intended to use her for long rang geological survey work. The company however, fell on
hard times and the ship was allowed to fall into a state of disrepair and eventually sank
at her dock on Miami River. She was raised by a salvage company and sold to the Florida
Keys Artificial Reef Association who cleaned her up, made her diver friendly and then
towed to her present position where she was allowed to go to her final resting place in
March of 1986. The R/V Thunderbolt is 188 feet in length, 37 feet in bean and has a top to
bottom relief of 45 feet. Maximum depth at the propellers is 119 feet and the top of the
super structure is at 74 feet. The ship sits up right, which makes it very diver friendly,
a fact reinforced by her excellent 11 year diving history.