Florida

Escambia County

Divers will travel far and wide to find the best diving. But those who live in the United States have plenty of great diving on their doorstep as well, with plentiful access to the Atlantic Ocean, the Pacific Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico. From warm-water reefs to temperate seas, here are some of the top places to scuba dive in the United States.

United States

One of the best small boat dives in the Pensacola area. The wreck is mainly intact, but some sections are covered by sand.

USS Massachusetts (BB-2), an Indiana-class battleship, was the fourth ship of the United States Navy to be named in honor of the sixth state. She was launched on 10 June 1893.

Scuttled off Pensacola Bay, Florida, on 6 January 1921, the hulk was bombarded by batteries from Fort Pickens for four years!

On 15 November 1956, the ship was declared the property of the state of Florida. In 1993, the site was dedicated as an underwater archaeological preserve by the state of Florida, designed to become an artificial reef.

Characteristics:
Displacement: 10,288 t
Length: 350.9 ft
Beam: 69.3 ft
Draft: 24 ft
Speed: 16.21 knots
Complement: 586 officers and men
Armament: 4 x 13-inch guns, 8 x 8-inch guns, 4 x 6-inch guns, 2 x 3-inch guns, 20 x 6-pounders, 6 x 1-pounders, 6 x 18-inch torpedo tubes

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Massachusetts_%28BB-2%29 for more information about the history of this wreck.

Approximately 1,5 mile south south-west of Pensacola Pass. The wreck is marked with mooring buoys.

USS Massachusetts is also known as BB-2.