In July 2024, a retired City of Baltimore fireboat and a World War II-era tugboat were added to Reef Site 11 by the DNREC Division of Fish and Wildlife.
The site is better known as the Redbird Reef because it also contains more than 700 retired and repurposed New York City “Redbird” subway cars.
The ex-City of Baltimore fireboat Mayor J. Harold Grady went down at longitudinal and latitudinal coordinates of 38.40.457/74.42.961 at a depth of 75 feet.
MARAD (US Maritime Administration) tug TD-21 was sunk at coordinates of 38.40.427/74.43.073 in 80 feet of water.
Covering 1.3 square miles of ocean floor, Redbird Reef contains an array of vessels. In August 2020, a menhaden ship named Reedville was sunk onto Redbird Reef.
Other vessels include the former floating casino Texas Star, a 215-foot-long Chesapeake Bay cruise ship, 86 retired U.S. Army tanks and armored vehicles, eight tugboats, a fishing trawler, and two barges.
Delaware’s artificial reef system is also home to more than 1,350 retired New York City subway cars that have been a mainstay for attracting fish to the reef system over the last two decades.
More information about Delaware’s artificial reef program can be found on the DNREC website.
source: Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control
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