Destination Guides - Southpoint.com Blog

Sunken Ship to Be Boon for Padre Island Scuba Diving

SOUTH PADRE ISLAND — In former lives, the Texas Clipper was a WWII attack ship, a soldier transport, a cruise ship across the Atlantic Ocean, and most recently as a training vessel for Texas A&M at Galveston. Known as the USS Queens when launched as an attack ship in 1944, it carried troops to Pearl Harbor, Iwo Jima, to Japan at the end of the war, and troops home. With it's sinking as an artificial reef on Friday, November 17th, there are only 4 other attack ships that still remain. The Texas Clipper was sunk at a depth of 134 feet, 17 miles from shore. As an artificial reef, it will attract lots of sea life and be a boon for scuba divers to explore, with estimates of $30 million in new tourism to the South Padre Island area.