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| SHIP HISTORY: |
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| The Titan is a tugboat sunk in July 2004 as part of the artificial reef program. The ship was last owned by the McAllister Towing company and worked out of Wilmington, NC. The Titan was a product of Burlee Drydock of Mariner's Harbor in Staten Island, NY and was built in 1909 in Port Richmond. Its original name was the Empire. As built, it was propelled by a triple expansion steam engine with a 14x12 scotch boiler. The tug was originally built for the Erie Railroad but was bought by the Panama Railroad once the building was completed. Her name was then changed to P.J.T. Co. No. 8 and after launching, she headed south to participate in the building of the Panama Canal. While in Panama, No. 8 was the victim of a landslide and was buried for a year before being dug out. The tug was sold in the 1920s to Danziger Lumber Company and then to Sabine Towing Company. (Port Arthur). She was renamed back to her original Empire moniker. The Empire was the victim of a 1928 hurricane while towing an oil barge off of Pensacola, FL. She struck bottom, damaging her props and the hurricane wind and water drove the damaged ship inland over one half mile. In 1949, the tug was re-powered with a diesel engine (1750 BHP) and remained the Titan. One of her first tasks after the re-build was to rescue a 15,000-ton tanker off of Texas. The Titan ended up towing the tanker 1500 miles to Philadelpha, PA. The Sabine Towing Company sold the tug to McAllister in 1980. In 1982, the Titan had another diesel re-power. (2000-BHP). Between 1999-2003, she worked as backup boat and in 2004 was acquired by the Swansboro Rotary Club (thru the Northeastern Maritime Historical Foundation). source: www.tugboatinformation.com |
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| The Titan as a McAllister Tug (source: http://tugboatinformation.com)
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| DIVING NOTES: |
| Diving Depths: 40-60 ft. |
| Visibility:I have had more than 60 feet of viz when I dived the wreck, but it probably was a good day. I suspect average is more around 30-40 ft. Because of its intact nature, there is quite of bit of vertical relief on the wreck and the visibility can likely vary quite a bit from the lowest part of the wreck to the highest. This makes a popular destination when the offshore winds are blowing or conditions are otherwise less than ideal. |
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| Current: generally slight to none, probably almost always diveable |
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| Summer Temperature: mid 70s |
| Points of Interest: Intact tugboat sitting on its keel on the bottom. UPDATE: I understand that the pilot house and midship cabin are now gone. Victims of one of the hurricanes off the Graveyard of the Atlantic! |
| Fish/Animal Life: Large schools of baitfish; barracuda, Spanish Mackerel and other predators feeding on the baitfish; |
| Description: The Titan is relatively shallow, small and intact making it an very easy dive to navigate and completely investigate within a single dive. There are several great photo sites, particularly up near the bow and pilot houses, especially if the baitfish are swirling. The viz tends to be better the high up on the wreck you go. |
