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Ship to be sunk in British Virgin Islands’ waters A 1930s vessel that sailed the Sir Francis Channel for more than ten years will be sunk as a artificial reef in Virgin Islands’ waters. The announcement by the BVI Scuba Association (BVISA) confirms Premier Ralph O’Neal’s permission to obtain the Windjammer S/V Flying Cloud and sink it for the enjoyment of Virgin Islands’ divers.
The Flying Cloud was built in 1935 for the French Navy, and served as a cadet training ship. The Flying Cloud acted as a decoy in World War II, spying for the Allied Forces based in Tahiti. After the war, she transported cargo along the Baja coast. Then in 1968 she joined the Windjammer fleet. The Flying Cloud is 208-feet long, 32-feet beam and her draft is 16-feet. According to the BVISA, “she weighed in at 400 tons (before charter guests and rum!).” The Flying Cloud sailed the territory’s waters for many years, carrying thousands of passengers, but high maintenance costs made it impossible to keep her in the windjammer fleet, and she was retired from active service in 2002. |
