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Ship that saved 7 in 'Perfect Storm' to be sunk near New Jersey coast

The ship which spent nearly 60 years saving people's lives, starting during World War 2, will be given another life as part of an artificial reef where divers are expected to explore it for years to come.

By Stephen Feller
The Tamaroa, pictured, was immortalized in the movie "The Perfect Storm" for saving seven people during a wicked storm off the coast of Nantucket and will be sunk off the coast of New Jersey as part of an expansion of an artificial reef. Photo by United States Coast Guard
The Tamaroa, pictured, was immortalized in the movie "The Perfect Storm" for saving seven people during a wicked storm off the coast of Nantucket and will be sunk off the coast of New Jersey as part of an expansion of an artificial reef. Photo by United States Coast Guard

CAPE MAY POINT, N.J., Oct. 25 (UPI) -- After playing a key role in the Battle of Iwo Jima during World War 2 and overcoming "The Perfect Storm" to rescue seven people off the New England coast in 1991, a near-legendary ship will be sunk off the coast of New Jersey to be immortalized as part of an artificial reef.

The ship known as the USS Zumi during World War 2 and the Tamaroa decades later is set to finally be sunk off the coast of New Jersey after four years of fundraising and preparation to preserve the ship on some level, rather than destroy it.

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The Tamaroa sprung a leak in 2012 while moored near Norfolk, Va., during preparations to dry dock and repair it and turn it into a museum. As it became clear repairing the ship would be entirely too costly, plans shifted to using it as part of an artificial reef in Cape May Point.

"It's always sad when you sink a ship, but some good will come of it," said retired Coast Guard Capt. Larry Brudnicki. "It's being repurposed. It's being used. If it's cut up, who's going to know that their razor blade came from the Tamaroa?"

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The USS Zuni was launched July 31, 1943, and sent to the Pacific Theatre during World War 2 where it was used to tow other damaged ships to safety and participated in missions critical to the Battle of Iwo Jima.

After the war, the Zuni was transferred to the Atlantic Fleet in 1946 and decommissioned, where it was transferred to the U.S. Coast Guard and renamed the Tamaroa. For the next 50 years, the ship was used on numerous missions to save other ships in trouble and to enforce fishing laws.

The Tamaroa gained prominence after being sent to find a sailboat called the Satori that got caught in a massive storm off the coast of Nantucket -- actually three storms that converged to form a much larger one -- and then to save an Air National Guard Helicopter that had run out of fuel on a rescue mission during the storm.

The daring rescues were later documented in the book "The Perfect Storm," which was later turned into a blockbuster movie starring George Clooney.

While surviving crew of the ship, and those it saved, are not thrilled that it will be sunk, they say the fact that it won't be destroyed and people will be able to see it -- albeit by putting on scuba gear and diving down to the artificial reef -- is better than the alternative.

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The ship, of course, is also expected to draw tourists and divers to the site simply to see and explore the ship, giving it a third life of sorts.

"It's like anything else," said Brian Nunes-Vais, a trustee at the Ann E. Clark Foundation, which funds the artificial reef program in New Jersey. "It's name recognition. Would you want to dive Bob's boat or the Tamaroa?"

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