Southwest Florida has already a lot of places to see and things to do on land. But just when you thought you’ve seen everything, there are pleasantly amazing secrets that wait underwater, in the Gulf of Mexico one of these is the sunken USS Mohawk. This medium-sized World War II ship was first launched in 1934 and was first used for icebreaking duties around the Hudson and Delaware rivers. It has since been sunk due to her old age which helps give habitat to the local marine life and can be dived off the coast of Fort Myers for some awesome diving experience.
When the war broke out the USS Mohawk was sent up way north to Greenland where she served for the entire duration of the war. The ship was part of the Greenland Patrol, which guarded the surrounding waters of Greenland against Nazi German attacks. Greenland was important that time because the US had an aerodrome facility over there which made aircraft that was then sent to the British Isles. This made Greenland a prime target for the Germans as it would greatly cripple the Allies efforts if they can do considerable damage to this aircraft facility. However, thanks to the effort of the ship and her crew, the aero facility was protected because the Mohawk was able to launch a total of 14 attacks that defeated a number of enemy submarines. During its time in the patrol, she was equipped with two 50 Cal. deck guns, mortars and anti-aircraft guns. It survived icebergs and torpedo attacks for she was a tough ship with an equally tough crew.
However, there was one iceberg that got to it at one point during its service and almost sunk it. It was hit by a submerged iceberg and it tore a man-sized hole on the side of the ship. The crew worried about it for a time, but thanks to a Scandinavian crew member, who dove in shirtless into the water after covering his body with butter he got from the kitchen, he was able to single-handedly patch up the hole. If not for this astonishing feat, the ship would have sunk much earlier.
The USS Mohawk served valiantly in the war that it received several accolades: the American Defense Service Medal, American Campaign Medal, European-African-Middleastern Medal and the World War II Victory Medal. She was decommissioned in 8th of January 1946.
After this, her wartime equipment was removed and was docked at Cape May. By 1947, she was placed in storage at the Coast Guard Yard. In the next year she was bought by Delaware Bay and River Pilots’ Association and was used as a pilot boat for the Delaware River for the next three decades. Fast forward in time and the ship found its way in Key West, Florida after being repaired in Miami. But in 2012, the museum that owns her found her too for operations and it was decided that the most honorable way of letting her go was to make her sink beneath the waves, and so in that same year they did. Today, it can be visited and dived for a tour and there you can visit key areas around the ship that made this vessel an important piece of American history.
