U.S.S. FRED T. BERRY Key West

The fletcher class destroyer Fred T. Berry, DD-858, was built by Bethlehem Steel Company in San Pedro, California. She was launched on January 28, 1945, and commissioned on May 12, 1945. The Fred T. Berry was 390.6 feet long, had a 41.1 foot beam and an 18.6 foot draft. In 1950 she screened carriers launching strikes into North Korea. The Fred T. Berry received two battle stars for her service in the Korean War. She was sunk as an experiment by the Underwater Explosives Research Division in May of 1972. 
The Fred T. Berry now sits in 370 feet of water off Key West. This is not a wreck for recreational divers and is only visited by professionals using an elaborate mixture of gas to breath on.

According to a U.S. Coast Guard Marine Causality Report on June 17, 1973, the submersible Johnson Sea Link became entangled in a cable from the Fred T. Berry. The Sea Link had been attempting to retrieve a fish trap at the time. Before the submersible was recovered more than 33 hours latter, two of the four persons on board had died from carbon dioxide poisoning.

Photo: The Fred T. Berry was sunk as an experiment by the Underwater Explosives Research Division of the U.S. N in May of 1972. Photo by Captain Billy Deans.

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