THUNDERBOLT Marathon

The Thunderbolt was a 188 foot long cable laying work boat with a 37 foot beam. The vessel had become a derelict after many useful years of work. The Thunderbolt had found her way into a boat yard in the Miami River. The Artificial Reef Committee of the Florida Keys found the ship, purchased her, cleaned and removed all hatches before towing her to a site just south of Vaca Cut in Marathon. The Thunderbolt was finally sunk on March 3, 1986, in 115 feet of water. 

Today the Thunderbolt sits upright and intact just south of Vaca Cut. Divers can see her two bronze propellers, enormous cable lying spool, penetrate into her wheel house or just marvel at the diversity and abundance of marine life that have found their home on this scuttled shipwreck.

Photo: The Thunderbolt was sunk as an artificial reef on March 3, 1986. Photo by Bob Tilman.

Basic shipwreck information and images for this section of this site was taken with permission from the book Florida Shipwrecks by Daniel Berg. You are invited to submit your shipwreck related articles, images and information. As long as the text, photographs, sketches etc are of professional quality we will showcase them. Full credit will be provided and a same page link to your web site can be arranged.