From Carysfort Reef in the north, to Alligator Reef in the south, hundreds of ships have met their fates beneath the waters of the Upper Florida Keys, their tales are here, meticulously researched over a period of more than 30 years. Warships, treasure galleons, and merchant vessels, all lie on the bottom waiting for you to visit.
The History of each wreck is brought out and explained in detail giving you a much deeper understanding of what you will come across as you dive these sites.
—Capt. Jimmy Gadomski,
Shipwreck Explorer Oceanographic Surveyor
Born in Ohio in 1958, Tom has worked as an aircraft mechanic, SCUBA instructor, boat captain, and I.T. professional. He is a United States Marine Corps veteran, serving as a CH-53 helicopter mechanic and crew chief from 1977–1982.
Originally certified in 1973, Tom became a professional diver in 1986, working as a divemaster on Andros Bahamas. Returning to Florida, Tom became a SCUBA instructor, working his way up to PADI Master SCUBA Diver Trainer as well as a USCG certified 100-ton vessel master. In later years Tom followed his love of shipwrecks into the technical diving realm as a TDI Advanced Trimix diver.
Born in Idaho in 1973, Jared has worked as an Army Ranger, scout sniper, web developer, I.T. professional, technical diver, and dive assistant instructor. He is a United States Army veteran, serving from 1991–1998.
As I have often said and written, shipwreck research is a never-ending process. No matter how complete a shipwreck book appears to be, there is always more information to be found about any particular wreck, and there are always more shipwrecks to be discovered in the wide, wide sea. So, it is with Tom Scott's Histories & Mysteries: The Shipwrecks of Key Largo, published in 1994. Now Capt. Tom has written a revised and expanded edition, or as he calls it, Revisited.
This updated volume contains all the information from the original book as well as a large amount of additional material that Tom has accumulated during the past 30 years of primary research. Some wrecks, previously unfound, have now been located. Other wrecks, like the City of Washington, have histories that have been extensively fleshed out with extra facts. Then there is the Spiegel Grove, a 510-foot landing support ship that was scuttled as an artificial reef in 2002. And let me not forget the Queen of Nassau, a wreck which had only been a local legend when the first edition of this book was printed.
Even if you have the original edition, you will still want to add this title to your library. Here is a wealth of data that will never go stale.
Gary Gentile
Wreck Diver
Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania 2025
Shipwrecks can each tell a piece of history which is almost forgotten, and if it were not for those willing to dedicate the time and effort to tell these stories a vast amount of history would be swept away, buried under the sands of the ocean.
The wrecks of the Florida Keys can tell many tales, from a wide timespan of years, tales of treasures, of war, and of terrible storms at sea. We usually dive these sites having been given only a brief glimpse of what they were, and how they came to be there, but there is so much more to each wreck than what a brief tale can tell us.
Shipwreck stories are meant to be told, to be passed along. The histories of what has happened and how each wreck has its own story to tell. In this book Tom does a wonderful job of doing just that. The history of each wreck is brought out and explained in detail giving you a much deeper understanding of what you will come across as you dive these sites.
The northern Florida Keys is a special place for the wreck diver as so many ships have met their fates here. Tom explains each account in detail allowing you to experience the histories and background of the events which have unfolded there.
If historical shipwrecks are of interest to you and you want to learn more about the wrecks of the northern Florida Keys, I recommend that you add this book to your shipwreck collection.
Capt. Jimmy Gadomski
Shipwreck Explorer
Oceanographic Surveyor
Ft Lauderdale, Florida 2025