Just off the northern end of Egmont Key on the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico sits an 82-foot Civil War-era screw steamer, an underwater graveyard for the sailors aboard since it sank 146 years ago.
The USS Narcissus, named after the mythological Greek character captivated by his own reflection, may soon have many admirers.
“I’ve been watching the progress of it,” said Jim Humes owner of Sea Kat Divers, 105 Seventh St. N., Bradenton Beach. “They’re waiting on one more permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.”
The South Eastern Archeological Services and the Florida Aquarium in St. Petersburg applied to the Florida Bureau of Archeological Research to have the shipwreck added to the list of underwater preserves in December 2011.
Humes — who offers dive classes and tours to the Regina, an underwater archeological preserve in Bradenton Beach — has eagerly been waiting for the shipwreck’s designation.
The designation of the USS Narcissus as a preserve with the Florida bureau of archeological research would make it the 12th shipwreck park in Florida, and the second on the state’s west coast.
Humes said the USS Narcissus would be a 5-mile trip from his shop. He plans to offer dive tours once the shipwreck is dedicated.
The site is a refuge for marine life, including coral, cobia and goliath grouper, while divers can also expect to see features of the vessel, including the steam engine, drive shaft, propeller and a portion of the wooden hull.
Every shipwreck must undergo a proposal process that includes submitting a nomination, hosting a visit by a state archeologist, completing mapping and measurements, meeting prescribed preserve criteria, gathering local interest and verifying its historical significance, but the USS Narcissus has extra obstacles.
The vessel is owned by the U.S. Navy and involves cooperation among federal, state and local agencies, as well as local organizations and individuals. The Navy has signed off on the designation.
The proposal states the USS Narcissus will be unique among Florida’s underwater archaeological preserves because it is government property. The Navy will continue to own the ship under the Sunken Military Craft Act of 2005.
The Florida Aquarium began investigating the wreckage during the 3-year Tampa Bay Historic Shipwreck Survey in 2006 under the direction of South Eastern Archaeological Services Inc., according to the proposal.
The USS Narcissus sank twice in its military career. It first sank after striking a mine during a storm in December 1864 in Mobile Bay. The massive ship went down within 15 minutes, although all the crew aboard survived and all the ammunition and weapons were recovered.
Then, during a violent winter storm in January 1866 off the coast of Florida, on its way to be decommissioned, the ship and crew were not so lucky. All 27 crewmembers went down with the ship, and the vessel has been virtually undisturbed since.
The ship was built in 1863 in East Albany, N.Y., and commissioned as the USS Narcissus at the Brooklyn Navy Yard in February 1864, according to the preservation proposal.
It served during the Union victory in August 1864 at the Battle of Mobile Bay. Shortly after the battle, the ship sank and was taken to the Pensacola Naval Yard for repairs, where it remained for the rest of the Civil War.
The shipwreck has major features exposed, including the steam engine, drive shaft, propeller and a portion of the hull and has become a refuge for marine life.
Designated underwater archaeological preserves are marked and site maps and information are made available in local dive shops and on the Museums in the Sea website, museumsinthesea.com. The sites are protected by Florida law and, in the case of the Narcissus, also by federal law.