Reef G - Liberty Ship “Nettleton”

Reef G — Liberty Ship Nettleton is one of Georgia's most historically significant and visually impressive artificial reef sites, where a Second World War Liberty Ship rests on the Atlantic seafloor as a memorial to one of history's most remarkable industrial achievements and a thriving marine habitat that has been claimed by the sea. Advanced divers exploring the Nettleton encounter a vessel whose size and historical significance distinguish it immediately from the smaller tugs and barges that populate many of Georgia's other reef complexes. Liberty Ships are among the twentieth century's most important vessels, the mass-produced cargo ships that sustained Allied forces throughout the Second World War and demonstrated American industrial capacity at its most impressive. The United States built over 2,700 Liberty Ships during the war years, an average of three vessels per day at peak production, creating the maritime bridge that carried war materials across both oceans. The Nettleton is one of the survivors of this fleet, and her presence on the Georgia seafloor connects divers to one of history's defining industrial and military stories. The Liberty Ship's scale creates diving opportunities unavailable on smaller artificial reefs. The vessel's length — Liberty Ships were 441 feet long — means that a complete circuit of the wreck covers significant distance and time, with different sections offering different ecological character. The forward holds, the midship deckhouse section, and the stern each present distinct habitat configurations that support different marine communities. Multiple dives are recommended to explore the Nettleton thoroughly, as the vessel's size rewards repeated visits with new features and encounters. Marine colonization of the Nettleton has been extensive, with the massive hull providing square footage of hard substrate that has supported an ecosystem of considerable diversity and abundance. Red snapper aggregate around the wreck in impressive numbers, the artificial reef providing the hard-bottom habitat that these ecologically and economically important fish require. Amberjack patrol the water column above the wreck, and the diverse grouper species that characterize Georgia's offshore reefs have established territorial populations throughout the vessel's extensive structure. Reef G's Nettleton offers advanced divers an encounter with American maritime and military history in a setting of genuine ecological richness, making it one of the southeastern Atlantic's most compelling offshore dive sites.