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Mark Whalberg and George Clooney starred in The Perfect Storm. Youtube

The real-life boat that survived The Perfect Storm has now been sunk

The Tamaroa was intentionally sunk more than 80 years after it was first commissioned.

THE SHIP MADE famous in the book and subsequent film The Perfect Storm has been intentionally sunk off the US coast so it can become part of an artificial reef.

The sinking of the Tamaroa, a 62 metre Coast Guard vessel, took place this week off the coasts of New Jersey and Delaware.

The sinking initially was scheduled to occur several months ago, but was repeatedly delayed by rough seas and other related issues.

The vessel was sent down about 61 km off the coast of Cape May, New Jersey.

It was deployed in water more than 36.5 metres deep after patches were removed from holes that were pre-cut into its hull, according to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection.

The pre-cut holes were part of the extensive work that had to be done before the ship could be sunk, including the removal of interior panelling and insulation as well as emptying and cleaning the vessel of all fuel and fluids.

The ship turned on its side as it slowly went down in the calm water, then turned straight up as the bulk of the vessel went under water. It then disappeared from view as a person on board a neighboring vessel thanked the Tamaroa for its long service.

NJ.com / YouTube

A tugboat had started hauling the Tamaroa from a Norfolk, Virginia, shipyard on Monday afternoon and it slowly made its way up the Eastern Seaboard on Tuesday without any issues.

The Tamaroa was first commissioned by the U.S. Navy in 1934 under the name Zuni and saw action during World War II when it helped tow damaged vessels across the war-torn Pacific Ocean. It was transferred to the Coast Guard and renamed in 1946, then continued to serve until it eventually was decommissioned in 1994.

The vessel’s most notable mission came in October 1991, when three strong storm systems came together off the New England coast, generating 12 metre waves and wind gusts of more than 112 kph.

Perfect Storm Ship Reef The vessel even saw action in the Second World War. AP AP

The Tamaroa’s crew helped save three people aboard a sailboat that was caught in the storm. They also rescued four of five crewmen of an Air National Guard helicopter that ran out of fuel during a similar rescue mission and had to be ditched in the ocean.

Both events were documented in Sebastian Junger’s 1997 book, The Perfect Storm, and a movie of the same name starring George Clooney.

Read: Met Éireann complaint says calling storms after Christian names is ‘very unfair’ >

Read: Met Éireann has been crunching the numbers on our ‘highly abnormal’ December >

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    Mute mary cooke
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    Oct 6th 2023, 11:27 PM

    Good man Lula, way to go!!!

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    Mute John finn
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    Oct 6th 2023, 11:37 PM

    Just stop buying Brazilian beef…. They will always be deforestation there. Europe imports of Brazilian beef have increased 23 precent 2023. While China has banned it. Well done European Union.

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    Mute Brendan O'Brien
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    Oct 6th 2023, 11:40 PM

    @John finn: Individual countries within the EU, perhaps, which can take the blame. Not the EU per se.

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    Mute David
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    Oct 7th 2023, 3:30 AM

    @Brendan O’Brien: Under the umbrella of the EU and the EU allow it, so yes, it is the EU.

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    Mute ItWasLikeThatWhenIGotHere
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    Oct 7th 2023, 6:15 AM

    @Brendan O’Brien: Individual corporations, within the EU.

    Within the EU which controls trade, and allows it.

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    Mute Timo
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    Oct 7th 2023, 2:48 PM

    @John finn: it must be fairly toxic of China banned it

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    Mute Brendan Godley
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    Oct 6th 2023, 11:32 PM

    Does this mean we can’t import as much Amazon rain forest mulsh to generate our green energy this year

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    Mute Seanfhear míshásta
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    Oct 7th 2023, 2:02 AM

    Well done Lula!

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    Mute Pato
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    Oct 7th 2023, 9:37 AM

    Good man Lula. Stop being distracted by beef imports, a bigger problem is soy imports to Ireland to feed our famous “grass fed” cattle. Deforestation is used to clear space to grow soy.

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    Mute eoin fitzpatrick
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    Oct 7th 2023, 9:43 AM

    @Pato: and our pigs and chickens

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    Mute Steve O'Hara Smith.
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    Oct 7th 2023, 12:11 PM

    Sometimes I think it’s a little hypocritical to complain about deforestation in other countries, after all the only reason we’re not doing the same thing is that here in Europe we ran out of forest to de centuries ago.

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    Mute Timo
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    Oct 7th 2023, 2:45 PM

    Amazing, a desire by government to import beef from Brazil and Argentina who cut down the rainforests to make way for Grazing cattle and growing soy crops.
    Cull 50% of the Herd in Ireland, and the population growing like wildfire. Let’s eat grass
    You will have 1845 back again before you know it.

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    Mute Paul Moloney
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    Oct 7th 2023, 10:30 AM

    Just cut the whole thing down and move on to the next forestry

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    Mute Monetpenny
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    Oct 7th 2023, 10:34 PM

    I have seen reports that as they remove amazon forests they are finding the ruins of ancient cities. This is evidence that there were civilisations previously where there are now forests. There are more forests in these areas than there was previously.
    A north American example is the ancient native American ruin (Cahokia) outside St. Louis in Missouri that dates from approx 1050-1350. At it’s height it was the largest human settlement in the world. The ‘Americas’ were much more ‘civilised’ & settled hundreds of years. These were more recently overrun by forests & the deforestation that is taking place is returning to the state that existed hundreds of years ago.

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