This ship started life as a Russian Frigate and was stationed in Cuba when the Russian government pulled funding for their overseas program and repatriated the entire crew to their homeland.
It sat abandoned in Cuba until the Cayman government bought it and sank it in 1996 as a marine reef, off Cayman Brac.
The ship, originally 330' long and 42' wide gained further notoriety when famed marine biologist and advocate of reef conservation, Jean-Michael Cousteau, wearing scuba gear rode the ship down as it slowly sank into place on the sandy bottom.
Originally, named Patrol Vessel 356, it was the Cayman government that renamed it, M/V Keith Tibbets, to honor a local politician and businessman.
If you dive it today, you will find it has broken into two pieces.... and is now the home of many corals and species of marine life.
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