The Eagle

She almost got away. The night before the Eagle was scheduled to be scuttled — December 19, 1985 — the 269-foot freighter broke free from her moorings and drifted from her designated sinking spot off Lower Matecumbe Key. The crew scrambled, dropped the port anchor, and held her through the night. The next day, she went down right where she stopped. It wasn't the plan. It turned out to be better.

The Eagle was built in Holland in 1962 under the name Raila Dan — a conventional coastal freighter that changed hands and names repeatedly over her working life. By 1985, a second catastrophic fire had rendered her beyond repair. A coalition of local divers, dive shops, and community organizations raised $10,000 to purchase and prep the vessel for sinking, contributing her to the Florida Keys Artificial Reef Association project. She hit the bottom upright and intact. That didn't last.

In 1998, Hurricane Georges picked up the Eagle, snapped her hull in two, and laid her back down on her starboard side. Hurricane Irma followed in 2017, hitting the bow hard and pushing the two halves further apart. The result is a wreck that looks — even to divers who know better — like she took a torpedo amidships. The split hull opens the interior to ambient light and swim-through access that a fully intact wreck would never offer. You can peer directly into the cargo holds, the bridge, the crew quarters, and the engine room without the technical overhead of a true penetration dive.

Forty years on the bottom have transformed the Eagle into something the freighter never was in service: extraordinary. The steel hull is thick with encrusting coral, sponge, and gorgonians. The crow's nest and cargo boom are draped in growth. A four-blade propeller sits intact at 110 feet. Schools of Blue Runner and Baitfish part as you descend. Goliath Grouper hold their ground in the shadows. Bull Sharks — timid in the presence of divers, but breathtaking to see — circle the perimeter. When conditions are right, this is one of the finest advanced wreck dives in the country.

IDC runs the Eagle regularly on our Morning Deep Reef & Wreck charter. If you're not yet Advanced certified, ask us about getting you there before your trip.

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