Mohawk (1/4)
- Type:
- shipwreck, liner, USA, Clyde-Mallory Lines ( sailing under Ward Lines )
- Name:
- A tribe of Iroquoian Indians of the eastern New York area.
Three identical sisters were named Cherokee, Seminole, and Algonquin - Built:
- 1926, Newport News VA USA ( Newport News Shipbuilding & Drydock Co. )
- Specs:
- ( 387 x 54 ft ) 5897 gross tons, 163 passengers & crew
- Sunk:
- Thursday January 25, 1935
collision with Norwegian freighter Talisman - 45 casualties - Depth:
- 80 ft max
The Mohawk was given its name after a previous ship of the same name belonging to the same company burned and sank in Delaware Bay in 1925. Another Mohawk is sunk outside the mouth of New York harbor. Thus there are plenty of Mohawk wrecks in our area. This does not seem to be a lucky name.
Neither was the parent shipping company, Atlantic, Gulf & West Indies Steamship Lines, very lucky; the previous year, in an incident that is far more well-known than the sinking of the Mohawk, the Morro Castle caught fire and grounded in the surf off Asbury Park, a total loss. ( The hulk was eventually towed to a Baltimore wrecker's yard. ) Then, just weeks before the Mohawk was lost, the company's Havana grounded on a reef, and the Mohawk was transferred to fill in for the damaged vessel on the New York - Havana - Vera Cruz (Mexico) run. Coincidentally, the Clyde Line also owned the Delaware, sunk nearby some 37 years earlier.
An Underwater "Tour" of the Mohawk:
Getting Around on the Mohawk:
The port or east side of the wreck forms a wall in the bow and stern that can be followed relatively easily. Amidships, everything was destroyed by demolitions, but the remaining boiler makes a good landmark. If lost, swim west with your compass, and you should find the wall of the hull. Dive boats will typically anchor either in the bow (north) or the stern (south) of the wreck and will announce which, so once you find the wall, you should be able to find your way home. The east or starboard side of the wreck is low scattered hull plates, disorganized, and much more difficult to navigate.
These huge gears converted the high-speed of the steam turbines to the much lower speed of the propellers. From the geometry of the exposed portion, I estimate that they are approximately twelve feet in diameter, with about two feet exposed. That places the prop shaft about four feet below the sand, and the bottom of the hull more than 10 feet down. These gears would be connected to the propeller shaft, and surrounded by a casing and smaller drive gears. See marine engines for details of such an installation.
It takes a lot of diving to learn your way around this mess. I've been diving it and studying it about once a week all season (2004), and it's starting to make sense. For the casual diver without such experience, a wreck reel is strongly advised. If nothing else, you can use it as an upline once you realize that not using it from the start was a mistake.
Dive Sites, Liners, Manasquan Dive Sites, New Jersey Dive Sites,
- Type:
- liner, Clyde Line, USA
- Name:
- A tribe of Iroquoian Indians of the eastern New York area.
- Built:
- 1908, Philadelphia PA USA
- Specs:
- ( 367 x 48 ft ) 4623 tons, 290 passengers & crew
- Sunk:
- Thursday January 1, 1925
burned in a storm - no casualties - GPS:
- 40°25.025' -73°45.158' (AWOIS)
- Depth:
- 25 ft
More: Mohawk (older) ...
- Type:
- shipwreck, revenue cutter, U.S. Revenue Service, on loan to U.S. Navy
- Name:
- A tribe of Iroquoian Indians of the eastern New York area.
- Built:
- 1902, Richmond VA USA
- Specs:
- ( 206 x 32 ft ) 980 gross tons, 77 crew
- Sunk:
- Monday October 1, 1917
collision with tanker Vennachar - no casualties - GPS:
- 40°25.025' -73°45.158' (AWOIS 2010)
- Depth:
- 100 ft
More: R.C. Mohawk ...
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