Steamers (2/5) ~ New Jersey Scuba Diving

Steamers (2/5)

Steamer is an early term for any vessel power by a steam engine rather than sails.

Shipwreck Delaware — The *Delaware*, an 1880s screw steamer

Early steamers were propelled by large paddlewheels. "Side-wheelers", with the paddlewheels on each side, were more seaworthy, and therefore more common in ocean waters, while "stern-wheelers", with a single large paddlewheel at the back, were more common as riverboats. Later, these were replaced by more efficient screw (or propeller) vessels.

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Delaware

Type:: shipwreck, steamer, USA, Clyde Lines ( see Mohawk )
Built:: 1880, Hillman Ship & Engine Building, Philadelphia PA USA
Specs:: ( 250 x 37 ft ) 1646 gross tons, 66 passengers & crew
Sunk:: Saturday July 9, 1898
fire below decks, burned to waterline - no casualties
Depth:: 75 ft

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Dual Wrecks

Shipwreck Rusland — The *Rusland*, aground, with onlookers.

Type:: Adonis - shipwreck, wood-hulled bark
Rusland - shipwreck, iron-hulled steamer, England
Built:: Adonis - 1853, Germany
Rusland - 1872, Scotland, as Kenilworth
Specs:: Adonis - 550 tons, 12 crew
Rusland - ( 345 x 37 ft ) 2538 gross tons, ~200 passengers & crew
Depth:: 25 ft
Sunk:: Adonis - Tuesday March 8, 1859 - ran aground in bad weather, no casualties
Rusland - Saturday March 17, 1877 - ran aground in bad weather, no casualties

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Duncan

Type:: shipwreck, steamer
Depth:: 80 ft

A very small wreck, consisting of a primitive single-cylinder steam engine and a large, completely broken-down boiler. Odd pieces of pipe and machinery lie around, but no remains of a hull, although there appears to be some iron plating under the engine. Guessing from the technology, the construction would date to around 1860 +/- 10 years, and the sinking would have been sometime after that.

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Emerald - USS Hibiscus / Frances Wright

Type:: shipwreck, steamer, USA
Built:: November 1864, S.M. Pook (see below), Fair Haven, CT
Specs:: 500 tons
Sunk:: Wednesday April 30, 1873
foundered after losing a propeller shaft - no casualties
Depth:: 75 ft

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Essex

Type:: shipwreck, steamer
Built:: 1890, Cramp Shipbuilding, Philadelphia PA USA
Specs:: ( 272 x 40 ft ) 3018 tons
Sunk:: Thursday September 25, 1941
ran aground on Block Island - no casualties
Depth:: 30 ft

bow, boilers, hull plates & ribs

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Florida

Type:: shipwreck, steamer, USA
Built:: 1876, Baltimore MD USA
Specs:: ( 259 x 36 ft ) 1280 gross tons, no crew
Sunk:: Wednesday May 14, 1930
foundered in storm while being towed to wreckers - no casualties
Depth:: shallow

unknown, probably buried

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Gate City

Type:: shipwreck, steamer, USA
Built:: 1878, Delaware River Iron Shipbuilding & Engine Works, Chester PA USA
Specs:: ( 254 x 39 ft ) 1997 gross tons
Sunk:: Thursday February 8, 1900
ran aground in dense fog - no casualties
Depth:: 25 ft

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General Slocum

Type:: shipwreck, barge, USA
Built:: 1891, Divine Burtis, Brooklyn NY USA, as General Slocum
Specs:: ( 235 x 37 ft ) 1284 gross tons, 4 crew
Sunk:: Monday December 4, 1911
storm - no casualties
Depth:: 25 ft ( 30 ft, including mud )

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Glen Island

Type:: shipwreck, steamer, USA
Built:: 1880, Hillman Ship & Engine Building, Philadelphia PA USA, as City of Richmond
Specs:: ( 239 x 36 ft ) 615 gross tons, 31 passengers & crew
Sunk:: Saturday December 17, 1904
fire - 9 casualties
Depth:: 15 ft

outline of wooden hull, paddlewheel

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Horton's Point / Commodore

Horton's Point

Type:: shipwreck, steamer, USA
Built:: 1848, Jeremiah Simonson, Greenpoint NY USA
Specs:: ( 275 x 32 ft ) 984 gross tons
Sunk:: Saturday December 27, 1866
beached to prevent foundering in a storm; old age & decay - no casualties

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Steamers

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Basking Shark

Cetorhinus maximus

Size:
to 45 ft

Habitat:
open ocean

Notes:
harmless

The Basking Shark is second in size only to the Whale Shark, and much more likely to be spotted in our cool northern waters. Like the Whale Shark, the Basking Shark is a harmless plankton feeder. While the Whale Shark has a brown and cream checkerboard pattern on its back, the Basking Shark is more uniformly gray, making identification easy. It also differs in profile: while the Whale Shark has a broad square snout, the Basking Shark has a pointed conical snout, much like its cousin the Great White, for which it may be mistaken.

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