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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Searching For Shipwrecks

John Chatterton and the Horenberg knife — John Chatterton and the Horenberg
knife, the most tangible clue to the
identity of New Jersey's mystery U-boat.

In 1991, while checking out an obscure site known for hanging up fishing lines, I dropped down the anchor line only to find a virgin German U-boat. A wreck diver's fantasy of discovering a new shipwreck somehow had become a reality, and it was every bit as good as could be imagined. While reveling in the experience, I wondered if I would have enough skill and luck to ever make it happen again. Several discoveries later, the challenge is still irresistible.

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