New Jersey Scuba Diving

Type:

shipwreck, barge, USA

Built:

1891, 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 )

The coal barge Maryland sank in heavy weather with no casualties - an utterly forgettable occurrence, were it not for the hulk's previous existence as the side-wheel excursion steamer General Slocum, and the disaster that befell her. On Wednesday, June 15, 1904, the General Slocum caught fire in the East River, New York City.

The old wooden ship burned fiercely from stem to stern; the situation worsened by negligence and incompetence on the part of the owners, the captain, and the crew. In just minutes the General Slocum burned to the waterline. Over 1000 persons, mostly women and children, died in the flames or drowned in the swift currents of Hell Gate. Entire families perished, and a community of German immigrants was destroyed, leaving just grieving husbands and fathers, many of whom subsequently took their own lives.

The remains of the ship were salvaged and rebuilt as a barge, rechristened Maryland. The Maryland sank three more times before she was finally abandoned. The wreck was rediscovered with reasonable certainty beneath several feet of sand and muck by author Clive Cussler. I doubt it is worth diving.

• USCG Report on the sinking