New Jersey Scuba Diving

Bronx Queen

This wood-hulled fishing boat was cruising off Breezy Point on December 2nd, 1989, when suddenly the Captain heard a loud thump. Within 15 minutes the boat had sunk, leaving 19 people floundering in bitterly cold water. The Coast Guard responded quickly to the distress call and was able to retrieve all passengers and crew from the water within two hours. Unfortunately, two of the victims died later in the hospital, one from exposure and the other from a heart attack.

The Bronx Queen was the converted submarine chaser SC- 635. She was 110 feet long, had a 15-foot beam, and was built by Mathis Yacht Building Co, Camden, NJ. The SC-635 was launched on October 12, 1942, and commissioned on October 23. She displaced 116 tons and had a top speed of 18 knots. Subchasers were not in service when America entered World War II, and U-Boats were making numerous sinkings of American vessels along the east coast. Once operational, sub chasers contributed as a deterrent. These sleek fast vessels would patrol the coast forcing U-Boats to spend much more of their time beneath the surface, thus exhausting their batteries and reducing their effectiveness. Although as a group the United States fleet of over 400 subchasers was credited with only one verified U-Boat sinking, it is accepted that they were effective in helping to curb the U-Boats' menacing effect on our vessels. On October 19, 1945, the SC-635 was transferred to the Coast Guard. She was later sold, converted into a fishing charter vessel, and renamed the "Bronx Queen".

Divers will now find the scattered, low-lying, remains of the Bronx Queen sitting in 37 feet of water only a half-mile from the Ambrose Channel 2A buoy. Her bow section is separated from the rest of the wreck and sits on its port side. Her huge diesel engines remain upright and provide the highest relief on the wreck. The engines are also where divers will find the greatest concentration of fish. All that remains of her stern are some ribs and planking. Divers have recovered all types of interesting and unique artifacts from this wreck including rectangular brass portholes, cage lamps, anchors, brass valves, the brass letters off her stern, and her starboard running lantern. Artifacts can still be found on the Bronx Queen by carefully searching through her stern section or by digging in the debris field off her port side.

Remember, this is not the wreck to go wandering off on. Each diver should know exactly where the dive boat's anchor is located and should be able to return and ascend up that anchor at the end of the dive. If you were to come up away from the dive boat, it would be impossible to swim against the current back to the dive boat.

Excerpted from Wreck Valley CDROM by Dan Berg