Girish Mahajan (Editor)

SS Atlantus

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Name
  
SS Atlantus

Out of service
  
1920

Type
  
Cargo ship

In service
  
1919

Fate
  
Wrecked, 8 June 1926

Launched
  
5 December 1918

SS Atlantus

Builder
  
Liberty Ship Building Company, Brunswick, Georgia

Address
  
Sunset Blvd, Cape May, NJ 08204, USA

Similar
  
Sunset Beach, Cape May Lighthouse, Cape May Point State Park, Higbee Beach, Seacliff State Beach

Cape may nj sunken concrete ship ss atlantus


SS Atlantus is the most famous of the twelve concrete ships built by the Liberty Ship Building Company in Brunswick, Georgia during and after World War I.

Contents

The steamer was launched on 5 December 1918, and was the second concrete ship constructed in the World War I Emergency Fleet. The war had ended a month earlier, but the Atlantus was used to transport American troops back home from Europe and also to transport coal in New England. After two years of service, the ship was retired in 1920 to a salvage yard in Virginia.

In 1926, Colonel Jesse Rosenfeld purchased the Atlantus for use in the creation of a ferry dock (for a route now served by the Cape May – Lewes Ferry) out of her and two of her sister ships. The plan was to dig a channel to the shore where the Atlantus would be placed, and the other two ships would be placed in a Y formation, creating a slip for a ferry to dock. In March 1926, the groundbreaking ceremonies were held for the construction of the ferry dock. The Atlantus was repaired and towed to Cape May. On June 8 of the same year, a storm hit and the ship broke free of her moorings and ran aground 150 feet off the coast of Sunset Beach. Several attempts were made to free the ship, but none were successful.

At one time there was a billboard painted on the side of the ship advertising boat insurance. At present she remains a Cape May tourist draw, but her condition is rapidly deteriorating. The wreckage is currently split in three pieces. The stern is the most visible section, the middle is completely submerged, and the bow can only be viewed at low tide.

Concrete sunken ship ss atlantus cape may sunset point nj


References

SS Atlantus Wikipedia


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