The Black Point Shipwreck
New York and New Jersey's (Wreck Valley)
Historical and current New England, New York and New Jersey Shipwreck Information and images for scuba
divers and fisherman.
BLACK POINT
Originally named Fairmont, and later Nebraskan before being renamed
Black Point, this steel hulled collier was built in Camden, New
Jersey, in 1918. She was 369 feet long,55 feet wide and displaced
5,353 gross tons. The Black Point has earned herself a place in
history due only to the time of her sinking.
On May 5, 1945,carrying 7,595 tons of coal, the 27 year old Black
Point was en route from New York to Boston, and World War II was
finally ending. Adolph Hitler had already committed suicide and
Admiral Karl Donitz had issued a personal order to allU-Boats to
"cease hostilities" Apparently, Commander Oberleutnant Helmut Froems
dorf, of the U-853 didn't receive Donitz's orders or simply refused
to obey them. At 5:40 PM, he sighted the Black Point and fired a
torpedo into her stern. The tremendous explosion ripped 40 feet off
of the coiler's stern. During all of the commotion, Stewart
Whitehouse, a 29 year old oiler aboard the Black Point, saw a man
hanging upside down by one foot in a fouled rope. Whitehouse managed
to cut the man free and then go on to loosen a jammed life raft
which prevented more from perishing. At 5:55 AM the Black Point
rolled to port, capsized and went down taking twelve crew members to
a watery grave. The Black Point has thetitle of the last ship sunk
in American waters by a German U-Boat during World War II. As for
the U-853, she was sunk by an American task force shortly after her
attack on the Black Point and is now resting in 130 feet of water.
The Black Point is now resting in two sections. Her stern is about
80 feet long and sits on its side in 85 feet of water. The stern
still has a deck gun which divers can easily recognize. Her bow lies
a good distance away upside down in 100 feet of water. The bow has
about 40 feet of relief and holds human remains of her crew. Capt
Eric Takakjian reports that penetration is possible but warns that a
diver with out the proper training and experience could easily get
lost inside this wreck.
Remember
penetration into any shipwreck should only be done by those with
proper training, experience and
wreck diving equipment.
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Originally named Fairmont, and later Nebraskan before being renamed
Black Point, this steel hulled collier was built in Camden, New
Jersey, in 1918. She was 369 feet long,55 feet wide and displaced
5,353 gross tons. The Black Point has earned herself a place in
history due only to the time of her sinking.
