GATE CITY

The Gate City was a Savannah Line iron freight steamer built in 1878, by J. Roach & Son, Chester, Pennsylvania. She was 254 feet long ,38.7 feet wide, displaced 1,997gross tons, and was powered by a single screw compound steam engine. She was owned by Ocean SS. Co., Savannah. The Gate City ran aground near Moriches Inlet in a dense fog and sank on February 8, 1900. Lifesavers on the beach used a breeches buoy to rescue all of her crew. At the time of her demise she was bound from Savannah, Georgia, to Boston with a cargo of cotton and molasses.

On 6-29-08 I was at the local 7-11 getting ice before we headed out to go diving. A gentleman noticed my Wreck Valley T Shirt and introduced himself. We talked a bit about local shipwrecks then he mentioned that he had the name board off the Gate City wreck. Phone #'s were exchanged and a wk later I called and made arrangements to photograph his artifact. Mr Mat Deedy told me that the name board had originally been washed up on the beach, then harvested by a local when building a chicken coup. Years later Mr Deedy's friend spotted the name board and offered to purchase it. He reported that the chicken coup was made up of scraps of old drift wood. Mr Deedy now has the name board proudly displayed in his Oceanside NY home. He also had a beautiful painting commissioned which shows the Gate City hard aground.

Photo Above: Mat Deedy with name board from the Gate City shipwreck. Photo courtesy Mat Deedy.

Painting; Gate City Shipwreck. Courtesy Mat Deedy collection.

Gate City Shipwreck. courtesy Dan Berg Wreck Valley Collection.	Gate City Shipwreck. courtesy Dan Berg Wreck Valley Collection.	Gate City Shipwreck. courtesy Dan Berg Wreck Valley Collection.