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 The
Delaware was a 250 foot long by 37 foot wide Clyde Line steamer that displaced
1,646 gross tons. She was built in 1880, by Birely, Hill & Streaker, in
Philadelphia.
On
July 9, 1898, the Delaware, which had recently been refitted to accommodate
passengers, was steaming five miles offshore.
At 10:00 PM, the captain
received a report that there was a fire in her hold. The crew tried to contain
the blaze, but it was soon apparent that the fire was out of control. Captain
A.D Ingram gave the order to abandon ship. His crew of 38 and all of the 35
passengers calmly boarded her life boats. By this time, the entire ship was on
fire and nearby vessels came to her assistance. Captain Ingram was the last to
leave the sinking ship. Aside from a few burns, there were no serious injuries.
 The
Delaware's still floating hulk was taken in tow by one of Merrit Chapman's tugs,
but she slipped beneath the waves before making it to shore.
Today,
this wreck is very popular with New Jersey divers. She is located in 65 to 70
feet of water about two miles off Bay Head, New Jersey. Her broken down charred
remains hold many interesting artifacts. The Delaware was also rumored to be
carrying $250,000 in gold bouillon. I
first dove this wreck aboard George Hoffman's boat. By digging, Bill Campbell
and I were able to find a few old bottles. What made the bottles from this site
interesting was that they were fused together by the intense heat of the fire
that sunk the Delaware. In the fall of 1989, Bill Davis found and recovered the
Delaware's brass bell. In 1995 Capt Steve Bielenda and I were digging for
artifacts on the wreck. George Hoffman had told us about the rumored
cargo of
gold. As we blasted away the sand with a scooter
 I noticed a tinny flicker of
gold. It looked like a small melted piece of gold. Steve and I spent the entire
dive harvesting would appeared to be gold dust or melted jewelry. When we
climbed back aboard the Sea Lion Capt George told us he had done the same thing
once and that what we really had was only melted brass.
Underwater Photo by
Herb Segars:
Beth Dalzell of Brick, New Jersey
shoots video on the Delaware. The Delaware was a coastal steamship of the Clyde
Lines, who's route was New York to Havana. She carried general cargo and
passengers, and was approximately 1,600 tons and 250 feet long. On a trip out of
New York she caught fire and burned to the waterline, and later sank while being
towed by salvagers. The Delaware was powered by a coal-fired steam engine. She
was built in 1880 and sunk on July 9, 1898 in 70' off water off the coast of New
Jersey, USA.
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Delaware Shipwreck. Image courtesy Dan Berg Wreck Valley Collection.
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Capt George Hoffman and Don with pipes recovered from the Delaware. Photo by Dan Berg
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Delaware Shipwreck. Image courtesy Dan Berg Wreck Valley Collection.
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Capt. George Hoffman recovered this tombstone from the wreck "Capt. John Smith". Photo by Dan Berg
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Capt. George Hoffman with some of his artifacts from the Delaware shipwreck. Photo by Dan Berg
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Sketch of the Delaware Shipwreck by Dan Berg
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Coin recovered by George Hoffman from the Delaware Shipwreck. Photo by Dan Berg
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