The Edwin Duke Shipwreck
New York's (Wreck Valley)
Historical and current New York Shipwreck Information and images for scuba
divers and fisherman.
Capt.
Dan Berg's Wreck Valley Collection
The
Edwin Duke is a tug boat wreck. This wreck lies one mile northeast of the Stone
Barge in about 52 feet of water. Her super structure is completely gutted, but
her remains attract good amounts of black fish during the summer months.
Although
I have been able to find no documentation as to the date or cause of her
sinking, Captain Frank Persico, tells me the following story that was told to
him by the late Al Bohem, a noted wreck diver and local historian.
Around
the year 1930, the Edwin Duke was towing a barge with a load of stones to be
used on one of the Jones Beach jetties. The tug and barge were caught in a
storm. Apparently, the barge began to take on water and was soon dragging the
Edwin Duke under. In a last ditch effort the crew of the Duke cut the barge
free. The barge has now become known as the Stone Barge and is a popular lobster
dive. Unfortunately, it was too late for the little tug. Instead of staying
afloat, she inevitably sunk.
The
bow of the Edwin Duke is now lying on its port side on a sand and mud bottom. A
trawler's net covers some of the wreck's starboard bow. Amidships, there is no
recognizable super structure. In the vessel's stern, her rudder stands up in the
sand. This wreck has been picked pretty clean, but she still produces an
occasional porthole, lobsters, some small brass artifacts, and lots of anchors.
The anchors, from private fishing boats, get caught in the net that is draped
over part of the wreck and must then be cut out.
In
July of 1989, Rick Schwarz and I dove the Duke. I was swimming along her port
side when I saw a round flat rim sticking out of the mud. I pulled on it and
felt around it. It was hinged to a solid swing plate. My imagination ran a
little wild. I thought I had found an intact port hole. Visibility by now was
only inches due to the kicked up sediment. I pulled as hard as I could, and the
port hole slid out of the mud. Quickly dragging it away from the poor
visibility, I found that my prized artifact was not a port hole as I had hoped,
but rather a worthless toilet seat and cover. You can't win them all.
I received the following
e-mail from Gary DuBois. "I can offer your a lot more information since my
grandfather Joseph Dowd, 1900 –
1974 (an ex navy mine sweeper captain) was the captain of her when she sunk.
While she was sinking they lost communications and my grandfather ordered the
men to abandon the ship. However, he stayed aboard and used the ships lights
to signal an SOS. Out of the night came the US Coast Guard cutter “Lake
Pontchartrain”
and all aboard were rescued. My grand father wrote a poem about the event on
his way back to Brooklyn that my brother still has to this day. Later that
evening after getting much needed rest, he made it to his bowling league'.
Gary also reports that the Duke cast of the barge she was towing before
sinking. Gary promises additional information on the Duke which I will post as
it arrives.
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The
Edwin Duke is a tug boat wreck. This wreck lies one mile northeast of the Stone
Barge in about 52 feet of water. Her super structure is completely gutted, but
her remains attract good amounts of black fish during the summer months.
