Delaware Bay & the Approaches
The narrow way to Philadelphia
A long bay funnels ocean traffic toward Philadelphia through shoal-lined channels and heavy shipping.
Everything bound for Philadelphia and Wilmington passed the Delaware Capes, and the bay narrows into dredged channels with shoals close on either hand. Fog and winter gales caught vessels waiting for pilots off the capes, and the density of traffic made collision common in the confined channel. In both world wars submarines worked the approaches, and losses off the capes include wartime sinkings.
Loading chart…
Records in These Waters
AvailableCharles Dennis
AH-WR-1010Fourteen Foot Bank, Delaware Bay
1859 · Schooner
AvailableEllen Holgate
AH-WR-0320Delaware Bay approaches
Date not established · Schooner
AvailableEnoch Turley
AH-WR-0617Cape Henlopen, Delaware
1889 · Pilot Schooner
AvailableF.D. Hodgkins
AH-WR-0618Cape Henlopen, Delaware
1884 · Three-Masted Schooner
RegisteredFaithful Steward
AH-WR-0110Indian River Inlet, Delaware
1785 · Merchant Sailing Ship
AvailableFannie A. Baily
AH-WR-2031Wildwood, New Jersey
1883 · Schooner
Historical ListingHMS DeBraak
AH-WR-0319Cape Henlopen, Delaware
1798 · Naval Sloop-Of-War
Historical ListingHMS Merlin
AH-WR-1008Fort Mercer, Red Bank, New Jersey, Delaware River
1777 · Sloop-Of-War
AvailableJ. & L. Bryan
AH-WR-0622Fourteen Foot Bank, Delaware Bay
1889 · Coal Schooner
AvailableJ. Henry Edmunds
AH-WR-0481Cape Henlopen, Delaware
1928 · Pilot Schooner
AvailableJohn
AH-WR-0480Cohansey River entrance, Delaware Bay, New Jersey
1797 · Merchant Ship
AvailableJohn R. Williams
AH-WR-1009Cape May, New Jersey, entrance to Delaware Bay
1942 · Steam Tug
AvailableJoseph C. Cuneo
AH-WR-0482Lewes, Delaware
1919 · Steamship
AvailableKate E. Morse
AH-WR-0621Fourteen Foot Bank, Delaware Bay
1889 · Coal Schooner
AvailableM/V Twin Capes
AH-WR-0860Del-Jersey-Land Inshore Reef, off Lewes, Delaware
2018 · Vehicle-Passenger Ferry · 120 ft deep
AvailableNorthern Pacific
AH-WR-0227Cape Henlopen, Delaware
1922 · Passenger Steamship · 140 to 160 feet deep
AvailablePoet
AH-WR-2020Cape May, New Jersey
1980 · Cargo Ship
AvailablePoseidon
AH-WR-2019Cape May, New Jersey
1918 · Freighter
AvailableRed Wing
AH-WR-0620Indian River Inlet, Delaware
1891 · Fishing Schooner
AvailableRoosevelt Inlet Shipwreck
AH-WR-0112Lewes, Delaware
Believed lost in the second half of the 18th century, based on artifact dating. · Merchant Sailing Vessel
AvailableSarah B. Lawrence
AH-WR-0483Hen and Chicken Shoal, Cape Henlopen, Delaware
1910 · Schooner
AvailableSingleton Palmer
AH-WR-2034Cape May, New Jersey
1921 · Schooner
AvailableSS City of Athens
AH-WR-0862Offshore approaches to Delaware Bay / Cape May, New Jersey
1918 · Passenger-Freighter · 110 ft deep
AvailableSS Gypsum Prince
AH-WR-0781Cape Henlopen, Delaware / Cape May, New Jersey approaches
1942 · Freighter · 70-80 deep
Historical ListingState of Pennsylvania
AH-WR-0200Wilmington, Delaware
1970 · Steamship · Partially submerged at the dock deep
Historical ListingUSCGC Tamaroa
AH-WR-0861Del-Jersey-Land Inshore Reef, off Cape May, New Jersey
2017 · Fleet Tug / Coast Guard Cutter · 130 ft deep
AvailableUSCS Robert J. Walker
AH-WR-0479Absecon Inlet, New Jersey
1860 · Survey Steamer
Historical ListingUSS Cherokee
AH-WR-0779Fenwick Island, Delaware
1918 · Tugboat · 90-100 deep
Historical ListingUSS Jacob Jones
AH-WR-0228Cape May, New Jersey
1942 · Destroyer
AvailableW.R. Grace
AH-WR-0111Cape Henlopen State Park, Delaware
1889 · Sailing Cargo Ship · 23 ft deep
AvailableWalter F. Parker
AH-WR-0623Fourteen Foot Bank, Delaware Bay
1889 · Coal Schooner
AvailableWinneconne
AH-WR-0619Cape May, New Jersey
1918 · Steam Freighter
