AH-WR-0698

Almirante

Passenger Freighter · United States · Lost 1918 · The New Jersey Coast

Known to divers as the 'Flour Wreck,' this United Fruit liner sank off Atlantic City in 1918 after a night collision with a Navy tanker.

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Artistic recreation based on recorded historical documents. See the documented evidence.

Historically Reconstructed. Drawn from partial documentation of this vessel together with her known class and configuration. See the documented evidence.

The Vessel and Her Loss

The Almirante was a United Fruit Company passenger freighter en route to Panama when the 15,000-ton Navy tanker Hisko rammed her in fog and heavy seas. She sank within four minutes, but prompt rescue kept the loss of life to five out of 105 aboard. The mess of foam that washed ashore afterward gave the site its enduring local nickname, the Flour Wreck.

Vessel

Built: 1909
Builder: Not established
Yard: Ireland
Material: Steel
Length: 378 ft
Beam: 50 ft
Tonnage: 3121
Propulsion: Steam, single screw
Owners: United Fruit Company

Loss

Date: September 6, 1918
Cause: Collision
Location: Off Atlantic City, New Jersey
Water: Atlantic Ocean
Voyage: New York → Colon, Panama
Cargo: Fruit and general cargo, including 26 sacks of mail
Aboard: 105
Lives lost: 5
Master: Not established

The Wreck Today

Depth: 70 ft
Condition: Mostly rubble; twice demolished by wire-dragging (1938, 1950) and further broken up by wartime depth charges after being mistaken for a U-boat
Orientation: Not established
Discovered: Not established
Protection: Not established

Position

Coordinates: 39.36° N 74.42° W
Accuracy: General area only
Nearest: Atlantic City, New Jersey
Region: The New Jersey Coast

General area only: coordinate of Atlantic City, New Jersey from the USGS Geographic Names Information System, marking the named place of loss recorded for this vessel, not a surveyed wreck position.