AH-WR-0324

Benzonia

Steamship · United States · Lost Abandoned and scuttled in the Mallows Bay Ghost Fleet in the 1920s-1930s. · Chesapeake Bay

A wooden World War I emergency steamship left to rot at Mallows Bay after the war made her obsolete before she saw much service.

Become Captain of Record See Shipwreck on Map

Artistic recreation based on recorded historical documents.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

Benzonia was one of the wooden steamships rushed into construction under the World War I Emergency Fleet Corporation program, intended to replace tonnage lost to German submarines. The war ended before many such ships saw meaningful service, and Benzonia was among the vessels towed to Mallows Bay on the Potomac River for disposal. Salvage attempts to burn and strip the hulls for scrap metal largely failed, leaving her wooden frames as part of the Ghost Fleet.

Vessel

Built: 1918
Builder: Not established
Yard: Not established
Material: Wood
Length: Not established
Beam: Not established
Tonnage: Not established
Propulsion: Steam
Owners: U.S. Shipping Board Emergency Fleet Corporation

Loss

Date: Abandoned and scuttled in the Mallows Bay Ghost Fleet in the 1920s-1930s.
Cause: Intentional sinking
Location: Mallows Bay, Potomac River, Chesapeake Bay watershed
Water: Chesapeake Bay
Voyage: Not established
Cargo: Not established
Aboard: Not established
Lives lost: Not established
Master: Not established