AH-WR-1775

Bluefields

Freighter · Nicaragua · Lost 1942 · The Outer Banks

Bluefields sank during the attack on convoy KS-520 off Cape Hatteras in 1942; all twenty-four aboard survived.

Become Captain of Record See Shipwreck on Map

Artistic recreation based on recorded historical documents.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

Interpretive Reconstruction, drawn to convey the vessel's era, type and general form. See the documented evidence.

The Vessel and Her Loss

Bluefields was built at Manitowoc, Wisconsin, in 1917, originally named Motor I and renamed Lake Mohonk after Shipping Board requisition. After returning to private interests, she sailed as Astmahco III, Ormidale and Jupiter before becoming Bluefields under Nicaraguan ownership in 1941. She carried supplies in wartime merchant service and joined convoy KS-520 on its Norfolk–Key West leg of a New York–Havana voyage. U-576 torpedoed her on July 15, 1942; she sank within minutes, but all twenty-four aboard survived. NOAA documents the upright hull in 750 feet of water near the attacking submarine’s wreck.

Vessel

Built: 1917
Builder: Manitowoc Shipbuilding Co.
Yard: Manitowoc, Wisconsin
Material: Steel
Length: 250.5 ft
Beam: 43 ft
Tonnage: 2,063 gross tons
Propulsion: Two diesel engines, dual shafts and two screws
Owners: United States Shipping Board; subsequent private operators; Nicaraguan Garcia company at loss (company-name variants appear in NOAA sources)

Loss

Date: July 15, 1942
Cause: Enemy action
Location: About 30 miles off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina
Water: Atlantic Ocean
Voyage: New York, New York (whole voyage); Norfolk, Virginia (convoy leg) → Havana, Cuba (whole voyage); Key West, Florida (convoy leg)
Cargo: Two cars, radio, empty burlap bags, and drums of carbide and oil
Aboard: 24
Lives lost: 0
Master: Not established

The Wreck Today

Depth: 750 ft
Condition: Steel hull appears intact from keel to main deck; cargo hatch forward and another aft of the central deckhouse; masts and cargo booms lie fallen on the deck.
Orientation: Upright on keel; bow north-northeast (NOAA nomination survey description)
Discovered: Not established
Protection: NOAA records an October 2015 National Register nomination; current listing status not asserted here.

Position

Coordinates: 34.76° N 75.50° W
Accuracy: Approximate position
Nearest: Cape Hatteras, North Carolina
Region: The Outer Banks

NOAA publishes decimal and sexagesimal positions with side-scan and high-resolution multibeam documentation; deep offshore battlefield site, not a harbor wreck. Published NOAA wreck-site point retained; page does not certify positional uncertainty or datum, so displayed as approximate rather than accuracy-certified.

Evidence

Overall confidence: Well documented (92/100)

WWI operational contribution and naval commissioning are not established. NOAA sources differ on hull number, dimensions and former-name spelling; the disclosed website dimensions are used. Artwork is interpretive.

NOAA — Monitor National Marine Sanctuary
Construction and dimensions, former names and service, cargo and completed loss, survivors, full historical narrative and current site description; survey coordinates, depth and imagery. Registry-port labels and unresolved naming/route particulars distinguished.
NOAA — U-576 and Bluefields National Register nomination, October 19, 2015
Detailed original Motor I identity, Astmahco spelling, service chronology, limited evidence for WWI operations, documented WWII supply service, New York–Havana whole voyage, convoy leg, Spry/Icarus rescue, upright survey description; conflicts in hull numbers and dimensional figures disclosed.