AH-WR-0708

Chaparra

Freighter · Cuba · Lost 1918 · The New Jersey Coast

A Cuban freighter sunk by a German mine off Barnegat in the closing weeks of the First World War.

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Artistic recreation based on recorded historical documents.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

Chaparra, formerly the British-built Tinhow, was a Cuban-flagged freighter that struck a mine laid by the German submarine U-117 off Barnegat, New Jersey, in October 1918, days before the war's end. Six of her 29 crew were lost. The same minefield also claimed the freighter San Saba. She now lies on her port side, flattened but still offering visible boilers and engine machinery for divers.

Vessel

Built: 1906
Builder: Not established
Yard: Scotland
Material: Steel
Length: 249 ft
Beam: 38 ft
Tonnage: 1510
Propulsion: Steam, single screw
Owners: Not established

Loss

Date: October 27, 1918
Cause: Enemy action
Location: Off Barnegat, New Jersey
Water: Atlantic Ocean
Voyage: Not established
Cargo: Not established
Aboard: 29
Lives lost: 6
Master: Not established

The Wreck Today

Depth: 80 ft
Condition: Lying on her port side, flattened, with boilers and engine still visible under fallen hull plates
Orientation: Not established
Discovered: Not established
Protection: Not established

Position

Coordinates: 39.75° N 74.22° W
Accuracy: General area only
Nearest: Barnegat, New Jersey
Region: The New Jersey Coast

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