AH-WR-1264

Constellation

Schooner · United States · Lost 1943 · Bermuda

A wartime cargo schooner wrecked on the Western Blue Cut reef in 1943 with a cargo of medicinal ampoules later linked to the novel and film 'The Deep'.

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Artistic recreation based on recorded historical documents.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

Launched in 1918 as the schooling ship Sally Persis Noyes, the four-masted wooden schooner was later renamed Constellation and pressed into wartime cargo service. On July 31, 1943, while diverted to Bermuda for repairs during a voyage from New York to Venezuela, she was driven onto the Western Blue Cut reef and became a total loss. Her cargo of cement, cosmetics, medicinal ampoules and whiskey was partly salvaged, and the wreck's scattered cargo later became famous through Peter Benchley's novel 'The Deep'.

Vessel

Built: 1918
Builder: Frye Flinn Co.
Yard: Harrington, Maine
Material: Wood
Length: 192 ft
Beam: Not established
Tonnage: Not established
Propulsion: Sail, four masts
Owners: Intercontinental Steamship Lines of New York (at time of loss)

Loss

Date: July 31, 1943
Cause: Grounding
Location: Western Blue Cut reef, northwest of Bermuda
Water: Atlantic Ocean, Bermuda reef platform
Voyage: New York → La Guaira, Venezuela
Cargo: Cement, building materials, medicinal drug ampoules, cosmetics, and Scotch whisky
Aboard: Not established
Lives lost: 0
Master: Captain Neavers

The Wreck Today

Depth: 30 ft
Condition: Broken hull with cargo of cement sacks and general goods scattered on the seabed.
Orientation: Not established
Discovered: Not established
Protection: Part of the Bermuda Shipwreck Certificate Program