AH-WR-1261

Cristobal Colon

Ocean Liner · Spain · Lost 1936 · Bermuda

The largest wreck in Bermuda's waters, a luxury Spanish liner wrecked on the reef and stripped bare by islanders overnight.

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Artistic recreation based on recorded historical documents.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

Built in 1923, the Cristobal Colon was one of the most advanced liners of her day. On October 25, 1936, steaming without passengers toward Mexico, her captain mistook a communications tower for Gibbs Hill Lighthouse and ran her onto the reef near North Rock at 15 knots. No lives were lost, but the huge hull became a magnet for months of local looting before commercial salvage and later wartime bombing practice reduced her to scattered wreckage.

Vessel

Built: 1923
Builder: Sociedad Espanola de Construccion Naval
Yard: Spain
Material: Steel
Length: 499 ft
Beam: 61 ft
Tonnage: 10000
Propulsion: Steam turbines, twin screw
Owners: Compania Transatlantica Espanola

Loss

Date: October 25, 1936
Cause: Navigational error
Location: Reef east of North Rock, approximately 8 miles north of Bermuda
Water: Atlantic Ocean, Bermuda reef platform
Voyage: Cardiff, Wales → Veracruz, Mexico
Cargo: Not established
Aboard: 160
Lives lost: 0
Master: Crescencio Navarro Delgado

The Wreck Today

Depth: 15-60
Condition: Broken and flattened, scattered across roughly 100,000 square feet of seabed
Orientation: Not established
Discovered: Not established
Protection: Historic wreck site, Bermuda