Delaware
Passenger Steamer · United States · Lost 1898 · The New Jersey Coast
A coastal passenger steamer burned off the New Jersey shore in July 1898 and abandoned to the sea.
Become Captain of RecordSee Shipwreck on Map
The Vessel and Her Loss
Delaware was an iron coastal steamer carrying passengers and freight out of New York. On 9 July 1898 fire took hold in her cargo off the New Jersey shore. Those aboard left in the boats and were picked up, while the burning steamer settled off Barnegat. Salvors later worked the wreck, and her broken remains are still visited by divers.
Vessel
- 1880
- Not established
- Not established
- Iron
- Not established
- Not established
- Not established
- Steam, single screw
- Not established
Loss
- July 9, 1898
- Fire
- Off Barnegat, New Jersey
- Atlantic Ocean off New Jersey
- New York
- General freight
- Not established
- Reports differ on whether any lives were lost during the abandonment.
- Not established
The Wreck Today
- Not established
- Broken remains on a sand bottom.
- Not established
- Not established
- Not established
Position
- 39.75° N 74.05° W
- Reported, unconfirmed
- Barnegat, New Jersey
Position given for the reported wreck area off Barnegat; not verified in the sources reviewed.
Evidence
Overall confidence: Partially documented (60/100)
Whether any lives were lost, and the extent of the surviving structure, are not settled in the sources reviewed.
New Jersey Maritime Museum
Vessel history, fire, present state of the wreck.
Contemporary New York and Philadelphia newspaper accounts, July 1898
Date, fire, abandonment and rescue.
