Alanthus
Cargo Steamship · United States · Lost Early-to-mid 1920s, part of the mass scrapping and abandonment of the 'Ghost Fleet' · Chesapeake Bay
A wartime-emergency wooden cargo steamer that ended its brief life abandoned in Maryland's Mallows Bay Ghost Fleet.
Become Captain of RecordSee Shipwreck on Map
The Vessel and Her Loss
Alanthus was one of the standardized wooden steam cargo ships built under the Emergency Fleet Corporation's crash World War I shipbuilding program. Like many of its sister ships, it was completed after the armistice and never carried wartime cargo. Declared surplus, it was sold for scrap and towed to Mallows Bay on the Potomac River, where it was stripped and abandoned.
Vessel
- 1919
- Not established
- Not established
- Wood
- 281 ft
- 46 ft
- 3500
- Steam, single screw
- U.S. Shipping Board Emergency Fleet Corporation
Loss
- Early-to-mid 1920s, part of the mass scrapping and abandonment of the 'Ghost Fleet'
- Intentional sinking
- Mallows Bay, Potomac River, Maryland
- Potomac River / Chesapeake Bay
- Not established
- Not established
- Not established
- Not established
- Not established
The Wreck Today
- Not established
- Deteriorated wooden hull remains, partly exposed at low tide
- Not established
- Not established
- Within Mallows Bay-Widewater National Marine Sanctuary
Position
- 38.55° N 77.24° W
- Approximate position
- Mallows Bay, Charles County, Maryland
Approximate location within Mallows Bay ship graveyard.
Evidence
Overall confidence: Sparsely documented (50/100)
Exact loss date and individual construction details for this hull are not established in the sources reviewed.
NOAA Mallows Bay-Widewater National Marine Sanctuary
Class history, construction program, and site significance.
