AH-WR-0061

Georges Valentine

Sailing Vessel · Italy · Lost 1904 · Florida's Atlantic Coast

An iron-hulled steamer built in England in 1869, wrecked in an 1904 storm just off Florida's Gilbert's Bar House of Refuge.

Become Captain of Record See Shipwreck on Map

Artistic recreation based on recorded historical documents.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

Georges Valentine began life in 1869 as the iron-hulled steamer Cape Clear, built in England for the Liverpool-to-Australia trade, and passed through several owners and names over three decades. In 1904, while sailing under her final Italian ownership, she was driven ashore in a storm near Stuart, Florida, close to the Gilbert's Bar House of Refuge. Her remains lie in shallow water just offshore. The site is preserved as one of Florida's Underwater Archaeological Preserves.

Vessel

Built: 1869
Builder: Bowdler, Chaffer & Co.
Yard: Wallasey, England
Material: Iron
Length: Not established
Beam: Not established
Tonnage: 767
Propulsion: Screw steamer with auxiliary sail
Owners: S. Myers & Co. (as Cape Clear); later French and Italian owners

Loss

Date: January 1, 1904
Cause: Storm
Location: Off Gilbert's Bar House of Refuge, Stuart, Florida
Water: Atlantic Ocean
Voyage: Not established
Cargo: Not established
Aboard: Not established
Lives lost: Not established
Master: Not established

The Wreck Today

Depth: Not established
Condition: Remains lie close to shore in shallow water.
Orientation: Not established
Discovered: Not established
Protection: Florida Underwater Archaeological Preserve; National Register of Historic Places