AH-WR-1358

Kirk Pride

Cargo Ship · United States · Lost 1976 · Cuba & the Greater Antilles

A Cayman-linked freighter that sank without loss of life and rolled nearly 800 feet down the sheer Cayman Wall.

Become Captain of Record

Artistic recreation based on recorded historical documents. See the documented evidence.

Interpretive Reconstruction, drawn to convey the vessel's era, type and general form. See the documented evidence.

The Vessel and Her Loss

Kirk Pride was a small Tampa-based freighter long associated with trade in the Cayman Islands. In January 1976, while awaiting engine repairs in George Town harbor, she was moved out to deeper water ahead of an approaching storm when her engines failed, and she was driven onto a reef and lost over the edge of the Cayman Wall. No lives were lost. She was rediscovered resting at extreme depth in 1985.

Vessel

Built: 1947
Builder: Not established
Yard: Not established
Material: Steel
Length: 170 ft
Beam: Not established
Tonnage: 498
Propulsion: Diesel, single screw
Owners: Kirkconnell Shipping Co.

Loss

Date: January 9, 1976
Cause: Mechanical failure
Location: Off George Town, Grand Cayman
Water: Caribbean Sea
Voyage: Not established
Cargo: Cement and a Volkswagen automobile
Aboard: 11
Lives lost: 0
Master: William Kirkconnell

The Wreck Today

Depth: 780 ft
Condition: Rolled down the steep Cayman Wall slope after sinking and came to rest trapped between two rock pinnacles.
Orientation: Not established
Discovered: 1985
Protection: Not established