AH-WR-2020

Poet

Cargo Ship · Lost 1980 · Delaware Bay & the Approaches

The grain ship Poet, a former WWII troop transport, vanished with all thirty-four crew after leaving Philadelphia for Egypt in October 1980.

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Artistic recreation based on recorded historical documents.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

Built at Richmond, California, in 1944 as the troop transport General Omar Bundy, the 523-foot Poet was later converted to a cargo ship. She left Philadelphia for Port Said with 13,500 tons of corn under Captain Leroy Warren and was last heard from on October 24, 1980. She disappeared with all thirty-four crew and is believed to have sunk in a gale off the Mid-Atlantic coast.

Vessel

Built: 1944
Builder: Not established
Yard: Richmond, California
Material: Steel
Length: 522.8 ft
Beam: 71.5 ft
Tonnage: Not established
Propulsion: Steam (screw)
Owners: Not established

Loss

Date: October 24, 1980
Cause: Not established
Location: Atlantic Ocean, east of Cape Henlopen
Water: Atlantic Ocean
Voyage: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania → Port Said, Egypt
Cargo: Corn (13,500 tons)
Aboard: Not established
Lives lost: 34
Master: Leroy Warren

The Wreck Today

Depth: Not established
Condition: Not established
Orientation: Not established
Discovered: Not established
Protection: Not established

Position

Coordinates: Not established
Accuracy: Position not established
Nearest: Cape May, New Jersey
Region: Delaware Bay & the Approaches

No pin: the museum describes its positions as approximations.

Evidence

Overall confidence: Partially documented (65/100)

Based on the New Jersey Maritime Museum's shipwreck database, compiled from newspapers, Life-Saving Service reports and books; those original records were not independently inspected.

New Jersey Maritime Museum — Shipwreck Database
Museum's compiled data sheet for this loss (dimensions, owner, master, voyage, crew, cargo, cause, lives lost).
U.S. Coast Guard Marine Board of Investigation — SS Poet (Report 16732/11486)
Official report of the disappearance after departure from Cape Henlopen on 24 October 1980 with loss of life.