AH-WR-0346

RMS Fort Victoria

Passenger Steamship · United Kingdom · Lost 1929 · The New Jersey Coast

A Bermuda-bound liner was rammed at anchor in fog off Sandy Hook, then dynamited a year later because her sunken hull blocked the harbor's main shipping channel.

Become Captain of Record See Shipwreck on Map

Artistic recreation based on recorded historical documents.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

Documented Likeness. Drawn from surviving builder's plans or clear photographs of this vessel. See the documented evidence.

The Vessel and Her Loss

Fort Victoria, originally launched in 1912 as the Australian liner Willochra, was carrying passengers from New York to Bermuda when she anchored in heavy fog off Sandy Hook on 18 December 1929. The liner Algonquin struck her, and though all 434 aboard were rescued, Fort Victoria sank in Ambrose Channel. Because her hull blocked the busy shipping lane, she was demolished with 25 tons of dynamite in 1930.

Vessel

Built: 1912
Builder: William Beardmore & Company
Yard: Dalmuir, Scotland
Material: Steel
Length: 411.7 ft
Beam: 56.7 ft
Tonnage: 7784
Propulsion: Steam, twin screw
Owners: Bermuda & West Indies Steamship Co (Furness Withy)

Loss

Date: December 18, 1929
Cause: Collision
Location: About 4 miles east of Sandy Hook, New Jersey, Ambrose Channel
Water: New York Bay approaches
Voyage: New York → Hamilton, Bermuda
Cargo: Not established
Aboard: 434
Lives lost: 0
Master: A.R. Francis

The Wreck Today

Depth: 50 ft
Condition: Demolished with 25 tons of dynamite in 1930 to clear the shipping channel; largely buried in sand
Orientation: Not established
Discovered: Not established
Protection: Not established