AH-WR-0044

SS Carolina

Passenger Steamer · United States · Lost 1918 · The New Jersey Coast

A passenger liner shelled and sunk by a German U-boat off New Jersey in 1918, one of several ships lost that day to the same raider.

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Artistic recreation based on recorded historical documents.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

Built in 1896 as La Grande Duchesse, the steamer was renamed Carolina and carried passengers between New York and the Caribbean for decades. On 2 June 1918, German submarine U-151 stopped the ship far off the New Jersey coast, allowed those aboard to take to lifeboats, and shelled the vessel until it sank. The attack was part of a single day in which U-151 sank several ships along the mid-Atlantic coast, briefly bringing the war to American shores.

Vessel

Built: 1896
Builder: Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company
Yard: Newport News, Virginia
Material: Steel
Length: 380 ft
Beam: 47 ft
Tonnage: 5017
Propulsion: Steam, twin screw
Owners: Clyde Steamship Company (New York and Puerto Rico service)

Loss

Date: June 2, 1918
Cause: Enemy action
Location: About 100 miles off the New Jersey coast
Water: Atlantic Ocean
Voyage: San Juan, Puerto Rico → New York
Cargo: Not established
Aboard: 330
Lives lost: 13
Master: Not established

The Wreck Today

Depth: 250 ft
Condition: Broken and scattered on the seabed
Orientation: Not established
Discovered: Not established
Protection: Not established

Position

Coordinates: 39.00° N 73.47° W
Accuracy: Reported, unconfirmed
Nearest: Off the New Jersey coast
Region: The New Jersey Coast

Position stated in a 1995 U.S. District Court (District of New Jersey) admiralty arrest warrant for the wreck, describing the site as within one nautical mile of 39d00'00"N, 73d28'00"W; recorded by a salvor rather than a government survey agency.