AH-WR-0614

SS City of Vera Cruz

Passenger And Cargo Steamship · United States · Lost 1880 · Florida's Atlantic Coast

One of the deadliest wrecks on Florida's Atlantic coast, a New York-Veracruz steamer that broke apart in an 1880 hurricane with dozens of lives lost near Cape Canaveral.

Become Captain of Record See Shipwreck on Map

Artistic recreation based on recorded historical documents.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

City of Vera Cruz was a steamship carrying passengers and cargo from New York toward Veracruz, Mexico, when a powerful hurricane struck the Florida coast in late August 1880. The storm broke the ship apart between Matanzas Inlet and Cape Canaveral, throwing passengers and crew into violent surf; only a handful survived after more than twenty hours in the water. Sixty-seven bodies were buried in a mass grave near the wreck site by local residents. The wreck was located around 1980 by treasure hunters and was later salvaged commercially.

Vessel

Built: Not established
Builder: Not established
Yard: Not established
Material: Wood
Length: Not established
Beam: Not established
Tonnage: Not established
Propulsion: Steam
Owners: Not established

Loss

Date: August 29, 1880
Cause: Storm
Location: Off Mosquito Inlet, between Matanzas Inlet and Cape Canaveral, Florida
Water: Atlantic Ocean
Voyage: New York → Veracruz, Mexico
Cargo: Not established
Aboard: Not established
Lives lost: 68
Master: Not established

The Wreck Today

Depth: Not established
Condition: Broken apart and salvaged over time
Orientation: Not established
Discovered: circa 1980
Protection: Not established

Position

Coordinates: 29.07° N 80.92° W
Accuracy: General area only
Nearest: Cape Canaveral, Florida
Region: Florida's Atlantic Coast

General area only: coordinate of Mosquito Inlet, historically named in the loss record and now charted as Ponce de Leon Inlet, from the USGS Geographic Names Information System, marking the named place of loss, not a surveyed wreck position.