AH-WR-0613

SS Commodore

Steam Tug / Gun-Running Steamer · United States · Lost 1897 · Florida's Atlantic Coast

A gun-running steamer that sank off Daytona Beach in 1897, an event immortalized by crewman Stephen Crane's short story 'The Open Boat.'

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Artistic recreation based on recorded historical documents.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

Commodore was a small steam tug converted to run arms to Cuban insurgents fighting Spanish rule. On her final voyage from Jacksonville, she was damaged crossing the St. Johns River bar, and a resulting leak sank her about sixteen miles off Ponce de Leon (Mosquito) Inlet on January 2, 1897. Passenger and correspondent Stephen Crane was among the survivors who spent over a day adrift in a small dinghy, an ordeal he later turned into the classic short story 'The Open Boat.' One crewman, oiler Billie Higgins, drowned when the dinghy overturned in the surf near shore. The presumed wreck site off Ponce Inlet was located by a diver in 1985 and later studied archaeologically.

Vessel

Built: 1882
Builder: Not established
Yard: Not established
Material: Wood
Length: 122.5 ft
Beam: 21 ft
Tonnage: 178
Propulsion: Steam, single screw
Owners: Not established

Loss

Date: January 2, 1897
Cause: Mechanical failure
Location: Approximately 16 miles southeast of Mosquito (Ponce de Leon) Inlet, off Daytona Beach, Florida
Water: Atlantic Ocean
Voyage: Jacksonville, Florida → Cuba (gun-running voyage in support of Cuban insurgents)
Cargo: Rifles and ammunition for Cuban revolutionaries
Aboard: 28
Lives lost: 1
Master: Edward Murphy

The Wreck Today

Depth: 70 ft
Condition: Engine, shaft, propeller, and boiler visible on a sand and shell bottom
Orientation: Not established
Discovered: 1985
Protection: Not established

Position

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

General area only: coordinate of Mosquito (Ponce de Leon) Inlet from the USGS Geographic Names Information System, marking the named reference point of loss recorded for this vessel, not a surveyed wreck position.

Evidence

Overall confidence: Documented (82/100)

The wreck site located off Ponce Inlet is a strong but not universally certain match for Commodore; a precise surveyed position for this record was not confirmed.