AH-WR-0781

SS Gypsum Prince

Freighter · United Kingdom · Lost 1942 · Delaware Bay & the Approaches

A British freighter sunk in a blacked-out wartime collision near the mouth of Delaware Bay in 1942, then demolished as a hazard to shipping.

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Artistic recreation based on recorded historical documents.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

Gypsum Prince was a British steam freighter that collided with the tanker Voco off the Delaware coast in March 1942, a period when ships ran without lights because of the U-boat threat. Six men were lost. The wreck was later blown up because it endangered navigation near the Cape Henlopen breakwater, and it now lies broken apart, a regularly dived site at the approaches to Delaware Bay.

Vessel

Built: 1927
Builder: Not established
Yard: England
Material: Steel
Length: 347 ft
Beam: 52 ft
Tonnage: 3915
Propulsion: Steam, single screw
Owners: Not established

Loss

Date: March 5, 1942
Cause: Collision
Location: Near the Cape Henlopen breakwater, at the mouth of Delaware Bay
Water: Delaware Bay approaches, Atlantic Ocean
Voyage: Not established
Cargo: Not established
Aboard: Not established
Lives lost: 6
Master: Not established

The Wreck Today

Depth: 70-80
Condition: Torn apart, having been deliberately demolished with explosives in August 1942 as a hazard to navigation
Orientation: Not established
Discovered: Not established
Protection: Not established

Position

Coordinates: 38.80° N 75.09° W
Accuracy: General area only
Nearest: Cape Henlopen, Delaware / Cape May, New Jersey approaches
Region: Delaware Bay & the Approaches

General area only: coordinate of Cape Henlopen from the USGS Geographic Names Information System, marking the named place of loss recorded for this vessel (lost near the Cape Henlopen breakwater), not a surveyed wreck position.