SS Ocean Venus
Freighter · United Kingdom · Lost 1942 · Florida's Atlantic Coast
A brand-new British Liberty ship torpedoed on her maiden voyage off Cape Canaveral, now a popular dive site nicknamed the "Lead Wreck."
Become Captain of RecordSee Shipwreck on Map
The Vessel and Her Loss
Ocean Venus was a British-flagged, American-built emergency cargo ship on her maiden delivery voyage from the Pacific coast toward the United Kingdom, carrying a mixed cargo that included 4,000 tons of lead, when U-564 torpedoed her off Cape Canaveral on 3 May 1942. Her heavy lead cargo later gave rise to the diver nickname "Lead Wreck." The wreck today lies roughly 17 miles off Port Canaveral and is a well-known dive and fishing site with a large upright boiler.
Vessel
- 1942
- Permanente Metals Corporation
- Richmond, California
- Steel
- 441 ft
- 57 ft
- 7174
- Steam, triple-expansion, single screw
- John Morrison & Son, Newcastle-upon-Tyne (Ministry of War Transport)
Loss
- May 3, 1942
- Enemy action
- About 17 miles off Cape Canaveral, Florida (near Port Canaveral)
- Atlantic Ocean
- Union Bay, Vancouver (via Colón, Panama) → Halifax, then the United Kingdom
- 9,450 tons including 4,000 tons of lead, 4,000 tons of timber, 1,000 tons of canned herring, and 80 tons of acetone
- 47
- Not established
- John Park
The Wreck Today
- 70 ft
- Debris field spread roughly 400 by 150 feet, with an upright, prominent boiler.
- Not established
- Not established
- Not established
Position
- 28.39° N 80.29° W
- Approximate position
- Port Canaveral, Florida
Position reported by a dive-industry source (wreckwiki.com) as 28°23.391'N, 80°17.324'W.
Evidence
Overall confidence: Partially documented (68/100)
Number of survivors and lives lost in the sinking are not established in the sources reviewed.
Eric Wiberg (maritime historian)
Voyage details, cargo, dimensions, attacker, master's name.
Position, ship-class background, dive-site details.
Depth, distance from Port Canaveral, description of debris field.
