Vamar
Freighter · Panama · Lost 1942 · The Gulf of Mexico
A former British gunboat and Antarctic expedition ship that ended her days as a lumber steamer wrecked off Mexico Beach.
Become Captain of RecordSee Shipwreck on Map
The Vessel and Her Loss
Built in England in 1919 as the Admiralty gunboat HMS Kilmarnock, the vessel later became the freighter Chelsea and, renamed Eleanor Bolling, served as a supply ship for Admiral Richard Byrd's first Antarctic expedition in 1928. Sold again and renamed Vamar, she was carrying lumber from Port St. Joe, Florida, when she ran aground and capsized off Mexico Beach on March 21, 1942. Local rumors of sabotage tied to wartime shipping disputes were never substantiated. The wreck is now a Florida Underwater Archaeological Preserve.
Vessel
- 1919
- Smiths Dock Company
- Middlesbrough, England
- Iron
- 170 ft
- 30 ft
- 598
- Steam, triple expansion, single screw
- Vamar Shipping Company; later Bolivar-Atlantic Navigation Company
Loss
- March 21, 1942
- Grounding
- Gulf of Mexico off Mexico Beach, Florida
- Gulf of Mexico
- Port St. Joe, Florida → Cuba
- Lumber
- Not established
- Not established
- Not established
The Wreck Today
- Not established
- Not established
- Not established
- Not established
- Florida Underwater Archaeological Preserve; listed on the National Register of Historic Places
Position
- 29.899° N 85.463° W
- Surveyed position
- Mexico Beach, Florida
Evidence
Overall confidence: Documented (85/100)
The cause of the grounding, described locally as suspicious, is not conclusively established in the sources reviewed.
Florida Division of Historical Resources, Museums in the Sea
Build history, Antarctic expedition service, and name changes.
National Register of Historic Places Registration Form, Vamar Shipwreck Site
Loss date, location, dimensions, and preserve status.
