Shipwreck · Bimini, Bahamas
Sapona
A concrete steamship of the World War I Emergency Fleet, built by the Liberty Shipbuilding Company in Wilmington, North Carolina, and launched in 1919 as Old North State. Miami Beach developer Carl Fisher bought her in 1924 and sold her to Bruce Bethel, who brought her to Bimini to store liquor during Prohibition. A hurricane in 1926 drove her aground at Barnett Harbour, south of South Bimini, and broke off her stern, and she was left where she lay. She was used as a bombing target in World War II. Only the forward part of the hull still stands above the water, in 15 to 20 ft (5 to 6 m), and she is reached only by boat: a popular snorkeling and dive site, known locally as the Ghost Ship. Local accounts add that Henry Ford designed her, that Fisher ran her as a casino, and that Flight 19, the five Navy torpedo bombers lost on 5 December 1945, had just made practice runs on her; none of these is confirmed.
Open in the viewer from By boat at the Sapona →
Quick facts
| Type | Shipwreck, concrete steamship |
|---|---|
| Lost | 1926 |
| Built | 1919 |
| Position | 25.6507°N, 79.2933°W (approximate, ±30 m) |
| From By boat at the Sapona | 350 m (1,148 ft), bearing 135° SE |
| Source | Satellite imagery; OpenStreetMap; Wikipedia (SS Sapona) |
How to see it
Above water and inside the horizon from By boat at the Sapona, 350 m (1,148 ft) away, so on a clear day it can be seen from there, and CoastFinder puts a label on it.
Further reading: SS Sapona on Wikipedia.
On the website for now. This shipwreck is in the web viewer first. The CoastFinder app covers the North Carolina coast today; follow @coastfinderapp to hear when more coasts arrive.
Nearby
- Gun Cay LighthouseLighthouse · 8.5 km
- Great Isaac LighthouseLighthouse · 47 km
- Pinder's Point LighthouseLighthouse · 109 km
- Whale Point LighthouseLighthouse · 13.1 m · 152 km
- GulfstateShipwreck · 169 km
- Paradise Island LighthouseLighthouse · 19.2 m · 205 km
Not for navigation. Positions and depths come from public charts and records, with their sources named above; they are for looking, not for piloting a boat.