In 1901 the brave men of the Ocean City, NJ, U.S. Life-Saving Service were put to the test when the 3,068-ton-, 329-foot, four-masted, steel-hulled bark Sindia was driven ashore by a four day gale that the ship had encountered off the coast of Cape May.
The crew of thirty three, including Captain Allen McKenzie, fought the gale fearlessly until the seventy-mile-per-hour winds and waves drove the Sindia onto to a sand bar off Ocean City and eventually split her hull in two.
The ship, now filling with sand and water, came to rest parallel to 16th and 17th Street. All hands were saved by the U.S.Life-Saving Service. The owners, the principal being oil mogul John D. Rockefeller, sent a salvage crew and security guards immediately to the site.
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It is a long story - you can buy my latest book- Jersey Shore-Vintage Images of Bygone Days ( GlobePequot Press) :) :) to read the entire tale but I will say there was thought to be a solid gold statue of Buddha that was never recovered. In 1991 the Ocean City, NJ beach was replenished by the Army Corps of Engineers and the remains of Sindia now lie under the beach where thousands enjoy the sea every beautiful summer day. A small marker on the boardwalk is the only reminder of the doomed ship and indicates the location to those who stop and take a look.
Got a shovel ???
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Wow all the sail material if that is what it's called is totally ripped off!!! Ship is HUGE!!
ReplyDeleteAs always great photo Emil!!!
I remember watching the last remnants of the Sindia dissolve away summer by summer when I was a kid in the 70's. I skipped my annual trips to Ocean City through most the 80's and by the time I rented a vacation house in the 90's nothing remained...
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