The Marie Celeste - Shipwreck Diving Bermuda
The Marie Celeste. There’s a name to conjure with. Marie Celeste was a Confederate Civil War blockade runner and,
by all accounts, was a very successful one. Records prove
that she made at least five successful trips past the Federal
blockade squadrons. She was a steam-driven side-wheeler
and one of the swiftest ships in her class. She left port in Bermuda
on September 14th, 1864, bound for Wilmington,
North Carolina, with a cargo of meat, rifles and ammunition. She made swiftly through the channel toward the open sea,
but hadn’t been under way long when the first officer informed
the pilot, a Bermudian by the name of John Virgin,
that he could see breakers ahead. Virgin informed him that
he knew “every rock here as well as I know my own house.”
The words were barely out of his mouth when the ship
smashed into the reef. She went down, bow first, in a matter
of minutes. The ship’s cook went down with her. He had gone
down to his cabin to fetch some personal belongings and
never made it back.
Marie Celeste lies in 50 feet of water just 600 yards off the south coast. Although the wreck has deteriorated over the years, it still offers a great many excellent underwater photographic opportunities. Parts of the wheelhouse are still discernible. The bow section, engine and the hubs of her paddle wheels, especially the one on her starboard side which is standing upright, are all visible.
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