By Kevin Shea | For NJ.com
Many areas off the east coasts of the United States and Canada claim their shipwrecks to be the "Graveyard of the Atlantic," including many writers from New Jersey.
With anywhere from 4,000 to over 7,000 documented shipwrecks, the wrecks in the ocean waters off the Garden State continue to fascinate historians, readers and the scuba divers who explore them.
And the sea continues to yield them: in 2014 and 2015, post Superstorm Sandy replenishment work led to the discoveries of two buried shipwreck sites.
Here are the 11 deadliest wrecks, culled from numerous sources, notably the New Jersey Maritime Museum in Beach Haven, which opened its archives to NJ Advance Media.
11. The RP Resor
Lives Lost: 48
Torpedoed by a German U-boat on Feb. 28, 1942, the oil tanker built in Kearny burned for two days and sank 30 miles east of Barnegat Light while being towed ashore. She sits in 125 feet of water and Atlantic Divers calls the Resor, "By far, the most spectacular wreck off the coast for advanced divers."
Explorers can examine the 6-inch foyer deck gun at the stern or search the bridge and bow for lobsters and artifacts, the site says.
10. U-869
Lives Lost: 55
The German submarine is listed as being destroyed by the U.S. Navy on Feb. 11, 1945. The dates that dazzle divers and historians, though, are in 1991 and 1992, when she was discovered and eventually identified by divers John Chatteron, of New Jersey, and Richie Kohler. The sub sits in about 240 feet of water 65 miles off Point Pleasant.
The discovery was the subject of the bestselling book, "Shadow Divers: The True Adventure of Two Americans Who Risked Everything to Solve One of the Last Mysteries of World War II."
9. Cornelius Hargrave / Vizcaya collision
Lives Lost: 69
On Oct. 30, 1890, the southbound Spanish liner Vizcaya was struck by the Cornelius Hargrave and both went down in the Atlantic about 8 miles off the shores of Barnegat Light. All the dead were on the Vizcaya, many who were from Cuba and heading home. Divers continue to find artifacts and belongings from passengers today.
8. SS Saale
Lives Lost: 80 to 99
The Saale, a German ocean liner, burned and sank during the 1900 Hoboken Docks Fire, which damaged over two dozen ships and crafts, and killed hundreds on the water and land. The Saale, though, suffered the largest loss of life. The liner was cut from its moorings and sank in the water near Liberty Island.
The Saale was eventually re-floated, repaired and carried passengers for over 20 years under different names.
U.S. Navy file photo
7. USS Jacob Jones (DD-130)
Lives Lost: 90
The Jacob Jones was a Navy destroyer felled Feb. 28, 1942 by a U-boat torpedo off Cape May during Word War II, which had a day before circled the wreck of the RP Resor (on this list) looking for survivors. About 25 to 30 men survived the Jacob Jones explosion and sinking, but only 11 made it to shore alive.
The Jacob Jones sits in 110-feet of water and can be explored by scuba divers, but they are warned not to take anything as it’s a protected military site, and live ordinance remains at the site, according to njwreckdivers.com.
Photo of Sandy Hook by Andrew Mills, The Star-Ledger
6. The Castle Del Key
Lives Lost: 132
Records about the Castle Del Key are old and vary a bit when it comes to details, but they all say that the privateer with 18 guns and a crew of 145 wrecked on a Sandy Hook shoal battling gale winds during a frigid storm Dec. 19, 1705.
Capt. Otto Van Tyle went down with the ship, and only 13 men survived.
Associated Press file photo
5. SS Morro Castle
Lives Lost: 137
The Morro Castle is perhaps the most well-known maritime disaster at the Jersey Shore since her demise was witnessed by so many. The ocean liner was northbound in the Atlantic heading for New York when it caught fire Sept. 8, 1934 off Long Beach Island. The stricken ship made it to Asbury Park, where she beached and burned in the surf as massive crowds formed.
The 508-foot Morro Castle bobbed in the water for months before being towed away and scrapped.
4. USS Turner (DD-648)
Lives Lost: 138
The Turner was U.S. Navy destroyer, also lost during World War II, but not from enemy fire. The Turner was anchored off the coast of Sandy Hook Jan. 3, 1944 when onboard explosions rocketed through the vessel. Some sailors escaped and were rescued at sea. Shortly before 8:30 a.m., the Turner finally went under, taking 15 officers and 123 crew with her.
A Navy video posted on YouTube shows the military trying to salvage the ship. A chain breaks, though, shortly after it appears above the surface, and it settles back to the ocean floor.
File photo
3. HMS Mermaid
Lives Lost: 150
Not many records exist of the HMS Mermaid, but those that do all say the British warship was chased ashore in Egg Harbor during the American Revolution in March of 1779, with a death toll of 150.
In this photo, tall ships re-enact a British battle against American forces off Fort Ontario, Oswego, N.Y.
The New Era anchor at the Church of St. Andrew by the Sea in Allenhurst. (File photo
2. The New Era
Lives Lost: 220 to 284
The New Era was a packet ship making its maiden voyage transporting German emigrants across the Atlantic to New York when tragedy struck in 1854. First, about 40 passengers died of cholera. Then the ship ran aground on Nov. 13, 1854 on what was then known as Deal Beach - present day Asbury Park.
The numerous historical accounts of the wreck describe a harrowing, chaotic scene: men, women and children, unable to speak English, first trapped in the battered ship, then attempting to swim ashore as it the vessel went down as would-be rescuers watched from land, unable to help.
Rumors and legend have surrounded the New Era ever since, with stories of a boy on the beach finding a handful of diamonds in the pocket of a victim, gold coins surfacing on the sands years later and even tales of bodies being unearthed at local cemeteries in search of coins sewn into passengers' clothes.
A anchor from the New Era, raised in 1999, stands as a memorial outside the Church of St. Andrew by the Sea in Allenhurst.
Photo courtesy of the New Jersey Maritime Museum
1. The Powhattan
Lives Lost: 311 to 365
The Powhattan, or Powhatan, was also a packet ship - named for their original purpose of transporting mail back and forth from England to the colonies and later freight and passengers.
And it was also carrying mainly German emigrants to New York, but had left from France. It ran aground on April 15, 1854 off Long Beach Island at what was then known as the Barnegat Shoals - at present day 10th and 11th streets in Surf City. The next day, it sank.
Victims washed up and down the coast, as far south as Atlantic City, and were buried in three cemeteries in the area, including Smithville Methodist Church, where a memorial still stands to the victims.
Kevin Shea may be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter@kevintshea. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
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