SS ''Benwood'' was a

steam Steam is a substance containing water in the gas phase, and sometimes also an aerosol of liquid water droplets, or air. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporizat ...

cargo ship of the early twentieth century. Built by Craig, Taylor & Co Ltd.,

Stockton on Tees Stockton-on-Tees, often simply referred to as Stockton, is a market town in the Borough of Stockton-on-Tees in County Durham, England. It is on the northern banks of the River Tees, part of the Teesside built-up area. The town had an estimated ...

, she entered service with Joseph Hoult & Co. Ltd,

Liverpool Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...

. She passed through several owners, before being lost in a collision off the coast of

Key Largo Key Largo ( es, Cayo Largo) is an island in the upper Florida Keys archipelago and is the largest section of the keys, at long. It is one of the northernmost of the Florida Keys in Monroe County, and the northernmost of the keys connected b ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, a ...

in 1942. Her wreck is now a popular dive site.

Loss

The Norwegian merchant freighter ''Benwood'' (360'x51') was under the command of Captain Torbjørn Skjelbred on the night of 9 April 1942. She was on a routine voyage from

Tampa Bay Tampa Bay is a large natural harbor and shallow estuary connected to the Gulf of Mexico on the west-central coast of Florida, comprising Hillsborough Bay, McKay Bay, Old Tampa Bay, Middle Tampa Bay, and Lower Tampa Bay. The largest freshwater ...

Norfolk, Virginia Norfolk ( ) is an independent city (United States), independent city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. Incorporated in 1705, it had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 cen ...

carrying a load of

phosphate rock Phosphorite, phosphate rock or rock phosphate is a non-detrital sedimentary rock that contains high amounts of phosphate minerals. The phosphate content of phosphorite (or grade of phosphate rock) varies greatly, from 4% to 20% phosphorus pentoxi ...

. That same evening, the ''Robert C. Tuttle'' (544'x70') was en route to Atreco, Texas, under the command of Captain Martin Johansen. Due to the threat of attack by German

U-boat U-boats were naval submarines operated by Germany, particularly in the First and Second World Wars. Although at times they were efficient fleet weapons against enemy naval warships, they were most effectively used in an economic warfare ro ...

s in the area, the two ships were completely blacked out, each keeping the Florida coastal lights three miles abeam (''Benwood'') and one and a half miles abeam (''Robert C. Tuttle''). It is reported that at 12:45 a.m. the ''Robert C. Tuttle'' sighted a black object ahead of the ship and turned starboard after signaling "I intend to turn starboard." with one blow of the ship's whistle. There was no response from the other ship. At 12:50 a.m., the ''Benwood'' reported to have sighted a black object off her starboard. She sounded the ship's whistle twice indicating, "I intend to turn port." There was no response. It is believed that the two ships were now unwittingly on a collision course with each other. Just before the collision, Captain Skjelbred made last-minute efforts to avoid the ''Robert C. Tuttle'' by ordering the engine full astern (fastest reverse). Moments later, the bow of the ''Benwood'' punched into the ''Robert C. Tuttle'' just aft of the port side bow, above the waterline. This caused the bow of the ''Benwood'' to collapse upon itself. The ''Benwood'' began taking on water at a brisk rate. Captain Skjelbred turned hard for shore, attempting to save the ship by grounding, but some time between 1:10 and 2:00 a.m. was forced to abandon ship. The ''Benwood'' came to rest stern-to on a sandy slope in approximately to of water between Dixie Shoals (to the north) and

French Reef French Reef is a coral reef located within the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. It lies 11 km southeast of Key Largo, within the Key Largo Existing Management Area, which is immediately to the east of John Pennekamp Coral Reef State ...

(to the south) off of

Key Largo, Florida Key Largo is a census-designated place in Monroe County, Florida, United States, located on the island of Key Largo in the upper Florida Keys. The population was 12,447 at the 2020 census. The name comes from the Spanish ''Cayo Largo'', or "lo ...

After the sinking

On 10 April 1942, the crew of the

salvage tug A salvage tug, known also historically as a wrecking tug, is a specialized type of tugboat that is used to rescue ships that are in distress or in danger of sinking, or to salvage ships that have already sunk or run aground. Overview Few tugbo ...

''Willet'' examined the wreck and determined that the

keel The keel is the bottom-most longitudinal structural element on a vessel. On some sailboats, it may have a hydrodynamic and counterbalancing purpose, as well. As the laying down of the keel is the initial step in the construction of a ship, in B ...

of the ''Benwood'' was broken, and she was a total loss. However, her superstructure and cargo of

appear to have been salvaged. Her stern section, once considered a hazard to navigation, seems to have been mostly obliterated by explosions of an unknown type. This salvaging on the ship over the years prompted

John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park is a Florida State Park located on Key Largo in Florida. It includes approximately 70 nautical square miles (240 km²) of adjacent Atlantic Ocean waters. The park is approximately 25 miles in length ...

to form a protection program in 1959 to prevent further damage to the historical wreckage. Today, the ''Benwood'' is a protected resource under the

Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary The Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary is a U.S. National Marine Sanctuary in the Florida Keys. It includes the Florida Reef, the only barrier coral reef in North America and the third-largest coral barrier reef in the world. It also has ...

, which was formed in 1975. Since her sinking, the Benwood has become an

artificial reef An artificial reef is a human-created underwater structure, typically built to promote marine life in areas with a generally featureless bottom, to control erosion, block ship passage, block the use of trawling nets, or improve surfing S ...

, providing the only high-profile reef in the immediate vicinity. She is popular with recreational dives, particularly as a

night dive Night diving is underwater diving done during the hours of darkness. It frequently refers specifically to recreational diving which takes place in darkness. The diver can experience a different underwater environment at night, because many marin ...

site. She lies in 55 feet of sea water with hull plates found in the sand around the perimeter.

Gallery

File:Yellow Snapper on Benwood Wreck, Key Largo (15458961361).jpg,

Goatfish The goatfishes are perciform fish of the family Mullidae. The family is also sometimes referred to as the red mullets, which also refers more narrowly to the genus '' Mullus''. The family name and the English common name mullet derived from Lat ...

on Benwood wreck File:Gorgonian Sea Fan on Benwood Wreck, Key Largo (15275421520).jpg, ''

Gorgonia flabellum ''Gorgonia flabellum'', also known as the Venus fan, Venus sea fan, West Indian sea fan, and purple gorgonian seafan, is a species of sea fan, a sessile colonial soft coral. Description The Venus sea fan is a delicate-looking colonial soft cor ...

'' on Benwood wreck File:Christmas Tree Worm on Brain Coral (15275508568).jpg,

Christmas tree worm ''Spirobranchus giganteus'', commonly known as the Christmas tree worm, is a tube-building polychaete worm belonging to the family Serpulidae. Anatomy and morphology Both its common and Latin names refer to the two chromatically hued spiral s ...

brain coral Brain coral is a common name given to various corals in the families Mussidae and Merulinidae, so called due to their generally spheroid shape and grooved surface which resembles a brain. Each head of coral is formed by a colony of geneticall ...

File:Gruntfish on the Benwood Wreck, Key Largo (15275388739).jpg, Grunts File:Soft coral on Benwood Wreck, Key Largo (15275380849).jpg,

Soft coral Alcyonacea, or soft corals, are an order of corals. In addition to the fleshy soft corals, the order Alcyonacea now contains all species previously known as "gorgonian corals", that produce a more or less hard skeleton, though quite different f ...

Citations

References

External links