View source for SS Atlantus

{{Short description|Early twentieth-century concrete ship}}
{{Redirect|Atlantus|the figure in Greek mythology|Cercopes}}
{{Distinguish|Atlantis}}
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|Ship image=Atlantus1926.jpg
|Ship caption=SS ''Atlantus'' the day she ran aground, 8 June 1926
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{{Infobox ship career
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| Ship country=United States
| Ship flag= {{USN flag|1920}} 
| Ship name=SS ''Atlantus''
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| Ship builder=Liberty Ship Building Company, [[Brunswick, Georgia]]
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| Ship laid down=March 1918<ref name="Orlando Evening Star 18 Mar 1918">{{cite news |title=Ten Thousand Ton Concrete Ships Be Built In Brunswick |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/288866190/ |accessdate=30 August 2018 |publisher=Orlando Evening Star (Orlando, Florida) |date=18 Mar 1918 |page=1}}</ref>
| Ship launched=5 December 1918
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| Ship in service=1919
| Ship out of service=1920
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| Ship fate=Wrecked, 8 June 1926
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| Ship type= [[Concrete ship|Concrete]] [[cargo ship]]
| Ship tonnage={{GRT|2,391}}
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| Ship length= {{Convert|79.2|m|ftin|abbr=on}} [[Length between perpendiculars|p/p]] 
| Ship beam= {{Convert|13.3|m|ftin|abbr=on}}
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| Ship draft= {{convert|6.7|m|ft|0|abbr=on}}<ref name=Data/>
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| Ship power= {{convert|1520|ihp|kW|0|abbr=on}}<ref name=Data/>
| Ship propulsion= *2 × coal-fired [[boiler]]s<ref name=Data2>{{cite web|title=S. S. Atlantus - The Crete Fleet|url= https://thecretefleet.com/concrete-ship-blog/f/myth-buster-blog---ss-atlantus-the-legend-and-her-urban-myth|accessdate=13 May 2024}}</ref>
*1 × [[Compound steam engine|Triple expansion steam engine]]<ref name=Data>{{cite web|title=S. S. Atlantus|url= https://www.concreteships.org/ships/ww1/atlantus/ |accessdate=13 May 2024}}</ref>
| Ship speed= {{Convert|10.5|kn|lk=in}} 
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'''SS ''Atlantus''''' is the most famous of the twelve [[concrete ship]]s built by the [[Liberty Ship Building Company]]<ref name="Atlanta Constitution 1919">{{cite news |title=First Concrete Vessel Built on the Atlantic On Initial Trip Monday |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/26922895/ |accessdate=30 August 2018 |issue=25 May 1919 |publisher=The Atlanta Constitution (Atlanta, Georgia) |date=24 May 1919 |page=5 |quote=The steamship Atlantus the first concrete vessel ever to be built on the Atlantic coast and the first under the supervision of the United States shipping board will leave Brunswick Monday on her initial trip to [[Wilmington, Delaware]]. N. C. the headquarters of the Liberty Shipbuilding company builders of the Atlantus. The contract for installing the machinery was then awarded to the American Ship building company in this city (Brunswick).}}</ref> in [[Brunswick, Georgia]], [[United States]], during and after [[World War I]].

The steamer was launched on 5 December 1918, and was the second concrete ship constructed in the [[United States Shipping Board Merchant Fleet Corporation|World War I Emergency Fleet]]. The war had ended a month earlier, and so work on completing her was put on slow. She completed her sea trials (a 400-500 mile trip) and sailed to [[Wilmington, Delaware]] on her maiden voyage on 26 May 1919 for final touches, prior to sailing for New York. The Liberty Ship Building Company had their headquarters in Wilmington. She was built for service between New York and the West Indies.<ref name="Atlanta Constitution 1919" />

The ''Atlantus'' was used to transport American troops back home from Europe and also to transport coal in New England.<ref name="birds">{{cite book|last1=Sutton|first1=Patricia|last2=Sutton|first2=Clay|title=Birds and Birding at Cape May|year=2006 |publisher=Stackpole Books|isbn=9780811731348|pages=241}}</ref> After two years of service, the ship was retired in 1920 to a salvage yard in Virginia.<ref name="Weird NJ"/>

In 1926, Colonel Jesse Rosenfeld purchased the ''Atlantus'' for use in the creation of a ferry dock (for a route now served by the [[Cape May – Lewes Ferry]]) out of her and two of her sister ships.<ref name="Weird NJ">{{cite web|title=S.S. Atlantus: Concrete Ship and Lead Balloon|url=http://weirdnj.com/stories/mystery-history/s-s-atlantus-concrete-ship/|website=Weird N.J.|accessdate=26 January 2016}}</ref> The plan was to dig a channel to the shore where the ''Atlantus'' would be placed, and the other two ships would be placed in a Y formation, creating a slip for a ferry to dock. In March 1926, the groundbreaking ceremonies were held for the construction of the ferry dock. The ''Atlantus'' was repaired and towed to [[Cape May, New Jersey|Cape May]]. On June 8 of the same year, a storm hit and the ship broke free of her moorings and ran aground 150 feet off the coast of [[Sunset Beach (New Jersey)|Sunset Beach]].<ref name="birds"/> Several attempts were made to free the ship, but none were successful.<ref name=boating>{{cite journal|last1=Steele|first1=Randy|title=Durable Goods|journal=Boating|date=February 2006|pages=26}}</ref>

At one time there was a billboard painted on the side of the ship advertising boat insurance.<ref name="concrete ships">{{cite web|title=Death of a Concrete Ship|url=http://www.concreteships.org/ships/ww1/atlantus/death.html|website=concreteships.org|accessdate=8 August 2020}}</ref> Since her sinking, her slowly deteriorating hull has drawn tourists, although little of her is left visible above the water line.<ref name=RSA>{{cite web|title=Crumbling Wreck of a Concrete Ship|url=http://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/6838|website=RoadsideAmerica.com|accessdate=5 October 2015}}</ref> The wreckage is currently split in three pieces. The stern is the most visible section, the middle is completely submerged, and the bow can only be viewed at [[low tide]].

==Gallery==

<gallery mode=packed heights=170>
Concrete ship Atlantus, Cape May Point, N. J.jpg|Postcard c.1940
File:7.23.15AtlantusByLuigiNovi11.jpg|''Atlantus'' in July 2015
</gallery>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{commonscategory|Atlantus (ship, 1919)}}
* {{cite web |url=http://www.concreteships.org/ships/ww1/atlantus/ |title=S.S. Atlantus |work=concreteships.org }}

{{coord|38|56|40|N|74|58|19|W|type:landmark_region:US-NJ|display=title}} 
{{1926 shipwrecks}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Atlantus}}
[[Category:Shipwrecks of the New Jersey coast]]
[[Category:World War I merchant ships of the United States]]
[[Category:Concrete ships]]
[[Category:Ships built in Brunswick, Georgia]]
[[Category:1918 ships]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in 1926]]
[[Category:Tourist attractions in Cape May County, New Jersey]]