Lofthus 1898
Marker: recorded wreck position (Steam era).
Key facts
| Name | Lofthus | Wikidata label |
|---|---|---|
| Year lost | 1898 | Wikidata P793 significant event, point-in-time qualifier |
| Era | Steam era | derived from year |
| Ship type | barque | Wikidata P31 instance of |
| Cause of loss | Storm or weather | Keyword match in English Wikipedia lead sentence |
| Nationality / flag | United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Norway | Wikidata P8047 country of registry |
| Sea / ocean | Straits of Florida | Natural Earth marine areas (public domain), point-in-polygon |
| Nearest coast | United States | Natural Earth (public domain); approx. 1 km from land |
| Position | 26.5628, -80.0383 | Wikidata P625 coordinate location (CC0) |
About the wreck
The Lofthus (also known as the Cashmere) is a Norwegian shipwreck (which sank in 1898) near Boynton Beach, Florida, United States. Built in 1868 in Sunderland, England by T.R. Oswald, the 222-foot iron-hulled vessel was originally christened Cashmere and rigged as a three masted barque. She was painted with false gunports to ward off Sumatran and Javanese pirates. After a career in the East Indian trade Cashmere was sold to a Norwegian firm, renamed Lofthus, and used in the American trade. On February 4, 1898, the Lofthaus wrecked in a storm en route to Buenos Aires, Argentina from Pensacola, Florida. The crew of 16 men, as well as the ship's cat and dog were rescued by the passing vessel Three Friends, which was smuggling guns to Cuba. The ship, however, was declared a loss as it could not be removed from the shallow reef. The cargo, primarily lumber, was salvaged and brought ashore by locals and reportedly used to build homes in the Boynton Beach area.
The wreck of the Lofthus is located approximately three-quarters of a mile north of the Boynton Inlet and 175 yards offshore from Manalapan.
Location
- Recorded position: 26.5628, -80.0383 (Wikidata P625 coordinate location (CC0); may be approximate)
- Sea / ocean: Straits of Florida
- Nearest coast: United States
Wreck positions on this site are for interest only and are not for navigation. Many wrecks are war graves or legally protected: never disturb human remains or remove artefacts, and check local law before diving.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Lofthus (shipwreck) (revision 1373482642), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; condensed by selecting paragraphs and trimming at sentence boundaries; citations and formatting removed. No text added. This excerpt is available under the same licence.
Wreck facts from Wikidata (CC0).
Nearby wrecks
- SS Copenhagen (1898) 1900 · 40 km
- Half Moon 1930 · 93 km
- Urca de Lima 1715 · 108 km
- HMS Fowey 120 km
- USCGC Duane 1987 · 176 km
- San José y Las Animas 1733 · 185 km
Browse more: North America wrecks · wrecks off United States · Straits of Florida · Steam era