Nantucket Shoals 1976
Marker: recorded wreck position (Modern).
Key facts
| Name | Nantucket Shoals | Wikidata label |
|---|---|---|
| Year lost | 1976 | Wikidata P793 significant event, point-in-time qualifier |
| Era | Modern | derived from year |
| Ship type | shoal, char | Wikidata P31 instance of |
| Sea / ocean | North Atlantic Ocean | Natural Earth marine areas (public domain), point-in-polygon |
| Nearest coast | United States | Natural Earth (public domain); approx. 51 km from land |
| Position | 41.0330, -69.4500 | Wikidata P793 significant event, coordinate qualifier (CC0) |
About the wreck
Nantucket Shoals is an area of dangerously shallow water in the Atlantic Ocean that extends from Nantucket Island, Massachusetts, eastward for 23 miles (37 km) and southeastward for 40 miles (64 km); in places water depth can be as shallow as 3 feet (0.91 m). Depth soundings are unpredictable due to the constant change caused by strong currents, which are rotary rather than reversing. The shoals lie just off of a major transatlantic shipping lane. Mariners have regarded them as among the most hazardous waters off the U.S. coast since at least the 1840s. Numerous ships have been wrecked here, most recently and notably the oil tanker Argo Merchant in December 1976. Until 1983, the edge of the shoals was guarded by the Nantucket Lightship.
Location
- Recorded position: 41.0330, -69.4500 (Wikidata P793 significant event, coordinate qualifier (CC0); may be approximate)
- Sea / ocean: North Atlantic Ocean
- 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 Nantucket Shoals (revision 1378375497), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; condensed by selecting paragraphs; citations and formatting removed. No text added. This excerpt is available under the same licence.
Wreck facts from Wikidata (CC0).
Nearby wrecks
- United States lightship LV-117 48 km
- SS Andrea Doria 1956 · 69 km
- SS Pendleton 75 km
- U-550 1944 · 101 km
- SS City of Columbus 123 km
- HMS Somerset 1778 · 123 km
Browse more: North America wrecks · wrecks off United States · North Atlantic Ocean · Modern