Georges Valentine (shipwreck)
| Career (UK) |  |
|---|---|
| Name: | Cape Clear |
| Owner: | S. Myers & Co., Liverpool |
| Port of registry: | Liverpool |
| Route: | UK to Australia |
| Builder: | Bowdler, Chaffer & Co., Liverpool, England |
| Launched: | 1869 |
| In service: | 1870 |
| Out of service: | 1889 |
| Fate: | Sold, 1889 |
| Career (France) |  |
| Name: | Georges Valentine |
| In service: | 1889 |
| Out of service: | 1895 |
| Status: | Sold, 1895 |
| Career (Italy) | .svg.png){kind=small} |
| Name: | Georges Valentine |
| Owner: | Mortolo & Simonetti, Genoa |
| In service: | 1895 |
| Homeport: | Camogli |
| Fate: | Wrecked, 16 October 1904 |
| General characteristics [1] | |
| Tonnage: | 882 GRT |
| Length: | 189 ft 7 in (57.79 m) |
| Beam: | 31 ft 2 in (9.50 m) |
| Depth: | 20 ft 5 in (6.22 m) |
|
Georges Valentine Shipwreck Site | |
|
Florida Underwater Archaeological Preserve #11 | |
 | |
  | |
| Location | Hutchinson Island, Florida, Florida USA |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 27°11′55.8″N 80°9′49.8″W / 27.198833°N 80.163833°WCoordinates: 27°11′55.8″N 80°9′49.8″W / 27.198833°N 80.163833°W |
| Built | 1869 |
| Governing body | Florida Department of Environmental Protection |
| NRHP Reference # | 06000619[2] |
| FUAP # | 11 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | July 19, 2006[2] |
| Designated FUAP | 2006[3] |
The Georges Valentine Shipwreck Site is the site of the historic shipwreck of an Italian barkentine[3] off the coast of Hutchinson Island in Martin County, Florida, with the nearest landmark being the House of Refuge at Gilbert's Bar.
The iron-hulled barque was built in Liverpool, England in 1869 by Bowdler Chaffer & Company for S. Meyers & Company. Originally christened Cape Clear with Lloyd's of London in 1870, she started her career as a screw steamboat with auxiliary sail carrying passengers on the Australia - Liverpool run. She was purchased by a French firm based in Bordeaux in 1889, re-christened Georges Valentine and turned into a sailing bark by being stripped of all steam machinery except the boiler. Rigged as a three-masted barkentine, she was then sold to a firm based in Dunkirk, northern France. In 1895, she was sold to Mortolo & Simonetti, based in Genoa, Italy. She was based in Camogli, northern Italy and transported lumber regularly from Pensacola, Florida to South America.
In October 1904, the Georges Valentine, with a crew of twelve men commanded by Captain Prospero Mortolo, sailed with a load of milled mahogany from Pensacola bound for Buenos Aires. On October 13, 1904 the ship sighted Havana, Cuba, but she later hit a storm in the Florida Straits and was blown up the Atlantic coast of Florida where on October 16, 1904, despite her crew's attempts to keep her in deeper water, she ran aground in shallow water and wrecked off Hutchinson Island near Gilbert's Bar. Five crew members perished. Their bodies were not recovered. The seven survivors found refuge at the House of Refuge just 100 yards from the wreck site, where the House of Refuge's keeper, Captain William E. Rea, rendered aid to them.[3][4]
On July 19, 2006, the Georges Valentine Shipwreck Site was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.[2] On October 16, 2006, it became the eleventh Florida Underwater Archaeological Preserve.[3][5]
References
- ↑ "Lloyd's Register of Shipping". archive.org. 1896–97. Retrieved 1 July 2013.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Weekly List Of Actions Taken On Properties: 7/17/06 through 7/21/06 at National Register of Historic Places
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 The State We're In - Official Newsletter Of The Florida Department Of State, Volume 10, October 2006
- ↑ "Georges Valentine Underwater Archaeological Preserve" (PDF). Florida Division of Historical Resources. 2013. Retrieved 1 July 2013.
- ↑ The Underwater Archaeological Preserves
External links
Media related to Georges Valentine (shipwreck) at Wikimedia Commons
- Report to Florida Historical Commission, Bureau of Archaeological Research October 20, 2005 (pdf)
- Museums in the Sea: Georges Valentine
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