The Adonis (Dual Wrecks) Shipwreck New Jersey's (Wreck Valley)

The Adonis (Dual Wrecks) Shipwreck New Jersey's (Wreck Valley)

Historical and current New Jersey Shipwreck Information and images for scuba divers and fisherman.

Capt. Dan Berg's Wreck Valley Collection

ADONIS

DIRECTIONS: (Long Branch, Monmouth County)
Take the Garden State Parkway to Exit 105 East. Take Rt 36 to the end and turn right on Ocean Ave. Drive south for 2.5 miles, you will see a red church on the right. The retreat house is opposite the church. Note that parking may be a little tricky. I have parked in the dirt lot behind the retreat house on several occasions and have never had a problem. Please remember that this is not public property and divers should use manners, courtesy and good common sense when diving in the area.

Unfortunately in 1995a group of divers did not use common courtesy. They not only were load and left garbage at the site but bad mouthed the property owners. Since then parking has not been allowed.

CONDITIONS:
The Adonis was built in Bremen, Germany in 1853, and displaced 550 gross tons. She was owned by F. Best & Company and valued at $20,000. The Adonis was en-route from Newcastle, England to New York, and under the command of Captain Bosse when she struck the beach at 11:00 PM during a heavy fog on March 8, 1859. The wood hulled vessel was carrying a cargo of 124 grindstones, 600 lead ingots, 39casks of ground flint, 100 casks alkali, 501 casks of soda, 170 casks of powder, 130 casks of carb soda, 200 casks V. red and 500 kegs C. soda. Her entire crew was taken off by rescuers from lifesaving station number four. The wrecking schooners Ring old and Nora were dispatched to the scene. Steam pumps were fitted into the vessels hold to try to reduce the water and re-float the Adonis but these efforts were soon abandoned due to rough weather. On March18th of the same year the vessel broke up in the pounding surf. In the 1960'sdivers recovered over 300 of the lead ingots she was carrying. Each weighed 115pounds and had the name Locke Blackett & Co. embossed into them. These early divers also found grindstones ranging in size from two feet to six feet in diameter.

This wreck coupled with the wreck of the Rusland, which ran aground on the same spot in 1877 and now sits at a right angle to the Adonis, are more commonly known as the Dual Wrecks.

Today divers can easily navigate to the Dual Wrecks. All that's left of the Adonis are low lying wood ribs. Still visible are the remaining five and six foot diameter grindstones and occasionally a diver can recover brass spikes from the site. Howard Rothweiler reports that by digging in the sand just inshore of the grindstones he has located some of her cargo barrels. One barrel contains what appeared to be red dye. The wrecks sits in 25 feet of water and are one of the more interesting beach dives in the area.

Photo Above: Divers with Howard Rothweiler who displays a dead eye he recovered from the Adonis shipwreck. Photo Courtesy Dan Berg.

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The most comprehensive, accurate, illustrated collection of information, photographs, sketches and stories ever written about the shipwrecks that lie off Long Island, New York and New Jersey.

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The original Wreck Valley book was published back in 1986. At the time it was not only the first but the only book for area divers that detailed local shipwreck history and dive conditions. Capt. Dan's 2nd edition was printed in 1990 and became the most popular of his shipwreck publications. Wreck Valley III is a completely new update, expanded and enhanced edition of the Wreck Valley books. Wreck Valley's 3rd edition covers the history, legend, present condition, aquatic life, and pertinent dive information on over 140 shipwrecks. This text includes over 550 illustrations, comprised of over 400 color photographs, 111 black and white historical photographs, 35 sketches, 20 side scan sonar images and nine 3D underwater shipwreck illustrations. Capt. Dan completely changed the books format and design to accommodate all of the research and images collected in 30 years of local shipwreck diving. The collection of historical photographs alone would take years of archive research to locate and would cost a small fortune if purchased separately. Many of these rare images have never before been published. Wreck Valley III includes a GPS list of accurate artificial reef and shipwreck locations. Divers, fisherman, marine historians, armchair sailors or anyone with a general interest in history, diving or the sea will surely find this book informative, fascinating, and the perfect addition to their library.

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This is the most comprehensive, accurate, illustrated collection of information, photographs, sketches and stories ever written about the wrecks that lie off the Long Island, New York, and New Jersey shores. This ebook is a completely new updated, expanded and enhanced edition of Daniel Berg's original Wreck Valley book. Wreck Valley Vol II covers the history, legend, present condition, aquatic life and pertinent dive information on over 90 shipwrecks. This text includes over 265 illustrations comprised of 137 color photographs, 97 black and white historical images, 32 sketches, plus one map. The collection of historical photographs alone would take years of archive research to locate and would cost a small fortune if purchased separately. Many of these rare photographs have never before been published. Divers, fisherman, marine historians, armchair sailors or anyone with a general interest in history, diving or the sea will surely find this ebook informative, fascinating and the perfect addition to their library.

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