Capt. Dan Berg's Wreck Valley Collection   

Shipwreck REPUBLIC

The Republic was a570 foot by 67.8 foot White Star Line steamship. She was built in 1903, weighed15,378 tons and was powered by 1,180 nhp quadruple expansion engines.

Due to dense fog on January 23, 1909, the Italian steamship, Florida, rammed the Republic on her port side. Two passengers were crushed to death immediately. For the first time in maritime history, a wireless was used to summon aid. The R.C. Gresham and the destroyer, Seneca rushed to the disaster site. All remaining passengers and crew were rescued without mishap. The huge hole in the Republic's side was plugged with a make shift collision mat made from canvas. The Republic was then taken in tow by the Gresham, but before reaching shallow water, she sank. The Republic had remained afloat for 39 hours after her collision.

Aside from being the first to use a wireless, the Republic had two other interesting aspects. She was the largest vessel of her day to have sunk, and it is rumored that she was carrying three million dollars in U.S. gold "eagles", worth about one and a half billion dollars today. Apparently, the coins were en route from the U.S Mint to the Bank of France. Although it's not documented as to which ship was used for transportation, we do know that France never received the coins, hence the conclusion by many marine historians and treasure hunters is that the treasure is still aboard the Republic.

In August of 1981,Captain Steve Bielenda of the Research Vessel Wahoo located the Republic's  resting place. She is leaning slightly to her port side in 240 feet of water, 26 miles south of Nantucket.

In 1987, at least three salvage operations attempted to locate the gold. After extensive research and a costly expedition, they failed. Maybe the gold doesn't really exist, or may be it's waiting for the right explorer to solve the mystery.

Remember penetration into any shipwreck should only be done by those with proper training, experience and wreck diving equipment. Scuba equipment like powerful dive lights, navigation reels, dive knives as well as redundant air supply like a pony bottle or doubles are standard gear for wreck divers.

Republic Shipwreck. Courtesy Dan Berg Wreck Valley Collection.		Capt. Steve Bielenda with artifacts from the Republic Shipwreck. Photo by Dan Berg	Capt. Steve Bielenda with artifacts from the Republic Shipwreck. Photo by Dan Berg
Capt. Steve Bielenda with artifacts from the Republic Shipwreck. Photo by Dan Berg	Capt. Steve Bielenda with artifacts from the Republic Shipwreck. Photo by Dan Berg

 

 

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Copyright Capt. Dan Berg / Aqua Explorers Inc

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