Astron (ship)

Last updated
Punta Cana Astron shipwreck 2.jpg
The Astron shipwreck in 2008
History
NameEsmeralda
OperatorCompagnie Auxiliaire De Navigation [1]
Builder Chantiers de l'Atlantique, Saint-Nazaire, France [1]
Yard numberL17 [1]
Launched1957
Out of service1972
FateAcquired by Pontiac Shipping Co. Ltd 1972 [1]
History
NameBonnie
In service1972 [1]
Out of service1976 [1]
Faterenamed Astron [1]
History
NameAstron
OwnerPontiac Shipping Co. Ltd [1]
Port of registryPanama
In service1976 [1]
Identification IMO number:  5106380 [1]
FateRun aground in off Punta Cana, 7 April 1978 [1]
General characteristics
Type Oil tanker
Tonnage
Length127 m
PropulsionSteam Turbine [1]
Speed16.5 knots (30.6 km/h; 19.0 mph) [1]

Astron (previously named Esmeralda and Bonnie) is a shipwreck located off the coast of Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic. She was a Russian-owned cargo ship built in France by Chantiers de l'Atlantique during 1957. She was 127 metres (417 feet) long, 27,990 gross tons, and was a motor ship. [1] [3]

Astron was delivering 60 tons of corn to Cuba on 7 April 1978, when she ran aground at Punta Cana during a storm. However, there is no hurricane or tropical storm listed during this date in the history of the Atlantic Hurricane season of 1978. [4] This ship either hit a mine, was torpedoed, or intentionally scuttled, evidenced by the extensive ripped steel of the lower hull. [5] She broke into two distinct sections with the bow above the water and the stern underwater, with 7,330 barrels of bunker fuel reported lost in the incident. The wreck is in water 16 metres (52 feet) deep, meaning it can be visited by scuba divers. [3]

As of 2018 only a small portion remains above water.

The Astron shipwreck in 2010 The Astron shipwreck in 2010.JPG
The Astron shipwreck in 2010

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cape Hatteras</span> Cape on the shoreline of Hatteras Island, North Carolina, United States

Cape Hatteras is a cape located at a pronounced bend in Hatteras Island, one of the barrier islands of North Carolina.

SS <i>Atlantic</i> (1870) Transatlantic liner, sank disastrously 1873

SS Atlantic was a transatlantic ocean liner of the White Star Line, and second ship of the Oceanic-class. The ship operated between Liverpool, United Kingdom, and New York City, United States. During the ship's 19th voyage, on 1 April 1873, she struck rocks and sank off the coast of Nova Scotia, Canada, killing at least 535 people. It remained the deadliest civilian maritime disaster in the North Atlantic Ocean until the sinking of SS La Bourgogne on 2 July 1898 and the greatest disaster for the White Star Line prior to the loss of Titanic in April 1912.

RMS <i>Rhone</i> Royal Mail Ship wrecked off Salt Island in the British Virgin Islands in a hurricane

RMS Rhone was a UK Royal Mail Ship owned by the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company (RMSP). She was wrecked off the coast of Salt Island in the British Virgin Islands on 29 October 1867 in a hurricane, killing 123 people. She is now a popular Caribbean wreck dive site.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Punta Cana</span> Resort town in La Altagracia Province, Dominican Republic

Punta Cana is a resort town in the easternmost region of the Dominican Republic. It was politically incorporated as the "Verón–Punta Cana township" in 2006, and it is subject to the municipality of Higüey. According to the 2022 census, this township or district had a population of 138,919 inhabitants.

SS <i>Republic</i> (1853) Sidewheel steamship

SS Republic was a sidewheel steamship, originally named SS Tennessee, lost in a hurricane off the coast of Georgia in October 1865, en route to New Orleans.

HMS <i>Stirling Castle</i> (1679) 17th-century naval gunship

HMS Stirling Castle was a 70-gun third-rate built at Deptford Dockyard, in 1678/79. She was in active commission for the War of the English Succession, fighting in the Battles of Beachy Head and Barfleur. HMS Stirling Castle underwent a rebuild at Chatham Dockyard in 1699. She was in the Cadiz operation in 1702. The ship was wrecked on the Goodwin Sands off Deal on 27 November 1703. The remains are now a Protected Wreck managed by Historic England.

Montana was a paddle steamer that was wrecked off the north coast of Bermuda on 30 December 1863.

Isaac Allerton was a 594-ton American merchant ship that sank in a hurricane 15 nautical miles (28 km) east-southeast of Key West in the Florida Keys near the Saddlebunch Keys on August 28, 1856.

SS <i>Regina</i> (1907) Steel ship that foundered in Lake Huron in a storm

The SS Regina was a cargo ship built for the Merchant Mutual Line and home ported in Montreal, Quebec. Named after Regina, Saskatchewan, Regina had a tonnage of 1,956 gross register tons (GRT) and a crew of 32.

SS <i>Marquette</i> (1881) Wooden-hulled, American Great Lakes freighter

The SS Marquette was a wooden-hulled, American Great Lakes freighter built in 1881, that sank on Lake Superior, five miles east of Michigan Island, Ashland County, Wisconsin, Apostle Islands, United States on October 15, 1903. On the day of February 13, 2008 the remains of the Marquette were listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Cabo Engaño is the easternmost point of the island of Hispaniola, on the territory of the Dominican Republic. Cape Engaño contains dangerous reefs near Santo Domingo. Punta Cana International Airport, the nation's busiest, lies slightly south of the cape.

Soviet cruiser <i>Murmansk</i> (1955) Soviet Sverdlov-class cruiser

Murmansk was a light cruiser project no. 68-bis of the Soviet and later the Russian Navy's Northern Fleet.

SS <i>Vienna</i> (1873) Steamship sunk after a collision in Lake Superior

The SS Vienna was built in 1873 during the era when steamers were built with sail rigging. She had a 19 year career marked with maritime incidents including sinking when she was just three years old. She sank for her final time in fair weather in Whitefish Bay in Lake Superior after she received a mortal blow when she was inexplicably rammed by the steamer Nipigon. Although there were no deaths when the Vienna sank for the last time, more than 100 years later her wreck claimed the lives of 4 scuba divers, the most of all the wrecks in the Whitefish Point Underwater Preserve that now protects her as part of an underwater museum. Her wreck was stripped of artifacts that resulted in the Michigan Department of Natural Resources seizing her artifacts in a raid on the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum in 1992. Her artifacts are now on display in this museum as loan from the State of Michigan.

<i>Hilma Hooker</i> Shipwreck in Bonaire in the Caribbean Netherlands

The Hilma Hooker is a shipwreck in Bonaire in the Caribbean Netherlands. It is a popular wreck diving site.

SS <i>Australasia</i> Defunct wooden-hulled American Great Lakes freighter

Australasia was a wooden-hulled American Great Lakes freighter that served on the Great Lakes of North America between her construction in 1884 to her burning and sinking in 1896. On October 18, 1896, while loaded with coal, the Australasia sank in Lake Michigan near the town of Sevastopol, Door County, Wisconsin, United States, after burning off Cana Island. On July 3, 2013, the wreck of the Australasia was added to the National Register of Historic Places.

SS <i>Hudson</i> (1887) Steel-hulled Great Lakes package freighter

SS Hudson was a steel-hulled package freighter that served on the Great Lakes from her construction in 1887 to her sinking in 1901. On September 16, 1901, while heading across Lake Superior with a cargo of wheat and flax, she ran into a storm and sank with the loss of all 25 crew off Eagle Harbor, Michigan. For nearly 118 years the location of Hudson's wreck remained unknown, until in July 2019 her wreck was found in 825 feet (251 m) of water, completely intact.

SS <i>S.R. Kirby</i> Great Lakes freighter sunk in a 1916 storm on Lake Superior

SS S.R. Kirby was a composite-hulled bulk carrier that served on the Great Lakes of North America from her construction in 1890 to her sinking in 1916. On May 8, 1916, while heading across Lake Superior with a cargo of iron ore and the steel barge George E. Hartnell in tow, she ran into a storm and sank with the loss of all but two of her 22-man crew off Eagle Harbor, Michigan. For over 102 years the location of S.R. Kirby's wreck remained unknown, until June 2018, when her wreck was discovered by the Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society (GLSHS) in 825 feet (251 m) of water, completely broken up.

SS <i>Chester A. Congdon</i> American Great Lakes freighter 1907-1918

SS Chester A. Congdon was a steel-hulled American lake freighter in service between 1907 and 1918. She was built in 1907 by the Chicago Shipbuilding Company of South Chicago, Illinois, for the Holmes Steamship Company, and was intended to be used in the grain trade on the Great Lakes. She entered service on September 19, 1907, when she made her maiden voyage. In 1911, Salt Lake City was sold to the Acme Transit Company. A year later, she was transferred to the Continental Steamship Company, and was renamed Chester A. Congdon, after lawyer and entrepreneur Chester Adgate Congdon. She was involved in several accidents throughout her career.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 "MV Astron (+1978)". wrecksite.eu. The Wreck site. Retrieved 3 January 2012.[ dead link ]
  2. 1 2 "ASTRON". Marine Traffic. Retrieved 4 May 2016.
  3. 1 2 Robson, Rob. "Astron Shipwreck". Rob-Robson.com. Archived from the original on 15 July 2011. Retrieved 28 February 2009.
  4. Lawrence, Miles (1979-01-29). "Atlantic Hurricane Season of 1978" (PDF). National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration . Archived (PDF) from the original on 2022-09-27.
  5. Baker, Christopher (2008-05-01). Dominican Republic . National Geographic. p.  95. ISBN   978-1-4262-0232-2.

18°43′49.79″N68°27′14.27″W / 18.7304972°N 68.4539639°W / 18.7304972; -68.4539639