10 Historic Shipwrecks in New York Waters.

USS San Diego (ACR-6), photographed from the air in San Diego Harbor on March 28, 1916. The armored cruiser sank off Fire Island on July 19, 1918, after striking a German mine. Photo: U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command, NH 92175.

The waters surrounding New York City and Long Island contain the remains of centuries of maritime history. For generations, vessels approaching New York Harbor had to navigate the shifting shoals of the South Shore, the violent currents of Hell Gate, the narrow harbor approaches, and the unpredictable waters of Long Island Sound and the Atlantic.

Some ships were lost to fire or collision. Others struck reefs or sandbars, and during the two world wars, enemy mines and submarines brought destruction directly to the waters off Long Island. Many of these wrecks remain on the seabed today, while others survive mainly through historical records, salvage stories, and the memories of the communities along the shore.

From the General Slocum disaster in the East River to the USS San Diego off Fire Island and the German U-boat attack on the tanker Coimbra, here are 10 historic shipwreck stories from New York City, Long Island Sound, and the Atlantic waters off Long Island.

1. PS General Slocum — 1904

• Location: East River at North Brother Island, the Bronx
• Vessel Type: Wooden sidewheel excursion steamer
• Lives Lost: 1,021

The burning of the General Slocum on June 15, 1904, remains one of the worst disasters in New York City history. The steamer had been chartered by St. Mark’s Evangelical Lutheran Church on the Lower East Side for its annual excursion when fire broke out as the ship traveled up the East River. The disaster exposed catastrophic failures in lifesaving and firefighting equipment. Fire hoses failed, and investigators found that some life preservers were improperly manufactured, including examples with iron bars added to meet weight requirements. The burning vessel eventually reached North Brother Island, but 1,021 people died. Many victims came from the German-American community of Kleindeutschland on the Lower East Side, and the tragedy accelerated the neighborhood’s decline and dispersal.

2. USS San Diego — 1918

• Location: Atlantic Ocean off Fire Island, Long Island
• Vessel Type: U.S. Navy armored cruiser
• Lives Lost: 6 sailors

On July 19, 1918, USS San Diego was traveling from Portsmouth, New Hampshire, toward New York when an explosion tore into the ship below the waterline off Fire Island. Captain Harley H. Christy ordered the crew to abandon ship as the cruiser rapidly took on water and rolled over. Six sailors were lost from a crew of 1,183. For decades, historians debated whether a German torpedo, mine, or sabotage had destroyed the ship. Modern Naval History and Heritage Command research concluded that the cruiser struck a mine laid by the German submarine U-156. The San Diego was the only major U.S. warship lost during World War I. Its overturned wreck remains in roughly 100 to 110 feet of water off Long Island and is protected as a U.S. Navy sunken military craft and war grave.

3. HMS Hussar — 1780

• Location: Hell Gate, East River
• Vessel Type: 28-gun Royal Navy frigate
• Historical Mystery: The legendary lost British payroll

During the American Revolution, HMS Hussar attempted to pass through Hell Gate, one of the most dangerous sections of the East River before 19th-century engineering projects removed many of its submerged rocks. On November 23, 1780, the frigate struck Pot Rock and sank despite Captain Charles Pole’s attempt to save the vessel. The captain and crew escaped, but the loss soon inspired one of New York’s most persistent treasure legends. Stories claimed that the ship carried a British military payroll worth a fortune in gold and silver. No such treasure has ever been confirmed, and surviving Royal Navy court-martial records mention no special payroll cargo. Generations of salvagers nevertheless searched for the wreck. The violent waters that doomed the Hussar would later be transformed by massive blasting projects near what is now the Hell Gate Bridge.

4. SS Oregon — 1886

• Location: Atlantic Ocean off Fire Island
• Vessel Type: Cunard Line iron steamship
• Lives Lost: None among the 845 people recorded aboard

The SS Oregon was one of the fastest Atlantic liners of its era and had held the prestigious Blue Riband for speed. On the morning of March 14, 1886, during the final hours of a voyage from Liverpool to New York, the liner collided with an unidentified schooner off Long Island. The schooner disappeared, while the Oregon remained afloat long enough for an extraordinary rescue. The steamship Fulda, pilot boat Phantom, and schooner Fannie A. Gorham helped remove the passengers and crew before the liner sank. A contemporary Currier & Ives print recorded the rescue of 845 people. The wreck settled off Fire Island and became one of Long Island’s best-known offshore diving and fishing sites.

5. Steamboat Lexington — 1840

• Location: Long Island Sound, off the Long Island shoreline near Eaton’s Neck
• Vessel Type: Wooden paddlewheel steamboat
• Lives Lost: More than 100; only 4 people survived

On January 13, 1840, the steamboat Lexington left New York for Stonington, Connecticut, carrying passengers and a large cargo that included nearly 150 bales of cotton. Several miles off Eaton’s Neck, fire broke out around the smokestack casing and spread into the cotton. Attempts to control the blaze failed, and the vessel became unmanageable in bitter winter weather. Only four people survived the catastrophe, some by clinging for hours to floating cotton bales in the freezing Sound. The disaster became national news and intensified the ongoing debate over federal steamboat-safety regulation, vessel design, emergency preparedness, and the responsibilities of steamship operators. Nathaniel Currier’s dramatic 1840 lithograph of the burning Lexington also became one of the defining early images of American maritime disaster.

6. The Barks Bristol and Mexico — 1836–1837

• Location: Far Rockaway and Hempstead Beach on Long Island’s South Shore
• Vessel Type: Immigrant sailing vessels
• Lives Lost: Nearly 200 across the two disasters, with historical counts varying

Within six weeks during the winter of 1836–1837, two immigrant ships were wrecked along the barrier beaches east of New York Harbor. The Bristol, sailing from Liverpool, broke apart off Far Rockaway on November 21, 1836, with heavy loss of life among its passengers. Then, on January 2, 1837, the bark Mexico stranded on Hempstead Beach near present-day Long Beach during brutal winter weather. Historical accounts record 115 people aboard the Mexico, with only a handful surviving. The bodies recovered from both wrecks were buried on Long Island, where a memorial was later erected. The two disasters became lasting symbols of the dangers faced by immigrant ships approaching New York before organized coastal lifesaving stations and modern navigation systems transformed the shoreline.

7. SS Black Warrior — 1859

• Location: Rockaway Bar off Queens
• Vessel Type: Wooden-hulled sidewheel steamship
• Lives Lost: None

The Black Warrior was approaching New York Harbor in dense fog on February 20, 1859, when it grounded on Rockaway Bar. The ship had carried passengers, cargo, and mail on routes linking New York with New Orleans and Havana. Assisting vessels safely removed everyone aboard and the cargo, and salvors initially believed they could refloat the steamship. Instead, it settled deeper into the sand. After repeated attempts to free it, worsening weather battered the hull until the vessel broke apart. Remains of the Black Warrior still lie off Rockaway Beach and have become a well-known local diving and fishing wreck, preserving a physical reminder of the hazards ships faced at the entrance to New York Harbor.

8. Sloop Mystery — 1887

• Location: Jamaica Bay near Barren Island
• Vessel Type: Shallow-draft pleasure sloop
• Lives Lost: About 23 passengers drowned or were reported missing

The loss of the sloop Mystery on July 10, 1887, turned a summer outing on Jamaica Bay into one of the area’s most painful recreational-boating disasters. A group of Brooklyn families and friends had traveled to Canarsie for an excursion to Ruffle Bar. On the return trip, the heavily loaded Mystery capsized near Barren Island. Contemporary reports described desperate rescue attempts as nearby boats pulled survivors from the water. Historical research into the disaster records about 23 people drowned or missing, including many children from working-class Brooklyn families. The sinking also illustrated the dangers of Jamaica Bay before modern passenger-vessel regulation, dredged navigation channels, radios, and organized marine rescue services.

9. SS Princess Anne — 1920

• Location: Rockaway Shoals off Queens
• Vessel Type: Old Dominion passenger and freight steamship
• Lives Lost: None

On February 6, 1920, the Old Dominion liner Princess Anne was driven onto Rockaway Shoals during a severe Atlantic storm while approaching New York. The vessel carried 32 passengers and more than 70 crew members. Rescue boats and tugs struggled through heavy seas to reach the grounded ship, but they ultimately took the passengers safely ashore. The crew initially remained aboard, hoping the vessel could be saved, before worsening damage forced their evacuation as well. The Princess Anne eventually broke apart, leaving wreckage in the shallow waters off Rockaway. Its story reminds us that a shipwreck did not always have to become a mass-casualty disaster; by the early 20th century, organized lifesaving operations could make the difference between a lost vessel and lost lives.

10. SS Coimbra — 1942

• Location: Atlantic Ocean off the South Shore of Long Island
• Vessel Type: British steam tanker
• Lives Lost: 36

World War II reached the waters off Long Island with terrifying force in January 1942. The British tanker Coimbra had departed the New York area carrying millions of gallons of lubricating oil when the German submarine U-123 attacked on January 15. Two torpedoes struck the tanker, igniting its cargo and creating a fire visible from communities along the Long Island shoreline. Of the 46 people aboard, only 10 survived. The wreck settled in deep water south of Long Island and remained a wartime grave as well as an environmental concern because oil stayed trapped inside the damaged hull. In 2019, a federal and state response removed more than 450,000 gallons of oil from the wreck. The remains of the Coimbra still lie offshore, a stark reminder of how close the Battle of the Atlantic came to New York.

Chronological Guide to 10 Historic New York Shipwreck Stories

For more on New York’s maritime landscape, explore the History of the Hell Gate Bridge, revisit the History of New York’s Battery Park, and see 10 Historic Lighthouses of Long Island and the Stories Behind Them.

Sources

• U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings — The General Slocum and Marine Safety Inspection
• Naval History and Heritage Command — USS San Diego Wreck Site
• Naval History and Heritage Command — Findings on the Sinking of USS San Diego
• Roosevelt Island Historical Society — HMS Hussar and the East River Treasure Legend
• The Mariners’ Museum — Sinking of the SS Oregon
• Library of Congress — 1840 Lexington Disaster Lithograph and Record
• Long Island Maritime Museum — Long Island Shipwrecks
• New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission — Rockaway Beach Archaeological and Shipwreck History
• SUNY Maritime College — New York Underwater Artifacts and the Black Warrior
• NYC H2O — Jamaica Bay and the Sloop Mystery
• NOAA — Oil Recovery from the SS Coimbra Shipwreck

Published September 10, 2026.