Shipwreck Found Off The Coast of Cape May
Shipwreck Found Off The Coast of Cape May
Cape May and the Delaware Bay is chock full of history. From it’s founding by Captain Mey through World War II our area is a hot bed for history.
See: Where Cape May Gets It’s Name
We ran across this story that we thought was fantastic. Divers, Rustin Cassway and Brian Sullivan were 70 miles off the coast of Cape May on July 4th when they came across a sunken ship that wasn’t marked on the map.
Interested to see what it was, they drove 227 feet down to investigate. Not knowing the history of the ship they decided to retrieve the Engine & Boiler builders plaque.
The ship was identified as D/S Octavian which was a 250 foot long Norwegian Freighter carrying Sulfur and Wood Resin.
According to the Maritime Museum in Oslo Norway, the D/S Octavian was traveling from Galveston Texas on January 1942 to St. John New Brunswick when they disappeared. It is guessed from the D/S Octavian was sank by German U-boat U-123 which had been sinking ships in the area at the time.
See: Wildwood During World War II
Though there is no way to completely confirm if a U-boat sank the D/S Octavian or if it just encountered bad weather, the one thing that will be done is that the family of those who lost their lives on the ship will finally have closure.
Shipwreck Found Off The Coast of Cape May