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SS Arratoon Apcar
	1873 painting of Arratoon Apcar; by John Scott (1802–85)
History
United Kingdom
Name	Arratoon Apcar
Namesake	Alexander Arratoon Apcar
Owner	1861: Apcar & Co; 1873: HF Swan & Co;
Port of registry	1863: Calcutta; 1873: London;
Builder	James Henderson & Son, Renfrew
Yard number	36
Launched	27 June 1861
Completed	1861
Identification	UK official number 43924; code letters TRBG; ;
Fate	Wrecked 17 February 1878
Notes	25°35′25″N 80°05′48″W / 25.590283°N 80.096667°W
General characteristics
Type	iron-hulled sail-steamer
Tonnage	1,493 GRT, 959 NRT
Length	261.7 ft (79.8 m)
Beam	35.1 ft (10.7 m)
Depth	25.0 ft (7.6 m)
Installed power	1861: 250 NHP; 1873: 160 NHP;
Propulsion	single screw; 1861: steam engine, details unknown; 1873: compound steam engine;
Sail plan	1873: three-masted barquentine
Crew	24

SS Arratoon Apcar was an iron-hulled sail and steam merchant ship that was built in Scotland in 1861 and wrecked off the coast of Florida in 1878. Her wreck in shallow water on Fowey Rocks is now a scuba diving site.

Building

James Henderson & Son built the ship at Renfrew, Scotland, as yard number 36. She was launched on 27 June 1861 and completed that year.^[1] Her registered length was 261.7 ft (79.8 m), her beam was 35.1 ft (10.7 m), and her depth was 25.0 ft (7.6 m). Her tonnages were 1,493 GRT and 959 NRT.^[2]^[3]

She was a sail-steamer. She had three masts, and a steam engine that was rated at 250 NHP.^[2]

Her first owner was Apcar and Company of Bombay, India.^[2]^[3] She was named after the member of the Apcar family who founded the company. She was registered at Calcutta. Her UK official number was 43924 and her code letters were TRBG.^[2]^[3]

New engine and owner

In 1873 Henry Frederick Swan acquired the ship and registered her in London. Black, Hawthorn & Co of Gateshead re-engined her with a two-cylinder compound engine rated at 160 NHP.^[4]^[5] By 1873 she was rigged as a barquentine. Apcar & Co replaced her with a larger ship of the same name.^[6]

Wreck

In February 1878 Arratoon Apcar was en route from Liverpool, England to Havana, Cuba with a cargo of coal.^[1] On 17 February 1878 she grounded on Fowey Rocks off of Hawk Channel, due to a miscalculation by her Master, Captain Pottinger.^[7]

Other ships had already been wrecked on the reef.^[7] The Fowey Rocks Light was being built at the time, and construction workers were camped on a platform on the new screw pilings for the lighthouse. They were almost hit by the ship, which stopped on the rocks only 200 yards (180 m) away.^[8]

The ship's crew spent three days trying to pump her out before abandoning her and heading ashore in her lifeboats. The Tappahannock rescued Captain Pottinger and his entire crew of 24 men.^[7] Heavy seas pushed the ship onto the reef, breaking her on the rocks.^[9] She was a total loss by 12 March 1878.^[7]

Mistaken identity

The wreck now tentatively identified as the Arratoon Apcar was known for many years as Arakanapka,^[10] and is so called in books^[11] and on various dive-related web sites.^[12]

Wreck

The wreck is at a depth of 10 to 20 feet (3 to 6 m) near Fowey Rocks. The lower hull and iron frames of the ship are visible, encrusted with coral, along with remains of some other parts of the ship. There are many fish, and with shallow water the site is excellent for snorkelling or diving. However, the shallow waters near the reef may create strong surges that could damage a boat.^[7] Arratoon Apcar is one of five historic wrecks in the Biscayne National Park "Shipwreck Trail".^[9]

References

Citations

^ ^a ^b "Arratoon Apcar". Scottish Built Ships. Caledonian Maritime Research Trust. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Lloyd's Register 1863, A.
^ ^a ^b ^c Mercantile Navy List 1865, p. 31.
^ Lloyd's Register 1877, ARO.
^ Mercantile Navy List 1874, p. 7.
^ "Arratoon Apcar". Tyne Built Ships. Shipping and Shipbuilding Research Trust. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Arratoon Apcar: NPS.
^ The Alleged Arratoon Apcar Wreck Site.
^ ^a ^b Arratoon Apcar: DiveSpots.com.
^ Morgan, Curtis (10 July 2005). "Underwater trail highlights shipwrecks off Miami". The Miami Herald. Archived from the original on 18 May 2009. Retrieved 24 August 2014.
^ Dean 1982, p. 99.
^ "Florida East Coast Shipwrecks Arakanapka Wreck Biscayne park". Archived from the original on 16 January 2020. Retrieved 17 December 2020.

Bibliography

Dean, Love (1982). Reef Lights: Seaswept Lighthouses of the Florida Keys. Key West, Florida: The Historic Key West Preservation Board. ISBN 0-943528-03-8.
Lloyd's Register of British and Foreign Shipping. London: Lloyd's Register of Shipping. 1863 – via Internet Archive.
Lloyd's Register of British and Foreign Shipping. London: Lloyd's Register of Shipping. 1877 – via Internet Archive.
Mercantile Navy List. London. 1865 – via Crew List Index Project.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
Mercantile Navy List. London. 1874 – via Crew List Index Project.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)

Other sources

"Arratoon Apcar". DiveSpots.com, LLC. Archived from the original on 22 August 2017. Retrieved 17 December 2020.
"Arratoon Apcar". National Park Service, US Department of the Interior. Retrieved 4 November 2013.
"The Alleged Arratoon Apcar Wreck Site". Marine Archaeological Research & Conservation Inc. 2006. Archived from the original on 7 March 2016. Retrieved 17 December 2020.