S.S. Sapona Shipwreck - Photo Print
Print produced from a picture taken of the SS Sapona shipwreck by Captain Aron Stano. This shipwreck is a wold famous Bimini and Cat Cay Bahamas landmark. It was used in movies, TV shows, and has inspired countless stories from boaters that visit her every year. This ship was built during world war 1 under a Woodrow Wilson plan to create more shipping during war time. Since it was built during the war, steel was scarce so this is ship was primarily built out of concrete with metal reinforcing beams.
This ship was originally 282 feet long (86 m), 46 feet wide (14.02 m), with a draft of 28.2 feet (8.61 m) deep. The wreck is a little shorter now as part of the back section came off and is laying under the water behind the main visible portion of the ship.
Originally it was going to be used mostly for shipping troops along with some goods, and materials during the war. But the ship was completed after the war had ended. So Carl Fisher the world famous developer in Miami Beach bought it to use the engine out of it in a different project. However he eventually sold it to a former British War captain named Bruce Bethell.
Bethell used the ship as a floating warehouse for liquor that was produced mostly in the Bahamas during the prohibition era in the United States. Liquor and primarily rum was produced in areas like Nassau then transported to this ship anchored off Bimini. From here the liquor would be distributed throughout South Florida, primarily Miami and Fort Lauderdale by bootleggers to the areas speakeasies.
In 1926 the ship ended up near its current location during a hurricane as the wind and waves ran the ship aground onto the shallow reef and sand bars south of Bimini island.
During World War II the ship was used for bombing practice until December 1945 when five torpedo bombers that flew from Florida to the shipwreck disappeared. They went to the shipwreck then turned north towards Hen and Chickens rocks by Great Isaac Lighthouse. When these five bombers mysteriously vanished all future bombing runs to the ship wreck were stopped. Those five airplanes disappearing were one of the catalysts to the Bermuda Triangle mystery becoming a well known unsolved mysterious phenomenon.
The 282 foot Sapona shipwreck sits in 15 to 20 feet of water and is visited by scores of people that travel to the islands of North Bimini, South Bimini, or Cat Cay. Getting there either on their own boats, by plane, or traveling on the casino cruise ship run by Resorts World Bimini. Lots of tropical fish call this shipwreck home so its a great location to snorkel around. You can swim around and through the wreck. And if you are really adventurous you can climb up the side (being careful while wearing shoes or at least flip flops to avoid cuts) and jump off the bow which is about 40 feet high into the water below.
Our Photo Prints are produced on acid-free 265 gsm Semi-Matte Fine Art Paper. Artists and photographers alike love this paper for its understated semi-matte finish which is optimized for maximum presentation quality with minimum glare.
Hang this photo paper directly or add it to your own frame.
All of our art prints are produced on state-of-the-art, professional-grade commercial Canon printers. Printing onto Museum grade paper (Which means it can be stored for a long time without turning yellow). And printed using archival inks to guarantee that they last a lifetime without fading or loss of color.
Photo prints ship within 4 - 6 business days in durable cardboard tubes.
