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Bermuda Knows Shipwrecks
By Wendy Tucker
 Four centuries after British shipwreck victims crawled ashore to found a new colony, Bermuda leads the way in exploring the last great frontier — the world beneath the waves. This year, the Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute (BUEI) emphasises Bermudian history and heritage against a backdrop of the shipwrecks that pepper surrounding ocean floors. Bermuda, as divers will tell you, has more shipwrecks than any other Atlantic destination. The islands even have a connection to the greatest wreck of the 20th century, the Titanic.
On June 25, 1923, the Caraquet, an English passenger steamer bound for the West Indies from Nova Scotia, wrecked just north of Bermuda. Like the Titanic, the Caraquet had been built in the Harland and Wolfe shipyard, and both ships featured the same deck windows and benching ends.
Coincidentally, Vincent Astor, a son of John Jacob Astor, who died on the Titanic, lived in Bermuda at Astor Hall, the majestic home he built on Ferry Reach.
Shipwrecks have played a vital role in Bermuda's economy. Settlers often improved their hardscrabble lives by salvaging goods from ships that wrecked on its reefs.
Wrecking drew a wide range of Bermudians. Even Nathaniel Butler, an early governor, got in on the act. In 1619, The Bermuda Company sent Butler here on the barque Warwick, which wrecked in Castle Harbour. The experience so impressed him that one of his first acts was to build two cedar boats to search for Spanish shipwrecks. In 1621, Butler salvaged the wreck of the San Antonio, which sailed from Havana with a Spanish treasure fleet. He spent 10 days weighing cannon and finding cargo.
Salvaging continued to be important through World War II. After the Cristobal Colon, a Spanish passenger steamer, ran onto the northeast breakers in 1936, Bermudians salvaged much-needed nonferrous metals, portholes, deck windows and engine-room fittings. Many shipwreck artefacts are used today in Bermudian homes, from furniture to serving pieces, silverware and glassware.
Artefacts displayed at BUEI give valuable insight into Bermuda's link with famous ships — even the "unsinkable" Titanic. (BUEI, 292-7219, www.buei.org)
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Have a fun-filled vacation with a cycle from Oleander. If you can ride a bicycle, you can easily ride an Oleander scooter. See all of Bermuda...reserve one today!
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Relax, enjoy, save and see Bermuda by bus. A blue or pink pole indicates bus stops. If the pole is topped with blue, the bus travels from Hamilton; if the pole is topped pink, the route is toward Hamilton.
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