The ''Half Moon'' (also known as the ''Germania'' and ''Exen'') was a racing sailboat; it sank in 1930 near
Miami
Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...
, Florida, United States. The wreck is outside Bear Cut, which separates
Virginia Key
Virginia Key is an barrier island in Miami, Florida. It is located in Biscayne Bay south of Brickell and north of Key Biscayne and is accessible from the mainland via the Rickenbacker Causeway.
The island is mainly occupied by the Virginia Key ...
from
Key Biscayne
Key Biscayne ( es, Cayo Vizcaíno, link=no) is an island located in Miami-Dade County, Florida, located between the Atlantic Ocean and Biscayne Bay. It is the southernmost of the barrier islands along the Atlantic coast of Florida, and lies sout ...
. Christened ''Germania'', the racing yacht featured a
chrome-nickel steel hull built by Krupp-Germania-Werft in 1908 in
Kiel
Kiel () is the capital and most populous city in the northern Germany, German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 246,243 (2021).
Kiel lies approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the southeast of the J ...
, Germany. During a visit to England in 1914, the yacht was seized as a 'war prize'. After changing owners several times, and surviving an especially-violent storm off
Virginia
Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...
, the yacht became a
floating restaurant
A floating restaurant is a vessel, usually a large steel barge or hulk, used as a restaurant on water. The ''Jumbo Kingdom'', formerly located at Aberdeen in Hong Kong, was at one time the world's largest floating restaurant, until it sank at s ...
and dance hall off Miami. It sank near Key Biscayne in 1930.
In 2000, the wreck became the seventh
Florida Underwater Archaeological Preserve
The Florida Underwater Archaeological Preserves are a system of underwater parks in the state of Florida, USA. They consist of shipwrecks of historic interest, both off the coast and inland, and are open all year round, free of charge. Similar prog ...
.
In 2001, it was added to the US
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
.
References
External links
Miami-Dade County listingsa
National Register of Historic PlacesHalf Moona
Florida's Underwater Archaeological PreservesHalf Moona
Florida Maritime Heritage TrailHalf Moona
Florida Heritage Tourism Interactive Catalog
1908 ships
Ships built in Kiel
Maritime incidents in 1930
National Register of Historic Places in Miami-Dade County, Florida
Shipwrecks of the Florida coast
Shipwrecks on the National Register of Historic Places in Florida
Florida Underwater Archaeological Preserves
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