''Isaac Allerton'' was a 594-ton American

merchant ship A merchant ship, merchant vessel, trading vessel, or merchantman is a watercraft that transports cargo or carries passengers for hire. This is in contrast to pleasure craft, which are used for personal recreation, and naval ships, which are u ...

that sank in a

hurricane A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depend ...

east-southeast of

Key West Key West ( es, Cayo Hueso) is an island in the Straits of Florida, within the U.S. state of Florida. Together with all or parts of the separate islands of Dredgers Key, Fleming Key, Sunset Key, and the northern part of Stock Island, it cons ...

in the

Florida Keys The Florida Keys are a coral cay archipelago located off the southern coast of Florida, forming the southernmost part of the continental United States. They begin at the southeastern coast of the Florida peninsula, about south of Miami, and e ...

near the

Saddlebunch Keys The Saddlebunch Keys are a series of mangrove islands about east of Key West, Florida. The keys are scattered between Lower Sugarloaf Key and Shark Key. U.S. 1 (or the Overseas Highway The Overseas Highway is a highway carrying U.S. R ...

on August 28, 1856.

History

''Isaac Allerton'' was built in 1838 at

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

New Hampshire New Hampshire is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

. She was long. ''Isaac Allerton'' carried cargoes throughout the

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an oceanic basin, ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of ...

, and North Atlantic Ocean. During a hurricane in 1856, she sank in Hawks Channel in of water. Because she sank in such deep water, the Key West wreckers were unable to salvage all of her cargo, but the cargo they did salvage had a payoff of over

US$ The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

50,000, making ''Isaac Allerton'' the richest wreck in Key West history. In 1985, the wreck of ''Isaac Allerton'' was rediscovered by a group of local divers who had been searching for the celebrated '' Nuestra Señora de Atocha'' wreck. Artifacts from ''Isaac Allerton'' are on display at the Key West Shipwreck Museum in Key West.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Isaac Allerton (Shipwreck) Shipwrecks of the Florida Keys Maritime incidents in August 1856 History of Key West, Florida 1838 ships Ships built in New Hampshire