''Mercedes I'' was a

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 ...

built in 1952 in

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. She was long and measured 496 Gross register tons. She was originally named ''Jacob Rusch'', later being renamed ''Rosita Maria'', ''Rita Voge'', and finally ''Mercedes I'' in 1976. She was caught in a storm while at anchor off Palm Beach,

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

on 23 November 1984, and was driven ashore where she crashed into the seawall front of the home of Palm Beach socialite,

Mollie Wilmot Mollie Wilmot (née Netcher (May 9, 1923 – September 17, 2002) was an American philanthropist and socialite. Biography Wilmot spent her formative years in Europe where she studied art and achieved fluency in French. She graduated from Foxcroft ...

, who served the 12

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

n sailors caviar, finger sandwiches and freshly brewed coffee in her gazebo, offered martinis to journalists and photographers, and granted the stranded Venezuelans access to her swimming pool. The incident received national and international coverage. After being abandoned by her owners, she was salvaged by the Donjon Marine Company, who sold her for $29,000 to the

Broward County Broward County ( , ) is a county in the southeastern part of Florida, located in the Miami metropolitan area. It is Florida's second-most populous county after Miami-Dade County and the 17th-most populous in the United States, with over 1.94 ...

Environmental Quality Control Board. They scuttled her on 30 March 1985 with 350 pounds of

TNT Trinitrotoluene (), more commonly known as TNT, more specifically 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene, and by its preferred IUPAC name 2-methyl-1,3,5-trinitrobenzene, is a chemical compound with the formula C6H2(NO2)3CH3. TNT is occasionally used as a reagen ...

off the coast of Ft. Lauderdale, in order to create an

artificial reef An artificial reef is a human-created underwater structure, typically built to promote marine life in areas with a generally featureless bottom, to control erosion, block ship passage, block the use of trawling nets, or improve surfing. Many re ...

used as a

recreational dive site Recreational dive sites are specific places that recreational scuba divers go to enjoy the underwater environment or for training purposes. They include technical diving sites beyond the range generally accepted for recreational diving. In this ...

. She currently rests upright in .

References

Ships sunk as artificial reefs Maritime incidents in 1984 Maritime incidents in 1985 Ships built in Hamburg Shipwrecks of the Florida coast 1952 ships {{Florida-stub