The ''Vamar'' is a shipwreck (which sank on March 21, 1942) near Mexico 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 ...

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. It is located 3.7 miles offshore from Mexico Beach. It became the ninth

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 pro ...

when it was dedicated in 2004. On April 10, 2006, it was added to the

U.S. The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

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 ...

History

The ''Vamar'' underwent several name changes in its history: * 1919 - 1920 built as a gun boat for the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...

, named ''HMS Kilmarnock'' * 1920 - 1923 S.S. Kilmarnock * 1926 - S.S. Kilmarnock, registered Canadian * 1928 - renamed the ''Chelsea'' after being sold to a private firm * 1928 - 1930 Rear-Admiral Richard Byrd acquired the ship for his journey to

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest cont ...

. He renamed the ship the ''Eleanor Bolling'', in honor of his mother, Eleanor Bolling Byrd. During the voyage, due to rough seas, the crew nicknamed the ship the "Evermore Rolling". * 1930 - sold to a seal hunting company * 1933 - the Vamar Shipping Company bought the ship and renamed it the ''Vamar'' * 1941 - sold to Bolivar-Atlantic Navigation Company, registered Panama * 1942 - March 21, after leaving Port St. Joe, Florida carrying a load of lumber to Cuba, ''Vamar'' ran aground, capsized and sunk in heavy seas in 25 feet of water off Mexico Beach, Florida () under suspicious circumstances. The

pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators, because they a ...

reported that the ship was overloaded and top heavy. Local suspicions that the ship had been sabotaged to block the channel into Port St. Joe led to a

Coast Guard A coast guard or coastguard is a maritime security organization of a particular country. The term embraces wide range of responsibilities in different countries, from being a heavily armed military force with customs and security duties to ...

investigation, which was unable to verify the suspicions. * 2004 - ''Vamar'' became Florida's Ninth

and was listed on the

References

External links

* Original Vamar Underwater Archaeological Preserve Proposal (
pdf
' or
MS Word format
') a
The Underwater Archaeological Preserves
{{National Register of Historic Places in Florida Parks in Bay County, Florida National Register of Historic Places in Bay County, Florida Shipwrecks on the National Register of Historic Places in Florida Florida Underwater Archaeological Preserves 1919 ships Maritime incidents in March 1942