Taunton

History

The Taunton was a small steel cargo steamer built in Copenhagen in 1902 by Burmeister & Wain and powered by a triple-expansion engine. She was first chartered to the United Fruit Company and by 1920 was sailing under the Norwegian flag.

In November 1920, under Captain Olson (Olsen in later accounts), she sailed from Norfolk, Virginia, on Saturday the 20th with coal for Wm. E. Meyer & Co. at St. George's. Arriving off the island in misty weather at the mouth of the northern passage through the reefs, the captain put a lookout in the bows, but at about 8 a.m. on 24 November 1920 she ran onto the reefs just inside the North East Breaker. Captain Olson's wife was aboard and was landed safely at the East End. The crew stayed with the ship until the morning of 26 November, when, after a night in which the sea threatened to break her up, they abandoned her. On 1 March 1921 the wreck 'as she now lies stranded on the N.E. Reefs', with well over a thousand tons of coal still in her, was sold at auction on Market Square, St. George's.

Teddy Tucker later recovered her bell, which found a second career as a prop in the 1977 film The Deep and is now displayed at the Gibbs Hill Lighthouse.

Diving the wreck today

One of Bermuda's favourite shallow wreck dives. The bow is still upright on the north-east reef and rises to within about 10 ft of the surface, with the steam engine and boilers standing nearby; most of the site is around 20 ft, dropping to 40 ft. Easy and very photogenic in good light, and suitable for novices and snorkellers on calm days, but the far north-east reefs are a long boat ride and exposed to swell.