Ship from SC vanished in Bermuda Triangle in 1925. Researchers say they found it
The SS Cotopaxi steamed out of the Charleston harbor bound for Cuba on Nov. 29, 1925, but it ship never made it to Havana. “It has become one of the most famous stories associated with the mystery of the Bermuda Triangle,” according to the Science Channel.
“No one knows where or how it vanished and none of bodies of the 32 passengers on board were ever recovered,” the channel said.
Now researchers on the new television show “Shipwreck Secrets” say they identified the Cotopaxi in the Atlantic Ocean off St. Augustine, Florida. The shipwreck had actually been found 35 years ago, but had not been identified until now, according to a Science Channel news release.
The disappearance of the Cotopaxi has made its way into pop culture, with a cameo at the end of Steven Spielberg’s 1977 Oscar winning “Close Encounters of the Third Kind. ”
A hoax story about the Cotopaxi being found floating with no one on board near Cuba from a fake news site got enough traction in 2015 for Snopes to debunk the claim.
The Science Channel team uncovered new records in their search in the Lloyd’s of London archives. Lloyd’s was the insurance broker for the ship, according to the release.
“He discovered something previously unknown about the SS Cotopaxi’s voyage. The ship had sent out wireless distress signals on December 1st, 1925, two days after it left Charleston. The signals were picked up in Jacksonville, Fla., placing the ship in the area of a shipwreck found nearly 35 years ago,” the Science Channel said.
After scuba diving to the wreck and surveying it with an underwater drone, the Science Channel says the researchers worked with local divers who had collected souvenirs from the site and the St. Augustine Lighthouse and Maritime Museum to identify the ship lost 95 years ago.
The tragic history of the Bermuda Triangle, an area defined by the triangleamong Miami, Bermuda and San Juan, Puerto Rico, has captured imaginations over the years.
“Some speculate that unknown and mysterious forces account for the unexplained disappearances, such as extraterrestrials capturing humans for study; the influence of the lost continent of Atlantis; vortices that suck objects into other dimensions,” the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said.
But, NOAA said, the area’s weather and geography can make it treacherous for mariners, so probably wasn’t aliens abducting ships and planes.
“The majority of Atlantic tropical storms and hurricanes pass through the Bermuda Triangle, and in the days prior to improved weather forecasting, these dangerous storms claimed many ships. Also, the Gulf Stream can cause rapid, sometimes violent, changes in weather,” NOAA said.
Navigating the area can also be difficult because areas of shallow water can surprise sailors and damage ships, according to NOAA.
“There is some evidence to suggest that the Bermuda Triangle is a place where a ‘magnetic’ compass sometimes points toward ‘true’ north, as opposed to ‘magnetic’ north,” NOAA said.
This story was originally published January 30, 2020 at 3:40 PM with the headline "Ship from SC vanished in Bermuda Triangle in 1925. Researchers say they found it."
