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The Constellation, a 192 foot wooden four-masted schooner was on its way from New York to Venezuela carrying a cargo of bags of cement, several hundred cases of whisky and several different types of drugs. After leaving New York, the ship encountered stormy seas, causing the 24 year old vessel to leak at the seams. After several days of manual pumping, the crew could no longer keep up with the incominng water so Captain Howard Neaves decided to stop in Bermuda for repairs. On July 30, 1942, while waiting for a local pilot to come out to guide them through the unmarked channel, the ship was pushed onto the shallow barrier reef, sinking her. All hands were saved and the U.S. Navy, undoubtedly following Bermuda protocol, salvaged all 700 cases of whisky and a few other peices of cargo.
Because wood is biodegradable, most of the hull of the Constellation has long rotted away in our warm sub-tropical waters, leaving exposed thousands of bags of hardened cement, her main cargo, panels of glass, slate and iron fittings that were once part of the actual ship. The shipwreck of the Constellation now sits in 15-25 feet of water easily visible in every detail from the surface while snorkelling.
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