“God makes the weather, and I make the trip”

Captain Willis Green Barrow

The twin screwed steam ship the SS Tarpon began its run in 1887, constructed in Wilmington Delaware by shipbuilders Pusey and Jones. Originally christened the Naugatuck the ships hull measured 130 feet and had a beam of 26 feet. The superstructure and passenger areas of the vessel were constructed of wood and the hull of iron. She was powered by twin steam engines driving iron screws.

 After being sold by the original owner the ship was sent back to the manufacturer in 1891. Her hull was lengthened by an additional 30 feet and she was renamed the “Tarpon”. Some years later in 1902 she was again offered for sale, The Pensacola, St Andrews, and Gulf Steamship Company purchased the vessel and sent Captain Willis Green Barrow to take command of the vessel, a partnership that would last over 30 years had begun.

Captain Barrow and the Tarpon quickly established a name for themselves sailing weekly runs from the ports of Mobile, Pensacola, St. Andrews Bay, Apalachacola, and Carrabelle. In the following years the pair made the trip 1,735 times. 

On August 30, 1937 the Tarpon was loaded in the port of Mobile, taking on some 200 tons of cargo and a total of 31 souls including the crew. The ship sailed to the port of Pensacola and departed en-route to Panama City on the evening of 31 August, as the ship rounded the Pensacola sea buoy her freeboard was less than 5 inches.

The Captain was accustomed to such loads and was known for loading as much cargo as would fit in the steamer. The forecast called for calm seas on this trip but the wind began to pick up as the captain retired for the night and turned the helm over to second mate William Russell. During the night the ship began to take on water as the sea state progressively worsened. Several times cargo was jettisoned in attempts to stabilize the ship and eventually the decision to head for land was made by first mate L.E. Danford. This decision was rescinded by Captain Barrow and he had more cargo jettisoned as he brought the ship back on course. The Tarpon by this time had taken on so much water that she began to sink and soon Captain Barrow gave the order to abandon the ship.   

The ship went down quickly taking most of those who were below decks at the time with her. The sea state was so severe the crew was only able to free one lifeboat, this capsized and left the crew floating among debris as the weather began to clear.

As visibility improved oiler Adley Baker sighted land and began to swim the nearly ten miles to shore. Baker emerged from the surf after spending twenty-five hours in the water, and was soon picked up by a passing motorist and brought to Panama City were the wreck was finally reported. In all only thirteen people survived the sinking; Captain Barrows was not among them having succumbed to the sea around noon the day of the sinking.

Much more information is available and on display in the Museum of Man in the Sea in Panama City Florida http://diveweb.com/iod/mmits.html including a scale model of the ship as she was in her sailing days, artifacts recovered from the wreck, and the history of the ship. The exhibit is a must see for those planning to explore the site.

Florida State University underwater archeologist and professor Michael Faught directed research conducted on the site and in 1997 after being nominated by Bay county citizens Tarpon was designated Florida’s sixth Underwater Archaeological Preserve.

Florida law prohibits unauthorized disturbance, excavation, or removal of artifacts from the site, ensuring a fantastic dive into our maritime heritage for years to come.

In March 2003 Underwater Anthropology students, staff, and representatives from the Academic Diving Program conducted a site assessment under the direction of Dr. Michael Faught.

The diving covered a wide array of skills with students completing required open water Nitrox certification dives under the supervision of Florida State University Diving Safety Officer Dr. Dan Marelli. Concurrently running projects included a fish count and survey of the site, digital video documentation, digital still photography, film still photography, and measurements and proofing of the known site plan.

The vessel SS Tarpon is lying in 95 feet of water on a sand bottom at Loran coordinates 13979.8 and 4700.8 or GPS coordinates 30° 05.702’ N and 85° 56.555’ W

The visibility at the site was from 20 to 30 feet horizontally on the bottom with divers clearly visibly over 65 feet vertically in the water column. The site holds a large and diverse variety of marine life including black grouper, red grouper, red snapper, spade fish, toadfish, flounder, various mollusks, spiny lobsters, and large amberjack among others.