Boone

Ship Stats

Aerial drone photographic mosaic of Mallows Bay, Maryland. Location of Boone is circled in red — Aerial drone photographic mosaic of Mallows Bay, Maryland. Location of *Boone* is circled in red. (Source: Duke University/NOAA).

State ID: 18CH519

Vessel Type: Merchant vessel (steamship)

Location: 38°28'20.28"N, 77°15'59.07"W (38.47230, -77.26641) (Duke University, 2016)

Length: 281 feet 10 inches

Breadth: 45 feet 2 inches

Deadweight Tonnage: 3,500

Builder: Dantzler Shipbuilding and Drydock Company, Moss Point, Mississippi

Owner: Titled to the State of Maryland under the Abandoned Shipwreck Act

Flora & Fauna: Small vegetation covers fore and afterpeaks, and portions of framing on both sides of the hull

Significance: United States Shipping Board vessel built for World War I effort

Wreck Site

The remains of Boone have been in their present location since at least 1929, resting on its keel, orientated with the bow toward the shore. The remains measure over 258 feet in length and 46 feet at beam (width). Surveys have recorded the presence of ferrous fastenings and cross strapping, a propeller shaft tunnel, stem, sternpost, and four bulkheads. There is no evidence of fire trauma and there is concrete present in both the bow and stern.

Aerial drone image of Boone (circled in red) within Mallows Bay, Maryland — Aerial drone image of *Boone* (circled in red) within Mallows Bay, Maryland. (Photo: Matt McIntosh/NOAA).

Historical Background

Boone was built in 1918, by the Dantzler Shipbuilding and Drydock Company of Moss Point, Mississippi, for the United States Shipping Board (USSB). Boone was a Ferris-type built vessel, like the majority of wooden designed cargo vessels located within Mallows Bay, Maryland. Boone was among the 95 USSB steamships in the celebrated "Tidal Wave" of national ships launching on July 4, 1918. On this date, close to 100 vessels were launched from shipyards all across the United States, marking the greatest ship-launching day in history.

At its height during the war, Dantzler Shipbuilding and Drydock Company had approximately 1,200 employees working the yard. Shortly after the war however, the Dantzler Shipbuilding and Drydock Company plant closed. There were a few small shipyards located close together in the region that were either ultimately bought by larger corporations, or went out of business when the federal government contracts ended.

Postcard of ships being built at the Dantzler Shipyard in Moss Point, Mississippi, date unknown (Source: Mississippi Department of Archives and History).

Photograph of Moss Point, a sister ship to Boone, under construction at the Dantzler Shipbuilding and Drydock Company, of Moss Point, Mississippi — Photograph of *Moss Point*, a sister ship to Boone, under construction at the Dantzler Shipbuilding and Drydock Company, of Moss Point, Mississippi. Dated November 21, 1918. (Source: Courtesy of the Else Martin Gulf Coast Maritime Collection).