SS Nicaragua

SS Nicaragua was a ship that was sailing in the Gulf of Mexico when it ran aground on Padre Island in 1912.

During the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Padre Island was the site of a number of shipwrecks. "Devil's Elbow," actually a point of tidal convergence around milepost 50 from Malaquite Beach of the north island, wrecked many vessels. One of these was the Nicaragua. This ship, bound from Port Arthur, Texas, for Tampico, Tamaulipas, wrecked on 16 October 1912. The stern, its engine, and masthead of the vessel remained visible off the island for many years, serving as a landmark for down-island travelers. Rumors have arisen about the gun running and illegal activities it might have performed, but no one seems to know its true mission that October evening. The remaining ship structure can easily be seen at low tide and there is excellent fishing around the wreck site.

The slim, white ship was built in 1891 in Bergen, Norway, and her plans show that she was 190 feet overall. Lloyd’s of London [illegible] at 611 gross tons.

Carrying cotton and miscellaneous cargo, she left Tampico bound for Port Arthur. Five days later, on Oct. 16, 1912, during a great storm that sank vessels all over the Gulf of Mexico, the “Nicaragua” went down on the shores of Padre Island, in that section of the coast known as the Devil’s Elbow.

Sources

Vernon Smylie, The Secrets of Padre Island Template:Geolinks-US-buildingscale