Hidden History of Maritime New Jersey

Book excerpt: “Weaves exciting tales with historical and diving facts, peppered with antique illustrations of ships and photographs of their remains” (Courier-Post). An estimated three thousand shipwrecks lie off the coast of New Jersey—but these icy waters hold more mysteries than sunken hulls. Ancient arrowheads found on the shoreline of Sandy Hook reveal Native American settlement before the land was flooded by melting glaciers. In 1854, 240 passengers of the New Era clipper ship met their fate off Deal Beach. Nobody knows what happened to two hydrogen bombs the United States Air Force lost near Atlantic City in 1957. Lessons from such tragic wrecks and dangerous missteps urged the development of safer ships and the US Coast Guard. Captain Stephen D. Nagiewicz uncovers curious tales of storms, heroism and oddities from New Jersey’s maritime past. Includes photos “Densely packed with information, from scuba diving basics to a look through the centuries at New Jersey history, via the ships that found their way to sandy depths.”—Press of Atlantic City “Capt. Steve Nagiewicz of Brick has come out with a book . . . that should be in every angler’s bookcase . . . There’s one fascinating account after another.” —The Star-Ledger