About Revisions The Proteus Cape Hatteras, NC More Info Max Depth: 111-120ft/34-37m Average Viz: 61-70ft/19-21m Entry Type: Boat Bottom Composition: Sand Aquatic Life: Plenty To See 8/29/2009 7:14 PM

The Proteus is a 406 foot long passenger-freighter that is in 120 feet of water with the highest part rising to about 90 feet. The wreck lies upright with most of the stern section intact. A large brass wheel that is attached to a long shaft is on the stern deck. The rudder is still in place and 4-blade 18-foot propeller is sticking up out of the sand. Three boilers and the condenser are in the midsection of the ship.


During the summer, the water temperature ranges from the upper 70’s to the low 80’s. Visibility averages 60 feet but can get up over a 100 feet. Large schools of amberjack can be seen swimming around the wreck. Sea bass, pompano, and tropical fish, such as the Queen Angel can also be seen regularly.


The Proteus was named after one of the mystical society organizations that take part in Mardi Gras in New Orleans. In mythology, Proteus was the son of Neptune and Phoenice or Oceanus and Tethys, depending on the version you are using, either Greek or Roman. The Proteus was built in Newport News, Virginia and launched on December 16, 1899. She was considered one of the safest ships of their time. She had 46 staterooms for 78 first class passengers, 30 staterooms for 50 second class passengers, and 50 berths for third class passengers. The apartments were elegant and were equipped with electric fans and lights, and very comfortable chairs. There were enough chairs and lounges for every passenger to be seated at one time. The main dining room could hold 56 passengers at one sitting.


On January 27, 1916, the Proteus left New Orleans bound for New York with 95 passengers and crew. Captain John Nelson was in command of the ship. While heading down the Mississippi River in a dense fog, the Proteus hit the oil tanker Brabant. The Brabant had a hole above the waterline, but the Proteus was undamaged and proceeded to sea.


Captain Nelson was later replaced with Captain H. C. Boyd. On August 14, 1918, the Proteus left New Orleans bound for New York with 75 passengers and crew. On August 19, 1918, the Proteus was in a heavy fog 34 miles southwest of Diamond Shoals. Also in the heavy fog was the Cushing, an oil tanker. Both ships were running at reduced speed when the Cushing appeared out of the fog and hit the Proteus amidships. The Proteus had a large hole beneath her waterline and Captain Boyd gave the order to abandon ship. The ship was abandoned in less than an hour. Only one person died in the collision, which was a fireman aboard the Proteus that panicked and jumped into the water at the time of the collision and drowned. The Cushing was undamaged and picked up all of the survivors. Six hours later, the Proteus sank to the bottom.


Diving the Proteus


Today, the Proteus lays on a hard sandy bottom with a list to port. She is intact from Bow to Stern with the port side low in the sand and sections of the starboard hull rising almost 20 feet from the bottom in places. The bow of the liner is identifiable though not much of it remains. What is there points towards the surface rising about 25 feet from the bottom and is very clearly defined. Aft of the bow divers will encounter a large windlass in the center of the wreckage immediately adjacent to the remains of the cargo hatches. Just aft of this area and towards the port side of the vessel is where many divers have been lucky enough to recover china and silverware. It takes a sharp eye and knowledge where to dig, but dinnerware is still sometimes recovered from this galley area. From the boilers to the stern is where the Proteus is most impressive and looks like a shipwreck as she still rises over 30 feet from the sand. The large boilers dominate the wreck amidships, one smaller boiler has rolled off it’s beds and now lays askew. The triple expansion engine has fallen over towards the port side and lays on it’s side but is still attached to the propeller shaft. The engine and associated machinery are covered in a variety of hard corrals and other growth, but the shapes of gears and valves are still easily discerned. Very large eels are often found inhabiting the area of the engine and boilers and can be seen here with regularity. The propeller shaft leads from the engine to the stern and is still enclosed in the shaft alley along most of it’s length, though the casing is rusting away and now has large holes through which the shaft can been seen.


The very stern section has the highest relief on the wreck site and terminates in a large bronze steering quadrant, the highest point on the wreck site. It is from this vantage point that I have watched some very interesting sea life swim past. It is also at the stern, in the washout at the propeller and the deepest place at the wreck, that many of the sharks frequently found on this wreck seem to hang out. On most dives at least one or two very large sandtiger sharks can be seen here, but on many occasions there may be too many to accurately count and we have dived the Proteus when the number of sharks ran far into the hundreds. Besides the sharks, the Proteus can be relied upon to hold a wide variety of sea life with a large number of big groupers often present.


The water conditions at the Proteus are most often very good with warm and clear waters over the wreck. This is due to the location far from the beach and near the Gulf Stream edge in the Summer months. This advantage also comes with the fairly consistent possibility of at least a surface current and one that generally continues through the water column to the bottom. The standard current flows from the port bow of the Proteus across the wreck at a slight angle towards the starboard stern quarter. The high relief of the wreck site provides plenty of structure for a diver to tuck out of the current once on the bottom but can make the travel to and from the wreck a challenge. However, like all wreck sites in the Hatteras area, we have experienced many days when there is absolutely no current at all and the anchor line drops straight down to the wreck.


http://www.discoverydiving.com/wreck_desc.htm


http://www.nc-wreckdiving.com/WRECKS/PROTEUS/PROTEUS.HTML


http://home.att.net/~PaulGacek/proteus.html


http://www.divehatteras.com/proteus.html
Web site for videos of various wreck sites in the area-
http://www.olympusdiving.com/PhotoGallery/VideoGallery/tabid/115/Default.aspx