V

The Concrete Ship horerunner of the Ferry

h\ Shirliannr (iunther SUNSET BKACH - Every "year ;the huge whale Hkevship sinks liwpcl- Into the mild; pushing the story ot Col Jesse, Rosenfeld further tiack inlh history. The Allontus. a concrete ship Irnm World War I. has been the subject of countless articles since sIh- was first brought info the Cape in 1926 by the'imaginative ; and enterprising Kosehfeld And Vmterest in the ship will probably Continue as long as port of her 250-foot hulk remains above the 'surface of the bay at the end‘of Sunset Boulevard near Cape May Point here. Itosenfeld, of Baltimore, purchased this National Navigafion Company with the idea of establishing a ferry line from Cape 'Itlay. Point to Lewes, Delaware His' Idea was to create a ferry line and use three wartime concrete ships as part ot the ferry ship t< ctutnivd to ONK ItKPOHTwthc Atfantu.s had been dis'cardelr' and sunk in the Vhesapuake Bay ' Rosenfcld’s company purchased the ship and had it raised frbni the mud flats at Pigpniitl. Va It was towed by luglmat and arrived in this area June k. 1926 Ttayplan was to tow / two more hulks and sink them to form a "Y" as part of the ferry project. One report states thatItoscnfeld had the ship's sides cracked for the sinking The Allontus went adrift several times before it was placed into position Then late in July, 1926 the seacocks' were opened and the

ship was r.pnk almost head-on to the beach, 300 feet from shore. Popular rumors has ij^ that a storm grounded Ihefmlk before it could be positioned correctly. Automobiles were to drive from the ferry through the Allontus onto a 100-ft. causeway. Dredging operations for the causeway actually got undeway and ground had been broken for the project three months earlier. The groundbreaking was attendee^ by the mayors of South Jersey resorts and more than 1,000 sjiectators. SliK-k was sold for the project. THE FERRY WHARF Was to connect with the lower forward . deck The ferry would tie up at the stern. Part of the ship was to . become a restaurant with restrooms and a dance floor. But the. entire project flopped within a matter of months There are several conflicting reports concerning RoSenfeld's failure to get the ferry going One report said that he couldn't get enough financial backing. Another, in an editorial written 15 ■ve.ars after the failure, put the blame on the parties involved. The editorial Stated the ferry project never got off the ground because of "sectional and competitive jealousies, based on provincialism and nose-length thinking. vyhich constitutes the chief curse oT American communities and the main impediment to progress." ' y WHATEVER THE REASONS, the operation ceased. Over the years as storms lashed the old ship*breaking it almost in half, ferry fever broke out again.

THE DREAM THAT ELUDED the Atlantus — bring a wharf for a tratiH-bay ferry — is ironicajly rekindled several jAnies each day as liners of the Cape May-Le.wes pass in the distance far abeam of the sunken ship. ' '

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SLOWLY BUT SURELY Abe Concrete Ship sinks lower and lower into the bottom of Delaware Bay, just-off the end of Sunset Blvd. beyond the magnesite plant in Lower Township. The hulk’s settling, however, is perceptahle only to onlookers who have observed (he Atlantus over the

yrafs.

... V.

Early in the 1930s, William C. Hunt of Clermont, first chairman of the fern commission and an avid ferry enthusiast, renewed interest in the project, But finances were pool ,md again the idea was

discarded

Then in. the 1950s,'-Senators Charles^-Sandman of Cfape May and I'mil Carpenter of Delaware laid thdgroundwork for the creation of the bi-state Delaware River and BBy Authority, which packaged th?> ferry project with two bridges aefoss the Delaware River. This time,, financial back-

ing was assured. \

On June 29, 1964, 3ft y\ears after Rosenfeld's first effort', a ferry line officially got underway. But the concrete ship and the idea of using it as part of a ferry slip was

forgotten.

OVER THE YEARS the con Crete ship has become a landmark just off shore, a symbol and a meeting place for “seekers of the curious. Hundreds of summer

e Delaware and sunk i ncial back- Until si i sunken s jlears after besideSTx rV a fArrv fishinp sn

tourists visit the spot daily at the end of Sunset Boulevard; most are unaware of the entire history surrounding the Atlantus. Many think it was left over from some wartimc experience and sunk offshore A sign erected by the state

at the site only tells this:

S.S. ATLANTUS — Remains of experimental concrete ship, pne of 12 built during World War I. Proven impractical, after several trans-Atlantic trips because of weight. Towed

and sunk as wharf 1926.

Until several years ago, the sunken ship had another use besideSTx tourist attraction and a fishing spot for boaters: “Years ago," notes a local resident, "you could read a sign on (decide of her hulk advertising boat, insurance. Every yeaf she sinks down a .little

further.

"It's kind of like watching history die,"' he said. Shirlianne Gunthrr is a frequent contributor to 'Cape May County Magazine,

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