Carthaginian II in 1997, while a museum in Lahaina Harbor
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History | |
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Name | Mary, Familiens Haab, Komet |
Builder | Fr. Krupp Germania Shipyard, Kiel |
Yard number | 388 |
Completed | 1920 |
Out of service | 1970 |
Fate | Sold to Lahaina Restoration Foundation, 1972 |
History | |
Name | Carthaginian II |
Owner | Lahaina Restoration Foundation |
Acquired | 1972 |
Identification | IMO number: 5192080 |
Fate | Sunk, December 13, 2005 |
General characteristics | |
Type | two-mast square-rigged whaler, auxiliary motor power |
Tonnage | 140 short tons (130 t) (gross) |
Length | 30 metres (98 ft) |
Beam | 6.7 metres (22 ft) |
Draft | 2.1 metres (6 ft 11 in) |
Carthaginian II was a steel-hulled brig outfitted as a whaler, which served as a symbol of that industry in the harbor of the former whaling town Lahaina on the Hawaiian island of Maui. She replaced the original Carthaginian, a schooner converted into a barque to resemble a period whaler, which had initiated the role of museum ship there in 1967.
Carthaginian II was built in Germany as a schooner in 1920 and christened as Mary. She was brought to Maui in 1973, re-rigged, and served as a whaling museum until 2005, and after being sunk to create an artificial reef, now serves as a diving destination.
The vessel was built in 1920 in Kiel, Germany, as a two-masted schooner at the Friedrich Krupp Germaniawerft shipyard. Christened as Mary, she was just under 30 metres (98 ft) long, with a nominal displacement of 125 short tons (113 t) (gross). [1]
Mary was one of a group of forty ships completed at Kiel intended to operate primarily under motor power, with auxiliary sail. [1] Terms imposed in the wake of the World War I Armistice required Germany to hand over all new ships built as large steam or motor vessels.
As a result, Mary was sold shortly after completion to Denmark, and renamed Familiens Haab in 1922. In 1923 she was sold to Sweden and renamed Komet. She worked the Baltic Sea as a freighter hauling cement until 1970 and was decommissioned. [2] Because Krupp had built her hull using steel that had been intended for U-boats, Komet (and her sisters) developed a reputation for longevity. [1]
Komet was purchased in 1973 by the non-profit "Lahaina Restoration Foundation" (LRF). for approximately $21,000 and motored from Søby, Denmark to Hawaii by an all-Lahaina crew. [3] The 105 day passage, [2] via Madeira and the Panama Canal, arrived on September 7, 1973. [1] After installing 15 short tons (14 t) of cement and steel ballast to counterbalance a heavy square rig being assembled onshore to replace its original streamlined schooner sail plan, it was renamed Carthaginian II and restored over several years. Masts made of spruce, a deck of eucalyptus, and other details for a whaling supply ship of the 19th century were installed. In 1980, the ship was opened as a floating whaling museum. [4]
The addition of internal ballast allowed moisture to condense between it and the steel hull, which rusted to a point where it nearly split in half. LRF was spending $50,000 per year to maintain the ship.
In 2003, LRF approached Atlantis Submarines, a local tourist concern, proposing to sell Carthaginian II to be sunk as a underwater attraction. Atlantis spent $350,000 on an environmental study and cleaning her in preparation for becoming an artificial reef. On December 13, 2005, the boat was towed and sunk at a depth of approximately 97 feet (30 m), 1⁄2 mile (0.80 km) off the coast near Puamana Beach Park. It serves as a destination for diving expeditions and submarine tours. [5] [6] Scuba Diving and Sport Diver have rated the site as one of the top locations for shipwreck diving. [7] [8]
LRF was given 120 days to replace the vessel before the berth would be reclaimed for commercial operations. [9] [10] The berth was proposed as a potential home for the voyaging canoes Mo'okiha o Pi'ilani [11] or Mo'olele, [12] but Mo'okiha was berthed at Maalaea Harbor instead in 2016. [13]