The Edward Luckenbach was built by Fore River S.B. in Quincy, Massachusetts., in 1916. She was 436.6 feet long, had a 57.2 foot beam and displaced 7,934 gross tons. The Edward Luckenbach was owned by Luckenbach Steamship Co. of New York. 

On July 2, 1942, while en route from Kingston, Jamaica, to New Orleans, under the command of Captain Richard Kelly, she was lost in an American mine field north of Key West. At the time she was carrying a cargo of 10,000 tons of tin and zinc ores, 1,800 tons of wood, hides and mail. The explosion was on her port side just forward of her engine room. Three minutes later, another explosion just forward of the first finished her off. She sank on an even keel in 60 feet of water. Captain Kelly later reported that he was following routing instructions given to him by the British Routing Officer in Jamaica. The instructions made no mention of a mine field. Captain Kelly blamed the disaster on the carelessness of officials in charge of routing. The Luckenbach had a complement of 42 crew and twelve Naval armed guards. All survived except for the third assistant engineer who was killed by the first explosion. The U.S. destroyer Sturtivent went down in the same mine field only two months earlier.

The Luckenbach wreck was wire dragged and is now scattered in 55 feet of water on a sandy bottom. Diver, Billy Deans, reports that she is a great dive; she sits scattered on a sand bottom and lies from east to west. Average visibility in the area is 20 feet.

Photo: The Edward Luckenbach was owned by Luckenbach Steamship Co. of New York. Photo courtesy William Schell collection.