MIZPAH Riviera Beach

The Mizpah was originally built in 1926 by Newport News SB & DD Co. of Newport News as the Savarona. She was 185 feet long, had a 27 foot beam, displaced 548 gross tons and was powered by twin diesel engines. She later sailed under several names including the Sequoia, Allegro and finally Mizpah. In March of 1942, she was requisitioned and commissioned by the Navy and given the numbers PY-29. In September of 1946, the Navy sold the old steamer to H.O. Merren & Company of Roatan, Honduras, probably as a Banana trader.

Although many diving publications have listed this vessel's historical origin as a Greek luxury liner, the true account has been listed above. The vessel ended up as a derelict before being donated by Eugene Kinney and scuttled off Palm Beach in 1968. To make the ship safe for divers to explore, her hatches were removed prior to sinking. She sits upright and intact in 95 feet of water, where the visibility has been reported to be excellent. Three hundred yards northeast of the Mizpah, divers will find the wreck of the patrol craft Amaryllis, and also lying nearby these two wrecks are the remains of a 65 foot wooden tug.

Basic shipwreck information and images for this section of this site was taken with permission from the book Florida Shipwrecks by Daniel Berg. You are invited to submit your shipwreck related articles, images and information. As long as the text, photographs, sketches etc are of professional quality we will showcase them. Full credit will be provide and a same page link to your web site can be arranged.