REPUBLIC Jupiter Inlet

The Republic was built in 1920 by Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corp in Wilmington, Delaware, as the Liberty Minquas. She was launched as the Weweantic, but was renamed Liberty Minquas prior to delivery. In 1923 she was sold to American Petroleum Co. in Houston and once again renamed Republic. She was 392 feet long, had a 51 foot beam and displaced 5,287 gross tons.

On February 21, 1942, the Republic was torpedoed by the German U boat U-504. At the time she was traveling in ballast en route from Paulsboro, New Jersey, to Port Arthur, Texas. Two torpedoes struck on her port side and the following explosions destroyed her engine room. One lifeboat containing 22 survivors rowed ashore; a total of five men were killed. The tanker drifted until she grounded five miles east of Hobe Sound, where she broke up and finally disappeared beneath the waves on February 23, 1942. Captain Charles Seabrook, keeper of the Jupiter Lighthouse, recovered many of the crew's bodies as they washed ashore. As a side note, the U-504 was sunk on July 30, 1943, off Cape Ortegal, Spain.

The Republic was later heavily salvaged, but divers will still find some large steel hull plates on the site. According to diver Craig Swaverly, the wreckage sits in 45 feet of water and is frequented by large numbers of snapper and grouper.

Photo: The Republic was 392 feet long and had a 51 foot beam. Photo courtesy Steamship Historical Society Collection, University of Baltimore Library.

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