The 241-foot steel-hulled schooner, “Prinz Valdemar,” capsized inside the Miami ship channel on this date in 1926, blocking larger vessels from entering and exiting the port for over a month. The ship proved difficult to right due to her large masts. City officials began digging another channel to allow much-needed building supplies into the harbor. Dredging operations were halted, however, when two of the dredges hit reefs. The masts were then cut off and shipping continued around the capsized hull. A devastating hurricane which struck Miami later that year, and the sinking of the Prinz Valdemar helped spell an early end to Miami’s 1920s land boom. The Prinz Valdemar was eventually refloated and moved near Biscayne Boulevard. The ship was dry-docked and used as an aquarium, a restaurant, and a bar until finally being scrapped in the 1950s.
~Florida Historical Society
