Revision 6/21/2012 4:02 PM
Type: Freighter, Chile
Built: 1937, England, as Helga
Specs: (292 x 41 ft ) 1700 gross tons, 67 crew
Sunk: September 21, 1944, collision with the freighter Voco - no casualties
Depth: 195 ft, starts at 160 ft
Originally named the Helga, this ship was built at the Helsingors Jernsk & Msk building yard in1937. The Choapa was 292 feet long, 41 feet wide and displaced 1,700 gross tons.
During World War II, German U-Boats were reaping havoc all along the U.S. eastern seaboard. In order to minimize the chances of attack, merchant vessels were forced to travel in convoys and run at night without navigational lights.
On September 21,1944, while the Choapa was part of an inbound convoy, she was anchored and waiting for permission to enter New York Harbor when the British tanker, Voco, part of an outbound convoy, collided with her. Fortunately, all of the Choapa’s crew were transferred to the Voco, which was not seriously damaged in the collision, before the Choapa slipped beneath the waves.
Today, the Choapa lies twelve miles off Asbury Park in an area called the Mud Hole. This wreck is only for the experienced deep diver to explore. Although she is sitting upright in 195 feet of water, she can be reached at about 160 feet. Visibility is known to be poor, sometimes no more than one or two feet and the wreck is covered in nets and high test monofilament.