SS Commodore

The SS Commodore at dock

The Commodore was an American steamboat that shipwrecked off the coast of Florida on January 2, 1897, while en route to Cuba. The event was immortalized when passenger and author Stephen Crane, who was traveling as a war correspondent for the Bacheller-Johnson syndicate, wrote the classic short story "The Open Boat" about his experience. Crane and three other men, including the ship's captain, Edward Murphy, were stranded in a 10-foot (3.0 m) dinghy for nearly thirty hours near the Mosquito Inlet Lighthouse (today's Ponce de Leon Inlet Light) before they were able to reach shore; all but one of the men survived.

References

Notes

Bibliography

• Davis, Linda H. 1998. Badge of Courage: The Life of Stephan Crane. New York: Mifflin. ISBN 0-89919-934-8.
• McCarthy, Kevin M. and William L. Trotter. 1992. Thirty Florida Shipwrecks. Pineapple Press Inc. ISBN 1-56164-007-7.

External links

• Ponce de Leon Inlet Light Station - History: Stephen Crane
• The Shipwreck, Discovery, and Investigation of the SS Commodore