Pompano Beach, Florida, United States

Copenhagen

The SS Copenhagen was a 99-metre British-flagged steel cargo steamer carrying a load of coal from Philadelphia to Havana when she grounded on Pompano Beach reef on the morning of 26 May 1900. Salvage attempts failed and the ship was abandoned; she lies broken across the shallow second reef line in just 4 to 9 metres of water about 1.5 nautical miles off Pompano Beach. During WWII, US Navy aircraft used the wreck for target practice, leaving it more flattened than it would otherwise be. In 1994 the State of Florida designated her as the state's first Underwater Archaeological Preserve. Today the boilers, engine block, ribs, plating and a 7-metre auxiliary anchor are clearly recognisable, and a bronze plaque on the wreck tells the story. The shallow profile makes it ideal for snorkellers and open-water divers. Marine life: large schools of grunts, sergeant majors, French angelfish, large green moray eels in the boilers and spotted eagle rays cruising past.