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Horseshoe Reef
The H.M.S. Astrea a 32 gun British frigate sank on the windward edge of Horseshoe Reef in 808. The ship was blown up on to the reef and her keel broken. Exposed to the open ocean this area is often undivable due to the large breakers and heavy surge. On relatively calm days the wreck of the RMS Astrea is clearly visible.
One of the last great paddle steamers, the Paramatta, foundered on the reef in 1839, unlike many of the other ships driven up on a reef the Paramatta did not break up immediately, but after a month of abortive salvage attempts with the assistance of ships from St. Thomas the crew were forced to abandon their ship for their own safety. The Anegadians picked her clean, taking everything they could, bolted down or not.
Today the Paramatta's stern sits in about 40 feet of water and the bow, which is now virtually flattened, in about 10 feet of water. The chains and anchors which were used in the attempt are still in evidence. The stern sits in a valley of huge elkhorn coral formations, with magnificent sea fans and a variety of boulder corals around which, schools of blue tang, large parrot fish and creole wrasse may be seen. This is a rarely visited wreck as it is one the exposed side of Horseshoe Reef and sea conditions are rarely favourable for diving.
The Rocus, also known as Bone Wreck, foundered on the southern tip of Horseshoe Reef in 1929. A 380 foot steel freighter bound from Trinidad to Baltimore with a cargo of cattle bones, the stern of the wreck lies in about 40 feet of water and her bow just below the surface. The Rocus is now largely broken up, and the ocean floor is strewn with cattle bones and wreckage. The engine, huge boilers and winches are still recognisable. On the port side of the bow, stacks of chain are attached to a massive anchor. Sea fans and coral adorn the twisted wreckage. Elkhorn and staghorn coral fringe the wreck and ocean trigger fish, black durgon and jacks abound. Nurse sharks and green moray eels may be found under ledges around the site.
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