Andrew Donn's SCUBA Diving Web Site  

M/V Holstein

The Flour wreck, as it has become known, lies 100 miles off the coast of Madeira Beach Florida in 200 feet of water. The name stems from the fact that the wreck leaked a continuous stream of flour for some time after her sinking and the many bags of flour found in the holds of the wreck. Frequented almost exclusively by spear fishermen, the wreck lay unidentified for years. In December of 2001 a group of AUE divers sought to identify her. We conducted two dives on December 15th and came back with enough information to make a positive identification. Armed with several pieces of information gathered on these dives, Mike Barnette compared records of ships lost near this location and came up with a probable match, the M/V Holstein which sank in October 1992 with a cargo of flour. She now lies on the bottom on her port side.

All Images ©Andrew Donn 1998-2004 unless otherwise noted. All Rights Reserved.

Andrew Donn's SCUBA Diving Web Site
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Holstein
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Anchor

This is an image of one of the Holstein's anchors.

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Identification

One of the goals of this dive on the wreck was to identify her. Here Tami fans away the silt covering the name on the hull.

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E

After a little work, the letter E is clearly visible.

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Flour

The Holstein had been known for years as the flour wreck. The large holds are scattered with bags of flour that she once carried.

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Bridge

This image shows one of the front windows of the bridge.

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Tami

My buddy Tami explores the wreck.

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Ladder

Several damselfish dart about a ladder on the side of the wreck.

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Bridge

This is a view of the side of the bridge area.

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Gauge

Mike Barnette finds a gauge inside the bridge of the wreck. He examines it for any makings that would indicate the identity of this wreck.

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Pizzio

Mike Pizzio emerges from inside the wreck.

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Engine Room

This dimly lit image is taken from inside the engine room of the wreck.

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Screw

This is one of the screws.

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Goodies

Barney sends his goodie bag to the surface. Check out the Artifact section to see what he brought up.

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Stages

Joe clips on his stage bottles in preparation for his ascent.

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Deco

Here is a rare shot of me in the water. I'm usually behind the camera. As you can see, the water clarity is much better above the wreck than it is on the wreck.

Image courtesy of Tami Thomsen.

 

Additional Holstein Info

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