off the shore of saturn island new york rests a ship graveyard of decommissioned scrapped
and abandoned vessels of various sizes ages and states of decay this unusual boat graveyard was
set up in the 1930s and went by several different names such as the whitson marine scrap yard
arthur kill boat yard and tugboat graveyard now it's officially known as the don john
iron and metal scrap processing facility the boat graveyard was once home to as many as 400 vessels
today that number has been estimated to be between 25 and 40 decaying ships the scrapyard is known
for its large assortment of obsolete steam tugs ferries car floats and others that have
a comprehensive history but how did this location come to be
and what made this place the official dumping ground for accumulated ship wreckage today we
discover staten island's boat graveyard i'm your host ryan socas and you're watching it's history
so what's a ship graveyard well a ship graveyard refers to several old vessels that have gone
out of service and have been dumped as the name suggests a ship graveyard is where ancient ships
which have completed their service life are abandoned to disintegrate naturally also known as
a ship cemetery a ship graveyard would generally have many ships boats or halls of scrapped vessels
left to decay and rust the practice of abandoning ships to rust in a particular area was followed
mainly during the ancient times you see the history of shipbreaking yards goes back to
centuries ago as the ancient wooden ships were recycled to reuse the timber since the arrival
of metal as the main component of boats this form of ship disposal became popular so that the
steel could be recycled to produce new products staten island's 24-acre boat graveyard located
near the fresh kills landfill off the west shore of staten island was founded in the 1930s
during the wake of world war ii by john j witte the primary use for this typical ship graveyard
is when vessels are broken up for parts and raw materials which can be sold or reused for
scrap however witchy who managed the graveyard until he died in 1980 refused to dismantle any
ships unless a buyer was available making this place a dumping site for obsolete watercraft
the staten island boat graveyard is the main location in new york city where vessels were the
remnants of boats have been deliberately abandoned and remain untouched when a ship reached the end
of its operational life it could be brought to the highly industrialized staten island boat graveyard
sunk in the shallow water and left to rust away because woody was so eminent about not dismantling
his ships during his management this left an abundance of nautical artifacts after what he
passed the staten island boat graveyard was taken over by his son-in-law joe coyne who described it
as similar to an automobile salvage yard with the boats serving as a source of parts to sell
coin ultimately went against his father-in-law's request not to dismantle and began to free up
some space on the grounds when his father-in-law was in charge the property held over 400 ships
but coin was able to eliminate several bringing the number down to about 100 you see when the
original owner was alive he was very territorial over his property and would chase people away for
trespassing after his death the trespassing laws stayed in place and the ship graveyard
was restricted from the public and photographers coyne eventually passed the torch of ownership
to his son arnold who upholds the no trespassing rule to this day many historic vessels occupy the
grounds and some even refer to this boat yard as an accidental marine museum perhaps most famous is
the uss pc 1264 which was the first world war ii u.s naval ship to have a predominantly
african-american crew this ship was a pc 461-class submarine chaser built for the united states navy
the vessel was one of two u.s navy ships operated primarily by african americans during world war
ii the other ship was the escort destroyer the uss mason on december the 9th 1941 a telegram
was sent by the national association for the advancements of colored people also known as the
naacp to us secretary of the navy frank knox requesting that african americans
should be accepted into the navy to serve still the navy refused to change its policy
a week later on december the 17th 1941 a letter from the naacp to president franklin roosevelt on
the matter prompted him to contact mark etheridge chairman of the fair employment practice committee
to investigate the navy's policy on june the first 1942 the u.s navy announced that african americans
would be allowed to enlist in the general service on november the 28th 1943 the pc 1264 was
completed by the consolidated shipbuilding company in morris heights and launched the pc 1264 was a
submarine chaser intended to intercept and destroy german u-boats stationed off the coast of the
united states this ship was in service for less than two years but her crew's performance and
the uss masons led the u.s navy to re-evaluate its perception of african americans as fleet members
the ship disappeared from the historical record until two 1990 era photographers showed this ship
heavily rusted but still afloat amid other halls of the staten island boat graveyard another ship
that still haunts on-site is the new york city fire department fire boat abram s hewitt which
served as a floating command post at the 1904 sinking of the passenger ferry ps general slocum
a disaster that killed more than a thousand people constructed in 1891 and owned by the knickerbocker
steamboat company the ps general slocum was made of white oak locus and yellow pine it
was licensed to carry 2 500 passengers which served as a side wheel passenger steamboat in
brooklyn the ps slocum was involved in several mishaps during her service history including
multiple groundings and collisions however on june the 15th 1904 the ship carried 1358 passengers
including a massive crew chartered by saint mark's evangelical lutheran church for 350 the passengers
came mainly from the german american community of the lower east side most of the passengers
were women and children unfortunately a fire broke out on deck and spread rapidly within a
half hour the passengers didn't have much of a choice other than to drown at sea or burn alive
on the ship sadly most of the passengers could not swim and the period clothing of the time worked
against them the fire boat abram as hewitt was the first boat launched to the scene of the burning ps
general slocum the hewitt was a coal-powered fire boat operated by the fire department of new york
city from 1903 to 1958 costing 83 750 dollars to build the hewitt was the department's last coal
powered vessel and had a pumping capacity of 7 000 gallons per minute and was launched on july 11
1903 at the shipyards of the new york shipbuilding corporation in camden new
jersey the hewitt was commissioned in october of 1903 and was named after a recently deceased mayor
unfortunately the fire on ps general slocum was uncontrollable only 321 passengers survived out of
a total of 1 358 passengers the final death count totaled 1021. the ps general slocum didn't make it
to the staten island boat graveyard but the abram s hewitt did after being disposed of in 1958 and
can still be seen by boat or kayak it peeks out above the water and is coated in a scarlet red
rust another historical boat relic located in the staten island boat graveyard is the new england
passenger steamer as it was called back in its day of 1928 it served its years well and ended its
career as a transportation boat during the famous yet disastrous d-day the epic ship carried many
passengers and traveled all over the world lastly there is the beautiful ship named aldea aldia was
a 143 meters long steel freighter damaged after being blown ashore in east orleans massachusetts
on march the 29th 1984 after delivering its load of colombian sugar in saint john new brunswick the
vessel was hit by a storm bearing 80 mile per hour winds this storm was part of a period of extreme
weather that caused president ronald reagan to pledge federal disaster relief unfortunately eldea
was unable to match the strength of the storm it was fixed by the don john iron and metal scrap
processing facility but it was returned to the staten island boat graveyard to be scrapped
because its owner ran short on finances the staten island boat graveyard isn't the only
place in the area that has skeletal remains tucked between an industrial stretch of arthur kill road
and staten island boat graveyard on a narrow elevated strip is an abandoned cemetery called
the slight family graveyard it's more popularly referred to as the blazing star cemetery inspired
by the area's original name the title blazing star is derived from a tavern that stood here
before the american revolution and later became the name the blazing star ferry that connected
stagecoach routes from new york to philadelphia however this graveyard isn't filled with boats
it's filled with people with gravestones dating back to 1751 just like the staten island boat
graveyard this cemetery is landmarked and holds some of staten island's most notable names
this includes the seguin decker purin win end and sleight family in fact the winnen family was
one of the first european settlers of staten island and the seguins still have a mansion
labeled after their family's name according to the landmarks preservation commission designated
report the cemetery is one of the first community burial grounds on staten island this place holds
so much history and is just a stone's throw away from the staten island boat graveyard
another nearby cemetery is the rossville cemetery located on the wooded side of kill arthur which
winds towards the southern tip of staten island it's a small patch of cleared grounds spotted with
broken and eroded gravestones from the 17th and 18th century legend has it this place is haunted
and you must walk beyond the graves down the muddy embankment step into the soggy marsh and from here
we return to the staten island boat graveyard according to some this graveyard is a historical
and haunted maritime marvel ranking among the top 10 boat graveyards with all this death and decay
within the property and its surroundings for many it's not improbable to believe
in the prospects of paranormal activity with perhaps a more pragmatic view others simply
see the graveyard as a place of danger an unsafe metal filled with toxic substances that should be
removed from the waterway either way the boats evoke the past in their iconic silhouettes
becoming so disposable like so many relics of our species industrial past the staten island boat
graveyard has attracted many fearless artists and vandals over the years the small ships closest to
shore are splattered with spray painted tags while those further out have been frequent subjects for
oil painters and watercolorists since the 1980s photographers have visited the grounds to capture
as many pictures as possible and have created exhibits around their visuals movie makers also
visited the grounds film scenes such as the 2010 movie salt starring angelina jolie were partially
shot at the staten island boat graveyard two years after the movie salt debuted documentary makers
dedicated footage to this remarkable spot creating the 32-minute documentary graves of arthur kill
in 2012. the graveyard got so famous over the years that even instagram made a contest in
which they gathered some of the most outstanding photos made on these muddy waters other frequent
guests include marine historians that like to explore the area and admire the view overall
the location has become an unofficial tourist attraction because of its eerie environment
this place is hard to access it is in a remote location and anyone trespassing must be willing to
be prosecuted to the full extent of the law among the piles of metal that once had a real purpose
one can find several historically significant relics luckily the staten island boat graveyard
can be viewed by boat or kayak from the water but access to the grounds is relentlessly forbidden
the official site of dungeon recycling the current owners of the staten island boat graveyard states
the following quote we receive many inquiries from amateur and professional photographers and
filmmakers requesting to access the graveyard from our property unfortunately we are unable to grant
such requests dungeon recycling is an operational scrap facility utilizing heavy equipment
and safeguard regulations prohibit us from allowing photography of any kind dungeon
marine company incorporated became the official caretakers of the staten island boat graveyard
in 1964 with mr j arnold witty as dungeons president and chief executive officer dungeon
marine's principal business activities were marine salvage marine transportation and related services
dungeon itself is named after arnold witty's two oldest children donna and john now i'm sure i
already have hell to pay for the pronunciation of the name of this marina in the comment sections
but i'm actually looking for some clarification here is it pronounced dungeon or don john and
let's see how this little pronunciation mishap affects the youtube algorithm wink wink anyhow the
donjon companies employ more than 400 full-time professionals have a fleet of more than 40 wholly
owned and operated vessels including four salvage tugs which range in horsepower from 1 200 to 8 000
a fleet of utility vessels from 250 to 1200 horsepower and three units of heavy lift derrick
barges with 200 to 1000 ton capacity according to donjon.com concentrating on the environment
became a huge focus in the early 1980s don john recognized the ever-growing importance
of protecting the environment both on sea and land which progressed with their sister companies these
companies have since grown to become recognized leaders in the environmental industry with offices
and facilities from massachusetts to maryland and it's here that we reach an interesting
contradiction historic preservation is in the hands of a scrapping company i suppose that
what's left in this mysterious boat graveyard is destined to disappear one way or another that's it
for today's video don't forget to check out our battleship graveyard playlist and subscribe for
new videos every thursday and saturday until next time this is ryan socash signing off