The wreck of SS American Star, Playa de Garcey, Fuerteventura, canary islands, islas canarias, spain, España, Europe, Europa
SS American Star - a 723ft luxury liner - was launched in 1939. Unfortunately her launch coincided with Hitler's invasion of Poland and she was rapidly converted into a troop carrier. Post war she resumed cruising and in the seventies (renamed SS Australis)shipped passengers from Europe to Australia and New Zealand. After years of failed comebacks as a cruise ship, she was under tow from Greece to the far east when her towing lines snapped in a force 12 storm off the west coast of Fuerteventura. She broke in half on this sand bar and the stern section sank. The bow is proving a tad more resilient - this happended in 1994. This image was taken in July 2006, eight months after tropical storm Delta swept throught the Canary islands. The storm force winds and big seas caused the port side of the wreck to collapse.
Size: 5150px × 3420px
Photo credit: © Islandstock / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: america, american, australis, canary, cruise, fuerteventura, islands, point, ship, shipwreck, shipwrecked, ss, star, uss, west, wreck
