Caesar

History

The Caesar was a British brig built in County Durham in 1814. In 1818 she sailed from Shields in north-east England for Baltimore under Captain James Richardson with a crew of seven and a typical mixed cargo of English goods: heavy grindstones, bricks, glassware, medicine vials and decorated flasks, parts for grandfather clocks, white, red and black lead pigments, and a marble cornice ordered for a Baltimore church.

She struck a reef off Bermuda's West End and was lost; salvors recovered much of the cargo at the time. The site was then forgotten until 1957, when Teddy Tucker rediscovered it in a sand hole and raised more cargo using Herbie Smith's salvage boat The Ruby. Bricks from the wreck were used in restoring the old Rum Runners building in Hamilton, and grindstones turned up as sharpening stones and garden paths.

Diving the wreck today

An easy 25-35 ft dive in a sand hole surrounded by reef. Stacks of grindstones, some weighing more than a ton, rest on the remains of the wooden hull, and after winter storms the bottom timbers are well exposed. Necks and bases of black glass bottles lie among the timbers, and lead shot collects in the shallows. Storms can bury or uncover the site from year to year. Good fish life; suitable for all levels and close to the Airplane.