About Photos Revisions Black Point RI More Info Max Depth: 91-100ft/28-30m Entry Type: Boat Bottom Composition: Sand Aquatic Life: Might See Something Spring: Under 50°F/10°C Summer: Under 50°F/10°C Fall: Under 50°F/10°C Winter: Under 50°F/10°C 8/31/2009 5:09 PM

Black Point is a boat accessible salt water dive site, located in RI. The maximum depth is 91-100ft/28-30m.

Type: Collier Built:1918, Camden NJ
Specs: (369 x 55 ft ) 5353 displacement tons
Sunk: May 5, 1945 - torpedoed by U-853 - 12 casualties
Depth: 85 ft - broken in two, otherwise intact
Originally named Fairmont, and later Nebraskan before being renamed Black Point, this steel hulled collier was built in Camden, New Jersey, in 1918. She was 369 feet long,55 feet wide and displaced 5,353 gross tons. The Black Point has earned herself a place in history due only to the time of her sinking.
On May 5, 1945,carrying 7,595 tons of coal, the 27 year old Black Point was en route from New York to Boston, and World War II was finally ending. Adolph Hitler had already committed suicide and Admiral Karl Donitz had issued a personal order to allU-Boats to "cease hostilities" Apparently, Commander Oberleutnant Helmut Froems dorf, of the U-853 didn’t receive Donitz’s orders or simply refused to obey them. At 5:40 PM, he sighted the Black Point and fired a torpedo into her stern. The tremendous explosion ripped 40 feet off of the coiler’s stern. At 5:55 AM the Black Point rolled to port, capsized and went down taking twelve crew members to a watery grave. The Black Point has the title of the last ship sunk in American waters by a German U-Boat during World War II. As for the U-853, she was sunk by an American task force shortly after her attack on the Black Point and is now resting in 130 feet of water.
The Black Point is now resting in two sections. Her stern is about 80 feet long and sits on its side in 85 feet of water. The stern still has a deck gun which divers can easily recognize. Her bow lies a good distance away upside down in 100 feet of water. The bow has about 40 feet of relief and holds human remains of her crew.
 
 
http://www.northeastdiver.com/blackpoint.html
http://njscuba.net/sites/site_black_point.html
http://www.aquaexplorers.com/shipwreckblackpoint.htm