USS AMPHITRITE was built at Norfolk Navy Yard 1890 - 1894 where it was commissioned 23 April 1895. It saw active service in the Spanish-American War and was stricken from the Navy List on 24 July 1919. In the 1930s, Fort Lauderdale embraced the former warship USS Amphitrite as a floating hotel and restaurant. Decommissioned in 1919, the 262-foot-long Amphitrite was purchased by A.L.D. Buckstein who converted it into a hotel, Amphitrite found a home at Fort Lauderdale’s Port Everglades in January, 1931. The vessel was moved near the Casino - now near the location of the International Swimming Hall of Fame. The floating 75-room-hotel and two-floor restaurant drew local guests and tourists (and rumored gambling) until the Hurricane of 1935. The storm washed it across the waterway to the cove at Idlewyld off Las Olas Boulevard where it remained in legal limbo for several years. In July, 1942 the Amphitrite set sail north where it later served as home to workers on the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. The vessel was scrapped in 1952.
Posted on: Tue, 04 Nov 2014 00:46:06 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015