Not in the Gobi Desert! Lost in the Bermuda Triangle, Cotopaxi finally found

ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. — Scientists have found the wreckage of a cargo steamship that became associated with the Bermuda Triangle when it disappeared in 1925 off the Atlantic Coast of Florida.

The 250-foot (76-meters) SS Cotopaxi was sailing from Charleston, South Carolina, to Havana when it disappeared along with its 32-person crew. But a team of underwater explorers and maritime archaeologists have identified the wreckage of the ship about 35 nautical miles off the coast of St. Augustine.

“The ship became a part of the Bermuda Triangle myth,'” said Chuck Meide of the Lighthouse Maritime Archaeological Maritime Program.

The ship was missing important structural components and “unbeknownst to the captain and crew, they were sailing into a tropical storm,” Meide said.

The ship set sail on Nov. 29, 1925.

In a scene of the 1977 film “Close Encounters of the Third Kind,” the Cotopaxi is discovered in the Gobi Desert.

The findings will be featured in the premiere episode of a Science Channel series, “Shipwreck Secrets”, on Feb. 9 at 8 p.m. EST.

100 years later, the question remains: What happened to the USS Cyclops?

The coal hauler ship disappeared 100 years ago this month. What happened to the massive ship and its 309-man crew remains an unsolved mystery.

By Geoff Ziezulewicz

More In Your Navy

Multiple errors led to fuel leak in Pearl Harbor water, Navy says

Some 6,000 people, including Navy, Army and Air Force families, suffered nausea, headaches, rashes and other symptoms.

US Navy, Air Force running ‘capstone test’ of new high-power microwave missile

The High-Powered Joint Electromagnetic Non-Kinetic Strike Weapon (HiJENKS) uses microwave technology to disable an adversary’s electronic systems.

‘It’s scary as hell’ — PFAS exposure a ‘widespread’ problem for troops, families nationwide

Some of the highest concentrations of PFAS chemicals in the country have been found at and around military bases.

Navy-Marine war game puts their climate action strategy to the test

The scenario involved a Navy amphibious ready group and an embarked Marine expeditionary group poised to conduct an exercise with a partner nation amid storms and a typhoon.

Oops! Navy helo ‘rigging failure’ sends five missiles into the Pacific

Efforts to recover the RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missiles have begun.

In Other News

Should WWII’s last Medal of Honor recipient get a state funeral?

Hershel “Woody” Williams, awarded the nation's highest combat honor in 1945, passed away Wednesday.

Russian forces leave Snake Island, keep up eastern assault

Russia said it withdrew its forces from the island as a “goodwill gesture.” Ukraine said the Russians fled following a barrage of artillery and missiles.

Army veteran held in Ukraine speaks to mom by phone

Relatives say Lois “Bunny” Drueke spoke to her son Alexander Drueke, one of two Alabama veterans captured earlier this month in Ukraine, via telephone.

Wives of fighter pilots on what ‘Top Gun’ gets right — and wrong

Four wives of fighter pilots dish the details you don’t see in the Hollywood films on this episode of The Spouse Angle.

Are commissaries providing the savings they promised to troops?

Providing savings to service members is of particular concern right now due to the inflation in food prices.

Supreme Court upholds state government work protections for reservists

The Supreme Court allowed a former state trooper to sue Texas over his claim that he was forced out of his job when he returned from Army service in Iraq.

Last surviving WW2 Medal of Honor recipient Woody Williams dies at 98

Marine veteran Hershel “Woody” Williams famously destroyed enemy positions with a flamethrower on Iwo Jima.

No plans to increase abortion services at VA after Supreme Court ruling

The VA currently does not offer the procedure or counseling to patients seeking to get an abortion.

US to boost military presence in Europe for Russia threat

Biden announced the permanent basing of a U.S. military garrison in Poland. He also said the U.S. is sending two additional F-35 fighter jet squadrons to the U.K. and more air defense and other capabilities to Germany and Italy.

Abortions are rarely performed by military clinics, data shows

Military hospitals performed fewer than 100 abortions between 2016 and 2021.