Fishermen find big one that didn't get away: a steamship resting miles off Naples

Terry Tomalin -

In its nearly 30 years at sea, the steamship City of Everett survived fires and collisions. The first American steamship to circle the globe, it carried food to a famine-stricken India.

Then came the storm in the Gulf of Mexico. "Am lowering boats," the radio operator announced late on Oct. 11, 1923.

"Will sink soon." Twenty-five minutes later came another message: "Going down stern first."

The 346-foot freighter issued one more S.O.S. before the radio fell silent. "That was the last anybody heard of the ship or her crew," said underwater explorer Michael C. Barnette. "For nearly 90 years, nobody knew what happened to those 26 men."

Jay Travis and Brian Beukema live to fish.

"We think nothing of running 250 miles offshore," said Travis, who lives in Bradenton. "We fish all the local tournaments. We love the deep water."

A few years ago, the pair and some friends found themselves about 150 miles due west of Naples. Like any serious anglers, they know that the farther out you go, the larger the fish.

"We catch big amberjack, grouper, you name it," said Travis.

In one area thought to be the site of several shipwrecks, their electronic depth finder registered a large object on the ocean floor.

"It was too big to be a school of bait," Travis said. "We knew it had to be something man-made."

Travis marked the location and returned several times. Eventually, his curiosity overwhelmed his reluctance to reveal a favorite fishing spot.

"I heard about (Barnette) and his shipwreck work," Travis recalled. "So I figured I would give him a try."

After a few e-mails and phone calls, Travis and Barnette agreed to meet, though the angler wasn't exactly forthcoming at first.

"It was the classic 'I'll show you mine if you show me yours,'?" Barnette recalled. "But after a couple of beers, we decided to go check it out."

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Photo Mike Barnette

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