The Mystery of the "Sindia" 

My grandmother was friends with an elderly lady named Mrs. Corson, back in the 1970's. She was the widow of the captain of one of the rescue boats that assisted the sailors on the Sindia when it was wrecked. She had a very large porcelain vase that came from the ship, and was a gift to Captain Corson from the Sindia's owners in appreciation for his efforts. My sister and I used to visit her when we were little kids, and she was quite a remarkable and memorable woman, with long fingernails painted bright red (I used to refer to them as her 'daggers' which she thought was very funny). I remember seeing parts of the Sindia sticking out of the water; so close, yet so far away for a 6 year old boy who couldn't swim. I remember being fascinated and frightened of the wreckage.

Tom clearly have a beautiful gift of storytelling.

Because of you, I have now a newfound interest of all things ships. This one is truly a treasure. Keep them coming, Tom.

I would say my best “treasure” find was in Springfield Illinois. While walking around I found a piece of ceramic. White and blue, looked to be like some kind of a China plate. Brought it to the front office, it turned out to be part Abraham Lincoln’s China kitchenware from his original house. It was a triangular piece, maybe 2” inches at the base and 4 inches tall. I was maybe 12-14 at the time and had no use for it, so I donated it to the museum there. I feel honored that I found a piece of history that now sits in a highly guarded shelf.

I used to play around the remains of the Sindia in the late 1950s and early 60s at low tide. There was a large twisted object with a hub and a number of iron spokes that we believed was a winch. There were a few bit of bulkhead just poking above the sand, but nothing identifiable and it was impossible to determine the size, shape or orientation of the wreck.

What an amazing video. I grew up in Ocean City NJ and my dad did as well. When he was a kid he was obsessed with the Sindia. He said you could actually see the mast in the 70’s. When I was a child we went to the Sindia museum so many times because we couldn’t get enough of the artifacts. Thank you so much for sharing this.

An old friend of mine who grew up in the Mobile(AL) bay area. She works at Fort Gaines on Dauphin Island, AL. In the forts museum there are several pieces of plates from China. She told me trading ships would load up with ceramic China plates which they were able to buy dirt cheap and use them as ballast. When the arrived at there destination they would just toss the plates overboard. When the army core of engineers filled in the gulf side gun bastions with sand moved from the west end of the island. You can still find little peices of blue and white ceramic plates.

My grandmother's family owned land in Ocean City NJ for years during this timeframe. She was 10 years old at the time the Sindia was beached and was carried on the shoulders of her father to see the shipwreck that had become beached during storm. The memory she had passed down to our family was that the captain and the crew had been celebrating and drinking a lot (this certainly could be due to having the silver coins you mention or other cargo not registered). They were not aware how far they had sailed off couse due to the storm. The captain, who was quite inebriated, thought he was closer to the planned destination of New York, took the wheel to compensate the direction and veered off making a sharp turn that ultimately ran the ship aground. She also noted that after a period of time, there were people caught trying to loot the ship's cargo as soon as word circulated about the Sindia being beached. That's probably another reason why the captain and some of the crew remained on the ship to stand guard.

My great grand parents had a summer home in Ocean City when the Sindia ran aground . As efforts to get her off the bar were futile and when the owners decided to sell off the cargo , customers , the public were ferried by life boat to the ship where items were displayed and sold . Later a pier was built out to the ship and a shop was constructed to serve as a store for items moved over as the hull became more and more unstable . Or so I am told . Anyway , my great grandfather actually got to board the ship and purchased some items. One was a nice porcelain tea pot which I now own . It is brown glazed with small dot flowers to decorate it . The pot was passed to my Grandmother , to my mother and to me . I will pass it to one of my children . If anyone ever has the opportunity to visit Ocean City N.J. , stop at the library they have a vast display of artifacts , including the ships figurehead . And if I remember correctly the ships rudder and post are outside . There is also the Legend of gold that was part of the cargo and at various times reports of someone looking to salvage it popup . Like the silver coins , I expect that if true that would have been the first thing removed . That said I enjoyed this article and heard a few things I had not heard before . Like the hull leaking ? I know that like many island communities there were shipwreckers who would set up a false beacon luring unsuspecting ships into shore for the purpose of stealing their cargos . about ten miles north is Brigantine NJ and a thriving business was done there in the 18th and 19th centuries

Oh yes, the SINDIA. The picture you showed at the beginning was what I first saw at OC, NJ years ago. As you point out, even up to the eighties there was something there to see...

Doing my thesis on the Boxer revolt... Will try my damndest to try ad squeeze in a reference to the Sindia now

never wanted a channel to succeed as much as this one. Keep up the good work bro

Your history with /and of the sea and shipping, is astounding!!! I joked before..."You sure know Your Ship..." I'm the joke for underestimating Your dedication, Your worthiness, to speak knowledgably about matters to which You know all and I know nothing. If I dis-respected You -or more importantly, those left behind, There are no apologies worthy to be acceptable. Forward on, Good Sir... Unyet known history needs You... THANK-YOU!

My family vacationed there for 50 years. I have a piece of wood that is likely from that wreck. Found it when it washed up about 200 yards from the site. That pier has been a staple of the fishing community since I was a child. If you’re ever in ocean city, have a meal at Bobs on the boardwalk. You won’t be disappointed

It seems very plausible, perhaps even likely, that the _Sindia_ was carrying contraband cargo of some kind; some of it may have indeed been silver coin. What exactly it could have been and for what purpose is lost to history. As to the reason for the beaching, it's possible it could have been deliberate. Yet, it's also possible that the ship's hull was showing signs of some fracturing and flooding even though it wasn't serious. Even though the _Sindia_ was only a few hours away from it's port destination, the storm was severe and dangerous. The master, Allan MacKenzie, might have thought that there was simply too much risk of any damage worsening and the ship breaking apart. Perhaps the value of contraband cargo might have also led him to be more cautious than otherwise. This is, of course, conjecture.

Actually, it wasn't the Sindia. It was her near-indentic sister ship Scambodia (the third of the trio was called the Snorth Skorea). They were switched because SCAMbodia was just the much more appropriate name for the job at hand. Also it wasn't the storm that did her in, but a -coal- perfume fire in one of the holds. I bet the Californian was also at the scene, still captained by Walpole at this time, watching to make sure everything goes "according to plan".

Absolutely fascinating mystery!

Great job with the tinfoil hat scene.

Thank you for making this video! I just watched the one you did one the S.S. Atlantis and they are both so well done! I'm one of the people that believe there had to have been something else on the Sindia and always get hopeful when someone tries to make a go of digging her up. I know back in the 90s she was unearthed a bit during a beach replenishment project but like you I am too young to have seen what was left of her on the beach. I hope that maybe one day during one of the dredging projects maybe a bit of her resurfaces or that more treasures wash up on the shore. Its a great story though, and one I love to think about everytime I walk the boardwalk and pass by the pavilion on 16th and 17th streets.

Very interesting, Tom. Well done and very well presented.

Your work is really good!

Just discovered your channel and am very impressed. Have been binge watching them. You have improved so much as I have watched chronically. Well done from Western Australia.

A story of intrigue, beautifully told.

Great story and well told. Jersey has so many wonderful tales to be told.

Fascinating, thank you Tom! My family took some vacations in Ocean City and I can remember seeing the masts.

Beautiful ship with such an interesting history, stories like this just makes maritime history so fascinating!

Your channel popped up today on my feed and I’m thoroughly hooked. Thanks for such great content. 🌟

I’m addicted to these great videos and this channel-more please!

I am so glad that this channel was recommended to me. Great job!!!

Interesting story. I loved it. Nice video Tom.

Amazing as always Tom.

Awesome video thanks a bunch for putting this together

I love your channel and thoroughly enjoy the videos and topics. I could watch your works all day.

I enjoy all of your videos & this one is no exception. Thank you.

Amazing story. Thank you for taking us there.

Interesting video as always! Thank you for uploading :)

Interesting story. I enjoy your ship and ghost town stories. Much appreciated. Ben from Ireland 🇮🇪

Great story and covered with your expert story telling skills

As a kid going to OC with my parents I remember seeing the Sindia. I dove a lot of the Jersey wrecks starting in 71 and we noticed a lot of them were missing their manifest. At the end of sail they were probably off loaded at another port, scuttled off NJ and the insurance for the ship and cargo used to buy a steamship. There were also steamers missing cargo and one missing a payroll

Excellent video!

0:38 Tin Foil Tom. Love it.

Enjoying your solo content so far Tom and I'm looking forward to finding and reading up more on the Sindia. :)

Really cool Tom, thank you!

What a great Video. History is your forte!

I learned of this wreck at a great mini golf excursion in ocean city. I believe there was a few block and tackle artifacts there. Great documentary, I don’t doubt Rockefeller had this plan carried out.

Another amazing story.

Great video

very good channel you have here :D

A great mystery, thank you 😊

i like this channel,i've subscribed..i can feel this man passion in maritime history..cool stuff!

That’s wild my last name is sindia, weird I have never heard of this ship before now. Great vid.

Another beautiful liner, not from the White Star Line (My favorite marine company), but still very interesting, I never heard and saw things about this ship.

Watching this from OCNJ. Would love more Sindia content 🌊⚓️

few brave the sea for anything other than to survive (aka profit)... great history part time exp... theres no tellin what else lies beneath the sands of time of the shores of the sea...thanks for posting tom.

"Something was taken off that ship that was not written down: ancient aliens. That's right, this is now a History Channel crossover episode that nobody saw coming."

I watched a four master barque video shot by Irving Johnson last night. Wonderful first hand old video. I nearly got seasick watching it lol.

The Robber Barons apprenticeship! Thanks for sharing and very interesting.

awesome video! you must be from south jersey if you’re covering the Sindia. I grew up nearby and also guarded for 6 years on the Ocean City Beach Patrol, mainly on the north end and downtown. I used to love telling kids about Sindia.

Very intresting! :)

Very interesting!

Your quite good at this sir, I'll sub that!

The reason is that the Titanic conspiricy theories are just that. In this case it really does sound highly likely that it was a scam.

Awesome thanks

Happy birthday tom!!!

Comparing the silk craze to the modern anime craze is one of the most apt and accurate comparisons I've ever heard 🤣🤣

Wonderful indeed.

I LIKE HEARING ABOUT THE HISTORY OF DIFFERENT SHIPS

Thank you!

I know this is old but wow its amazing

Tom you and your wife are captivating with these mini documentary's, to be honest I was only interested in the Titanic content but with yalls videos I literally watch them all somehow you get all the interesting aspects of a particular topic. You guys should really be on really TV, btw some of your best work in my opinion were on TH&G the one were you cover the holidays on Titanic and the one were you talking about what she was fitted out with. It was like a series LOVE LOVE LOVE THOSE! seen them several times!.........Also just wondering if you've seen the doc/movie Saving The Titanic if so is it totally accurate and did you like it?

Growing up just outside of Ocean City, NJ, I had heard about the wreck of the Sindia. I'd love to find more info about this local historic wreck. Even though I was around in the 70s and 80s, I never visited the wreck, most likely because I wasn't aware of the fact thatbit was disappearing at that time.

As a kid in the 70's I spent many hours and days actually surfing around the remains of one of the top masts that still protruded from the water.

I saw all your 3 videos and I really like your content, you should visit Mendoza, Argentina there are abandoned mines and ghost town lossed in the middle of the mountains

Here in the Pacific Northwest, many square riggers were sunk or ran aground for profit (Insurance fraud)...in the last days of sail, when steamships were more profitable....The Bark "Mimi' aground and capsized during attempted salvage in 1913....the Glenesslin ran hard aground on rocks, at the base of a mountain on a clear, sunny day....other possible fraud cases.

The Rockefeller angle is very plausible.

You admit to being in possession of contraband from the Sindia? The Manganese ore would have been a pretty good cover story. It doesn't really look like silver but very good ore or raw manganese can have a metallic sheen to it. That part of Jersey does have a long history of attracting scammers.....

It amazes me how ships can simply be "left" on beaches, and no one, or any institution, government, etc., tries to "save" them, or restore them, or reuse them.

My goal is to watch all your videos from the first one to the current one. Hopefully I'll get there but it'll take me time since I work full-time 😅😅

0:38 when someone tries to explain the switch theory to me.

Great story T.....Get over to Harland & Wolff... quick....she's being demolished, along with Tiger's Bay where all the HW families lived....Sad.

Wouldn't be unlikely. It certainly wasn't unheard-of for vessels to be scuttled for a big insurance payout or to save the cost of disposal when their lives were over. It seems suspicious that the captain and some crewman would stay aboard if they were so concerned by the damage they claim the ship sustained that they felt it needed to be beached. Beaching is a pretty risky and dramatic move after all.

Rockefeller would have been hurting for cash at the time due to his failing attempt to corner copper begun in 1899, (he thought he could succeed where Pierre Secretan had failed in 1888), so if there was something extraordinarily valuable aboard he would have tried to recover it if possible. Whether the crew deliberately ran it aground or not I don't know, but most likely several remained aboard on JDR's orders for the purpose of preventing anyone else from filing a salvage claim on it. If there was silver coin aboard it most likely was removed first. Maybe the rest of the cargo had been so damaged by that time that they just sold what they could locally and let the rest go.

I'm not one to hold and serious thought to controversial stories either (the Titanic-Olympic one is indeed utter rubbish), but this one actually does seem plausible... Thanks for sharing! Very interesting story. Going to have to read up on it myself now! And that's very amazing that you have a peice of the porcelain and that your fatger was able to find that after 100 years.

Lmao, that anime comment caught me off gaurd. Great video Tom! I'm always excited to learn more about shipwrecks.

One of the USA's " Robber-Barons" ftw!

If you are ever in the Louisville ky/Jeffersonville Indiana area you should check out the Howard steamboat museum.

...the fastest sailing ship was the "flying cloud" in 1851 she made the run from New York and San Francisco in just 99 days, a record that held til the 1980s when it was beaten by just 1day.....it was a racing yacht, flying cloud was carrying a full load of cargo and passengers, to me flying cloud still holds the record....

There was a hotel (motel) in Ocean City named for the Sindia.

Nice hat

we should dig it up

I agree! Tom we feel you storyteller ability should be used more if possible!

When did the Sindia fully disappear beneath the sand?

Please say there are replicas of Clipper ships that sail on small one day excursion voyages.

TODAY'S MY BIRTHDAY

Some conspiracy theories are more believable than others. Personally, I never believed the Titanic “ship swap theory.” It would cost the company more money than to just start over. It would be really bad publicity too. And keeping a good reputation in the public eye would be more profitable than any partial-coverage insurance claims.

Considering how ruthless Rockefeller was in his business practices, it would not surprise me that he deliberately wrecked a ship to smuggle in silver.

Thingś like that really do happen.

Can we see some examples of ships that where DEFINITELY sunk for profit?

I don’t know if it’s physically possible but someone should try and dig to find a bit of the hull. That’d be amazing to at least see.

Clipper ships were made of wood and were around before the 1880s. A 'Windjammer' is made of steel and date from the late 19th Century. The Sindia is a Windjammer.