First images of 'Titanic of the Golden Gate'

            On Feb. 22, 1901, in a dense morning fog, the SS City of Rio de Janeiro struck jagged rocks near the Golden Gate Bridge and sank almost immediately, killing 128 of the 210 passengers and crew aboard the ship.The ship was never found - until now.

              The NOAA and partners today released three-dimensional sonar maps and images of the immigrant steamship.

               'We are undertaking this exploration of the San Francisco Bay in part to learn more about its maritime heritage as well as to test recent advances in technology that will allow us to better protect and understand the rich stories found beneath the Bay's waters,' said James Delgado, director of maritime heritage for NOAA's Office of National Marine Sanctuaries. 

               The images also revealed that the ship did not, as rumoured, contain treasure. 

               California-based salvagers found the wreck in the 1980s, but its exact location was unknown as the coordinates they provided did not coincide with any wreck charted by NOAA through years of sonar work.

              During this expedition, Robert Schwemmer, West Coast Regional Maritime Heritage Coordinator, worked with Delgado and multibeam sonar expert Gary Fabian to locate the wreck site again. 

              They located the site in 287 feet of water, positioned inside the main ship channel, and largely buried in mud.

              Schwemmer and the Hibbard team captured the first detailed sonar and three-dimensional images of City of Rio resting in the dark, muddy waters outside the bridge.

              'The level of detail and clarity from the sonar survey is amazing,' Schwemmer said. 'We now have a much better sense of both wrecks, and of how they not only sank, but what has happened to them since their loss.' 

               The 3-D model generated by the Coda Octopus 'Echoscope' sonar also gave researchers an entirely new perspective on the condition of the wreck site. 

              What they found was a crumpled, scarcely recognizable iron hulk encased in more than a century worth of mud and sediment, lending support to the narrative that the ship sank quickly before many of its passengers could escape.