Half Moon (shipwreck)

The Half Moon (also known as the Germania and Exen) was a racing sailboat; it sank in 1930 near Miami, Florida, United States. The wreck is outside Bear Cut, which separates Virginia Key from Key Biscayne. Christened Germania, the racing yacht featured a chrome-nickel steel hull built by Krupp-Germania-Werft in 1908 in Kiel, Germany. During a visit to England in 1914, the yacht was seized as a 'war prize'. After changing owners several times, and surviving an especially-violent storm off Virginia, the yacht became a floating restaurant and dance hall off Miami. It sank near Key Biscayne in 1930. In 2000, the wreck became the seventh Florida Underwater Archaeological Preserve. In 2001, it was added to the US National Register of Historic Places.