On 22 January 1930, Monte Cervantes departed Ushuaia and within 30 minutes struck some submerged rocks in the Pan de Indio.

The ship was scheduled to operate regularly between Hamburg and the South American capitals of Rio de Janeiro and Buenos Aires.

As an example the shipboard menu for 30 May 1929 included cooked eggs, pancakes with applesauce, and oatmeal in milk for breakfast; broth with Tyrolean bacon dumplings, roast veal, young peas, potatoes, and California apricots for lunch; afternoon tea with filled bee sting cake; and schnitzel (Milan-style) for dinner.

On 7 January 1928, Monte Cervantes began her maiden voyage under the command of Captain Meyer, cruising from Hamburg to La Plata, Argentina.

Only six months later, on 24 July 1928, the steamship was on a journey from North Cape to Svalbard Norway and traveled through a field of ice floes.

The Soviet icebreaker Krasin was about 80 miles (130 km) from Monte Cervantes, responded to the ship's distress call, and offered her assistance.

During these five days of uncertainty and waiting, European newspapers had continued to report the details of the accident and the rescue, and the crisis captured the interest of the public.

"[citation needed] One and a half years later, in early 1930, Monte Cervantes was on a South America trip under the command of Captain Theodor Dreyer of Hamburg and First Officer Reiling.

The next day the ship sailed in bad weather but found calm seas in the Beagle Channel near Tierra del Fuego and reached Ushuaia around 1900 hours [7 pm].

On the morning of 22 January, Monte Cervantes weighed anchor and cruised in the direction of Yendegaia Bay, 15 nautical miles (28 km) to the west.

About 12:40 pm, the lookout on the bridge spotted a submerged rock directly ahead and the captain ordered an immediate change of course.

A passenger later reported that the rescue was not always pleasant: "...a high wind rose and enormous waves lifted us to a height of ten metres [33 feet], letting us fall again in great precipices, nearly turning over the boats.

The Argentine freighter Vincente Fidel Lopez in the port of Ushuaia also heard the call and headed out to assist Monte Cervantes, but on the way suffered an accident itself with its launch.

Their passengers had to take a long walk through a thickly wooded area before they also reached the town of Ushuaia, which at the time had a population of about 800.

The captain and the remaining 70 crew members maneuvered Monte Cervantes onto a rock reef (the Les Eclaireur islets), where they ran the ship aground in an attempt to prevent her from sinking.

In the morning of the following day, 23 January, numerous ships, among them Vincente Fidel Lopez, headed to Monte Cervantes in order to assist with taking the remaining luggage items on board.

Subsequently, the luggage transporter tried to tow Monte Cervantes, but this effort failed due to the insufficient engine power of the Argentine ship, only 450 horsepower (336 kilowatts).

On 6 March 1930, the marine court of Hamburg held an inquiry into the sinking of the Monte Cervantes "in the Beagle Passage of the Straits of Magellan."

Finally the ship turned upright and slid off the reef, and on 14 October 1954 three tugboats began slowly pushing the remaining wreck to Ushuaia.

In September 2000, a film team from Spiegel TV[4] undertook an attempt to find the stern portion of the wreck of Monte Cervantes.

Today the Monte Cervantes wreck is a destination for scuba divers, and if one walks along the harbor west of the Port of Ushuaia one can still see the ill-fated St. Christopher, now with grass growing on her decks.