In addition, the vessel had all the modern machinery fitted for quick loading and unloading of cargo, had seven watertight bulkheads, and also had electrical lights installed and was equipped with the De Forest system of wireless telegraphy.

After embarking on cargo and 206 passengers she left Cuba on April 28 and arrived in New York on May 1 after 2 days and 18 hour long uneventful journey, bringing her maiden voyage to a successful ending.

Among her first passengers were Alfred Smith, manager of the Ward Line, who made a round-trip voyage, Lionel Carden, British Minister to Cuba, Countess Wachmeister, and Daniel Bacon, Havana-based ship operator.

Besides passengers and mails, the steamer was carrying a large variety of general cargo from Mexico and Cuba ranging from exotic things such as alligator skins, jalap and fustic to hemp, coffee, pineapples, mahogany, rubber, tobacco and cigars.

Due to ongoing turmoil in Mexico and with anticipated resignation of President Porfirio Díaz, many wealthy Mexicans boarded the U.S.-bound ship to wait out the revolution abroad.

Merida's operator, Herbert O. Benson, was able to send a distress signal and was able to reach Hatteras station, but about ten minutes after the collision the ship went completely black as her electricity supply was drained.

Herbert O. Benson (incorrectly reported as Perry E. Benton in some newspapers) was sent by captain Robertson aboard the fruit freighter and together with her operator, A. C. Leech, was able to repair the malfunctioning wireless, and a distress signal was sent out seeking help around 05:30.

Fortunately, due to collision being so close to the coast, four ships, Old Dominion steamer Hamilton, battleship Iowa, and torpedo boats Stringham and Bailey, were in the immediate vicinity, and they all responded to the calls for help.

[17][16] A hearing was held in Norfolk following the collision and sinking, however, both captains were exonerated of any blame due to a sudden onset of unusual atmospheric conditions which made an accident unavoidable.

At some point in 1916, another rumor appeared that Merida carried crown jewels and famous rubies belonging to Empress Carlota being smuggled out of Mexico, which roughly doubled the value of presumed treasure.

After the inquiry commission refused to put blame on the American Mail Steamship Company, a lessee of Admiral Farragut, owners of Merida filed a libel lawsuit for US$1,800,000 in the New York District Court.

[19] As Merida sank at the depth considerably exceeding one reachable by divers at the time, about 100 ft (30 m), underwriters had to look for inventors involved in design of apparatus capable to conduct such work.

An expedition was organized by the Interocean Submarine Engineering Co., headed by the retired Rear Admiral Colby M. Chester, and led by the famous diver George D. Stillson.

[21][22][23] In 1917 Brooklyn engineer Benjamin Franklin Leavitt patented and successfully tested his underwater armor suit during the salvage work he did on SS Pewabic which sank in Lake Huron in 1865.

They employed three very experienced divers including Frank Crilley and even claimed they located the wreck but the onset of bad weather forced them to abandon their effort in late November after a series of accidents without yielding any results after almost three months of work.

[36] The arrival of the Great Depression postponed any further attempts to raise the steamer, and it was not until 1931 that a new expedition was contemplated, this time by Sub-Ocean Salvage Corp., formed by several well-known New Yorkers including Vincent Astor, Lyttleton Fox, Rhinelander Stewart, Albert Gallatin and E. Vail Stebbins.

The expedition was headed by famous American engineer, inventor, showman and adventurer captain Harry L. Bowdoin, and the dive work was to be led by John Dahl.

[42] However, with the chief diver, John Dahl, soon dying from "heart complications" (most likely "the bends") and with weather turning bad, and crew still unpaid the efforts to raise the treasure came to an end.

Swiftly filing an injunction in the local court, captain Bowdoin and his well-armed crew (or so they claimed) immediately left Norfolk to the wreck site to guard it against the intruders at all costs.

[51][52] In May 1938 a 500-ton Italian salvage ship Falco departed Spezia for Norfolk carrying the first foreign expedition headed by captain Luigi Faggian in search of Merida's treasures.

The work started on June 27 but progressed very slowly due to frequent stormy weather, nevertheless the divers were able to bring up a few minor items to the surface, such as dishes, thermometers and a few coins.

The divers were able to get to within 12 feet of the strong room, but the work was halted and abandoned in early September due to stormy weather and poor underwater visibility caused by the ongoing hurricane season.