The City of Washington is a shipwreck and popular dive site located on the The Elbow reef in Key Largo, Florida. Famous for its role in the Spanish American War, the City of Washington was built in 1877 as a cargo and passenger transport vessel travelling for 40 years between New York and Havana Cuba, Progreso and Campeche, Mexico before she ran aground off Florida's coast.
Selected as one of the dive sites for the Upper Keys to be on the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary Shipwreck Trail, the City of Washington is located approximately six miles off Key Largo, Florida between buoys nine and ten in the northern region of The Elbow Reef, approximately 500 yards from the Elbow Reef Tower.
Today, the City of Washington is broken up into numerous pieces which are scattered along the ocean floor. Prominent identifying features of the site include the engine mount and drive shaft protective arches. The bow and upper half of the vessel have been either destroyed in the wrecking event or salvaged.
The City of Washington is home to many organisms such as the yellow tail snapper, barracuda, parrot fish and various corals. The City of Washington is also well-known for green morays. The wreck is popular to local dive instructors as a training site since currents are usually mild and the maximum depth of the wreckage is only 25 feet.
