Slobodna was a nineteenth century Austrian-built wooden sailing schooner constructed in Lussinpiccolo, Hungary, in 1884. The vessel was 170 feet 6 inches (52m) long, 35 feet 4 inches (10.8m) wide, and was designed to be used as a commercial transport sailing ship with a capacity of 1199 tons. The schooner departed in late 1884 from the seaport of Herceg-Novi in Montenegro on her maiden voyage. Within three years she would fall victim to the ocean.

In March 1887 Slobodna set sail from New Orleans with a cargo of cottton. While rounding the Florida Keys on March 16, the schooner experienced a sudden and severe storm that grounded the vessel on the outermost part of the Molasses Reef system near Key Largo. After several failed attempts to free the vessel from the shallow reefs, another schooner, City of Key West, moved alongside Slobodna to render assistance. An kedge anchor was run out from the Slobodna’s stern winch to prevent the vessel from grounding further. This put a heavy strain was put on the winch, weakening it structurally because of the high tides and rough weather.

The following day numerous workers engaged in the pumping, breaking out cargo, and shifting items within the hull of the stricken schooner. After lightening the vessel, the schooner Rapid pulled along side Slobodna, ready to help pull her off at the next high tide. That afternoon a heavy squall developed bringing about heavy seas, swinging Slobodna broadside onto the reef after the winch broke. The rough weather caused much of the deck gear to break and be tossed into the surrounding waters. The schooner bilged in about 15 feet (5m) of water. In her heavily-laden condition, the mortally-wounded schooner pounded heavily in the surf against the rocky substrate on the bottom.

The vessel then drifted about three-quarters of a mile (1.25km) over the next 30 days until it came to rest in about 25 feet (8m) of water. Soon after Slobodna’s bilging, salvage workers began the arduous task of unloading its contents and placing them on salvage vessels. There were a remarkable 335 men and 41 vessels engaged at one time or another in the general salvage efforts that continued for 30 days.

Salvaging wrecked ships -- or "wrecking," as it was known then -- was big business in the Florida Keys, as shown in this April 1859 illustration from Harper's New Monthly Magazine. Things had changed little a generation later when Slobodna went aground on Molasses Reef. Hundreds of men scratched out a living by salvaging and selling what they could recover from wrecked vessels.

The operation was labor-intensive and extremely dangerous. The large bales of wet cotton that Slobodna was transporting in its hold weighed into the tons, making recovery and transport extremely laborious. During the latter parts of the salvage efforts, much of Slobodna's hull had become so crushed that most of the unrecoverable cotton was caught between deck beams that had collapsed. The workers were ill-prepared for such an occurrence, and diving activities lacked the necessary appliances for working underwater. All salvage recovery and hoisting had to be done by hand, and many workers had to free-dive in order to retrieve the cotton. The hull was filled with a pulpy mass of loose cotton, making it extremely dangerous to dive through. As a result of the salvage efforts the vast majority of cargo was recovered and -- remarkably -- no lives were lost.

The Austro-Hungarian merchant ensign of the 1880s.
From the Flags of the World website.