A sturdy iron-hulled steamer built in 1881 at the beginning of the age of steam driven ships the Darlington was constructed at the Swan and Hunter Shipyard in Newcastle, England. She measured 285 feet long, with a 36 foot beam and a hull displacement of 1,990 tons.
On a voyage from New Orleans to Bremen, Germany, carrying a cargo of cotton and grain, her captain failed to assign a lookout while navigating in the unfamiliar waters around Bermuda and she crashed into Bermuda's western reefs on February 22, 1886 and could not be re-floated.
Today, she remains fairly intact, but has collapsed onto herself and lies on her port side. The wreckage lies in 20 feet of water, with her steamer boilers, propeller shaft, and deck winches still visible. The rudder quadrant is almost intact pointing up to the surface still attached to the semi intact stern under which can be seen the rudder and propeller still in place.
Within swimming distance of the Darlington are the buried remains of an unidentified Spanish galleon.
The wreck was never lost and was always known as a fishing site.
This wreck is part of the Bermuda Shipwreck Certificate Program instituted by the Department of Tourism. It is also buoyed under the Bermuda Dive Sites program established by the Marine Environmental Committee of the Bermuda National Trust in association with the then Ministry of the Environment and is a protected site with a 300m no fishing limitation.
The Darlington appeared in the Bermuda Sun Unprotected Historic Wrecks List submitted by the Receiver of Wreck in October 1977.