SS Benwood in approximately to of water between Dixie Shoals (to the north) and French Reef (to the south) off of Key Largo, Florida. On April 10, 1942, the crew of the salvage tug "Willet" examined the wreck and determined that the keel of the "Benwood" was broken, and she was a total loss. However, her superstructure and cargo of phosphate rock appear to have been salvaged. Her stern section, once considered a hazard to navigation, seems to have been mostly obliterated by explosions of an unknown type. This salvaging on the ship over the years prompted John Pennekamp Coral Reef State
Benwood mine disaster committee of eight Marshall County, West Virginia residents known as the Benwood Mine Disaster Memorial Committee was formed in August 2011. Fundraising for the memorial began in 2012. Construction took place between 2013 - 2014. The memorial was formally dedicated on September 27, 2014. A smaller memorial for the five (5) victims of the May 18, 1942 Hitchman Coal & Coke Mine Disaster (this coal mine was also located in Benwood) is also on site and was dedicated on the same day. Since the dedication, a donor stone listing major donors, several bollards lining the driveway turnaround and two benches