Alanthus was built in 1918 in Newark, New Jersey, for the United States Shipping Board as part of the WWI ship building effort, but ultimately was never used during the war. In 1922, Alanthus was one of the first ships purchased for scrapping and moved to Alexandria, VA, where it caught fire. The hull was saved and the ship was towed to the Widewater anchorage area, and then moved to Mallows Bay where it has been in its present location since 1929. In 2022, this wreck site represented Mallows Bay-Potomac River National Marine Sanctuary as part of a postage stamp collection during the 50th anniversary celebration for NOAA’s Office of National Marine Sanctuaries in a collaboration with the U.S. Postal Service.