However, the Howard W. Middleton did wreck. Ripped open by the rocks as the passengers were sitting down to dinner, the Mohegan sank with the loss of 106 lives, including the captain. Some shipwrecks have been evading researchers for generations. (Photo: Brent Pearson), The coast of the Gower Peninsula is scattered with the remains of over 250 shipwrecks in varying stages of decay. With all that water and coastline, it's no wonder that Maine has an abundance of shipwrecks. Most of the 42 people who died 30 of whom are buried in South Portland cemeteries were poor immigrants from Ireland seeking better lives in the U.S. or Canada. , ISBN-13 Both ships went down in the same storm on New Years Day, 1920. The ship hit a ledge off of Higgins Beach in Scarborough, damaging the hull. But the ship encountered a fierce storm. Tall ships along with lighthouses are a reminder of the romantic period when maritime commerce was what America was all about in the 19th century and the early 20th century, said DEntremont, the author and lighthouse historian. Below is a partial list of the wrecks located in the coastal I'm still working on Italy and France, but I wanted to share with ya'll! (Photo: Theodore Scott) Downriver from the Defence, somewhere near the dangerous Triangles Ledge area of Penobscot Bay, rests whatever remains of a British ship that was key to the American debacle at Castine. Now they are a rarity. All Rights Reserved. The Wandby. Please try again. Use the form below to reset your password. Jeremy D'Entremont has been writing about and photographing the lighthouses of New England since the mid-1980s. At least three such wrecks can be found on Rhossili Beach, including the remains of the Helvetia, a Norwegian vessel that washed ashore in 1887. Stories of shipwrecks sort of draw us back into that.. In 1944, for instance, 24 sailors aboard the British freighter the Empire Knight died when the ship hit an underwater ledge near the island. Every few years, the remains of a shipwreck have surfaced on a beach in York, Maine. (Continued below), This excerpt published exclusively on SeacoastNH.com with permission of the author and publisher, Introduction toGREAT SHIPWRECKS OF THE MAINE COASTBy Jeremy DEntremont BUY THIS BOOK. But for years it hosted a ghost fleet of abandoned wooden sailing vessels, the remains of several of which are still visible in satellite imagery. The crew abandoned the ship, and because the ship's owners never came forward, the ship was left in the lake, where it is now home to birds, including cormorants and gulls. to go to our Home Page. One of those ghost ships, the Edna M. McKnight, was a four-masted schooner built in Camden in 1918 to ferry coal and other cargo all along the Eastern Seaboard. Below is a partial list of the wrecks located in the coastal and inland waters of Maine. It is unknown where the flaming ship eventually went down. It contained 894 tons of hard and soft coal as it came up the coast from Philadelphia to Portland. Maine's coastline has its share of wartime-related shipwrecks. They were about to fall apart. . When they lost a fishing boat in the 1800s, nobody recorded that.. Although attempts were made to save the ship, they were all futile. Many shipwrecks were scattered and eroded by waves, rocks and time. Dozens of fishing vessels were sunk in the Bay of Fundy around Maine, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick by a German U-boat during the final stages of World War I. So, the Emergency Fleet Corporation, formed under President Woodrow Wilson, requested 24 new ships be built out of ferroconcrete and reinforced with steel, according to The Washington Post. They were eventually discovered and rescued in early January, after mainlanders apparently found the body of one of the two crewmen who died trying to reach the coastline. Clancy Create a commenting profile by providing an email address, password and display name. At least three such wrecks can be found on Rhossili Beach, including the remains of the Helvetia, a Norwegian vessel that washed ashore in 1887. Altair off Brazil (Image credit: Google) This wrecked ship known as. r/Shipwrecks Behold, my Google Earth project. Thousands of visitors to Portland Head Light one of the most photographed spots in Maine can see two memorials to the Annie C. Maguire, which ran up on the rocks during a Christmas Eve squall in 1886. In addition to the 93 passengers and crew, the Royal Tar was carrying a circus menagerie or caravan that included two lions, numerous horses, monkeys, a camel and at least one elephant, named Mogul. Heres how it works. Records from the 18th century show that Defiance was sailing out of Salem, Massachusetts for Portland, Maine, according to Claesson. Cape Elizabeth's rocky coastline, combined with storms, has a history of shipwrecks, dating from earliest navigation of the coast to the present. Some of the wrecks described were modern enough to imagine that there must be some pictures of the subject vessels. This volume, first of a planned series, focuses on a dozen dramatic shipwrecks from among 700 in the Gulf of Maine. Passengers credited Royal Tar Capt. Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web. Twenty-five years ago they were a novelty. . But, this wasnt always the case. Navigator at left, or click here 2000-2023 Maine Historical Society . Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. "An accidental marine museum," as one nautical magazine calls it, this boat graveyard on the shores of southern Staten Island, New York, was founded in the 1930s by John J. Witte (who died in 1980), the The New York Times reported; Witte reportedly would not dismantle any of the ships unless he had a buyer, according to The New York Times. Remnants from roughly a half-dozen of the expeditions sloops, troop transports and other ships have been located. The crew of the next ship to wreck on the island were less fortunate. Heres How To Explore It Yourself. Several lifeboats were reportedly left in St. John to accommodate the animals and their cages. Im deeply indebted to Snow and the other authors who have sailed these waters before me, particularly Peter Dow Bachelder, whose Shipwrecks and Maritime Disasters of the Maine Coast is comprehensive and compelling. Historian Jeremy D'Entremont has a new book and we have the introduction. Unable to add item to List. Another tale says that elephant bones were later found on tiny Brimstone Island between Vinalhaven and Isle au Haut. In July 1779, American forces suffered a double humiliation after they failed to recapture the village of Castine from the British and then lost or scuttled more than a dozen ships while fleeing upriver. In 1992, all three members of the tugboat Harkness were plucked from their raft by Matinicus Island fishermen and Coast Guard crew members searching for survivors amid a fierce nighttime storm and subzero temperatures. But also because it can reveal the increase and impact of storm events and sea level rise. Cover has no visible wear, and the dust jacket (if applicable) is included for hard covers. This famous concrete tanker was made to fight the Central Powers during World War I, but the war ended before it could enter battle. Claessons discovery is significant because its one a very few examples of a pre-Revolutionary War ship built in New England, he said. Maines coastline has its share of wartime-related shipwrecks. There was a problem loading your book clubs. Another 18 may be buried in Forest City Cemetery, but sadly, the location of that mass grave, as well as their names, are unknown. The schooner-yacht sank in 1930, when a storm ran it aground, according to DiveSpots.com. The last time waves exposed its frame was in March 2018. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Ive presented a greatest hits (no pun intended) collection here, focusing on the most celebrated and dramatic stories. The steamship was carrying more than 200 passengers many of them Irish immigrants in the final leg of a voyage from Liverpool, England, to Portland. Did you encounter any technical issues? More info about student projects. A recent study on one of the mysterious American shipwrecks has shown it to be a vessel that is older than the United States itself. Parts of the hull are visible at Higgins Beach. New York, Also, a nice bit of history without being too didactic was nice to give context when called for. Success. However, the Howard W. Middleton did wreck. The Half Moon is now visited by snorkelers and divers visiting the archaeological preserve. Shipwrecks of Maine and New Hampshire, Like New Used, Free shipping in the US. Riess eventually walked away from the search around the time he wrote his book. Tourists visiting the boat can also see sand dunes, waterfalls and wild animals, including black seagulls, tortoises and hawks. On August 10, 1897 this schooner was under full sail despite the near zero visibility. While being towed to a Japanese scrapyard, the ship hit an unusual out-of-season cyclone and ended up beached on the shore of Fraser Island. My personal fascination with maritime disasters has its roots in my childhood in the 1960s, when I enjoyed hearing the popular historian Edward Rowe Snow (1902-1982) spin his salty yarns on Boston television and radio. All Rights Reserved. Reviewed in the United States on March 28, 2022. It contained 894 tons of hard and soft coal as it came up the coast from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to Portland. Constructed with local lumber from the Gold Beach area, the Mary D. Hume worked in several capacities, first as a cargo ship, then as a whaling ship up in Alaska. Then, I stumbled across a photo of the Peter Iredale. My sincere thanks once again to Commonwealth Editions, whose staff and consultants always help to make the process of writing and publishing a book a pleasure. Here are some of their dramatic, courageous and intriguing tales. The river seems to be a graveyard of sorts: According to estimates by the General Company of Ports of Iraq (GCPI), around 36 sunken ships lie in the Shatt al-Arab, according to niqash.org. Many images on this website are for sale on VintageMaineImages.com. (Photo: Niko), The Plassey was thrown against the rocks of Inis Oirr, the smallest of the Aran Islands, in 1960 during a severe storm. The SS Point Reyes, pictured here, can be found on a sandbar in nearby Inverness. In addition to the cold and the snow, coastal Maine has some pretty significant fog that rolls in during the morning and night. GPS coordinates for over 150 wrecks Research also showed that a sloop of the same name was coincidentally built in 1754 in Massachusetts, which fits well with our tree-ring dates of circa 1753, Claesson said. For questions, comments and inquiries please email: mstarin@onlyinyourstate.com. He chartered it for salvage operations, but it ran into engine trouble and rudder damage in Beagle Channel by Ushuaia. As Lord Byron wrote in The Dark, Blue Sea, Man marks the earth with ruin, but his control stops with the shore.. Why do people flock to a beach when the bones of an ancient wreck show themselves after a storm? . Heres why. A World War I-era submarine, the USS S-21, also rests off the coast of Cape Elizabeth, but it was purposely sunk in 1945 during a training exercise with no loss of life. It doesnt appear very often, she said. AND THE EYESORES Use it to locate a planet, the Moon, or the Sun and track their movements across the sky. Today, were pretty well-equipped to ensure that boats navigate safely. Great Shipwrecks of the Maine Coast (Maritime) [D'Entremont, Jeremy] on Amazon.com. The The USS Utah, a dreadnought battleship, was not an active battleship, but rather an auxiliary ship, when the Japanese bombed it. Please try again. Given the intense physical and emotional stress produced by a shipwreck, flight and fight are two sides of the same coin. For divers and marine archaeologists, the appeal of shipwrecks is straightforward. And then there is the case of the Royal Tar a tragedy that lives on in oral histories of coastal Maine families 183 years later as well as in countless books, plays and even coffee. It was commissioned as the USS YP-414 patrol boat during World War II. We told the truth that there was this awful fire and people died but at the very end of the play what happens is this little girl, she washes ashore, Russell said. The St. Christopher will likely sit the rest of its days in the harbor of Ushuaia in southern Argentina. It reappeared in 1978, 2007, 2013 and 2018. A 2272-ton cargo ship that wrecked off Namibia's . This would ensure, even if it is taken one day by the ocean, that we have preserved its memory for future generations. This is one of a very few examples of a pre-Revolutionary War or Colonial-built ship from New England, said Mr. Claesson, the owner of the aerial drone and archaeological surveying company in New Hampshire. On August 10, 1897 the schooner Howard H. Middleton was under full sail despite near zero visibility. The ship was carrying a cargo of flour, pork and English goods along with a four-man crew. Shipwrecks--Maine--Scarborough; Marine accidents--Maine--Scarborough; Schooners--Maine--Scarborough; . Taryn Plumb explores the tragic history of shipwrecks in Maine, focusing on a dozen or so of the most interesting and weaving in tales of pirates, lost treasure, violent storms, and other disasters. Coordinates List In addition to the smell of ocean water in the air on rainy days in Portland, she loves puppies, photography, funny people, the Maine Red Claws, traveling, fresh tomatoes, Cambodia and filling out forms. Create one. Two crewmen died trying to reach the mainland on a makeshift raft, and after the ships carpenter died, the remaining men resorted to cannibalism to stay alive. Publisher Rather, the water receded beneath them when two rivers that fed the sea were diverted for irrigation. We dont share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we dont sell your information to others. Learn more. They lie in the shallows and deeps all along Maines ragged-edged coastline the wrecks of wooden sailing sloops driven onto rocks in storms, military ships sunk during wartime and passenger steamers whose losses made national headlines. (Photo: Jim Fischer), Once a major fishing port, Moynaq is now 150km away from the shore of the present-day Aral Sea. Destruction to shipping was widespread, especially along the Massachusetts shore. The weathered ruins have intrigued residents and visitors who come to marvel at the site and take photos. But the history and identity of the ship remained uncertain in York, a small resort town 45 miles south of Portland. When did Democrats and Republicans switch platforms? Sorry, there was a problem loading this page. See Terms of Use. $24.00. If its there, they will find it. Parts of the hull are visible at Higgins Beach. All of the materials that are associated with shipwrecks within Maine state waters belong to the Maine State Museum, said Leith Smith, a historic preservation coordinator with the Maine Historic Preservation Commission. The Half Moon Underwater Archaeological Preserve is the watery grave for a German 366-ton steel schooner-yacht with two masts. Some dated to before World War I, the New York Times reported in 1990. And lives are still lost at sea in Maine every year, despite incredible advances in maritime technology and safety, ship-tracking equipment and the heroic efforts of rescuers. As it turns out, you dont actually need a scuba suit to visit many shipwrecks around the world. Jeremy DEntremontPortsmouth, New HampshireVisit Jeremy's WEB SITEVisit Jeremy's Lighthouse Section on SeacoastNH.com, (c) 2010 Published by Commonwealth Editions, an imprint of Applewood Books, Carlisle, MA. (Photo: Francesco Paroni Sterbini), Also known as Smuggler's Cove, Navagio Beach in Zakynthos is one this area's most popular tourist attractions. The captain managed to get the 295-foot ship to shallower waters but, amid the frenzy, panicked passengers overloaded one lifeboat and caused it to plummet and sink into the icy waters. (Photo: R. M. Calamar), With over 300 wrecks scattered around the harbor, the Bay of Nouadhibou is one of the largest boat graveyards in the world. Questions or comments? Often, we can never know the whole story with any certainty; the 1941 loss of the Don in Casco Bay is a prime example. Please visit these SeacoastNH.com ad partners. Over the last century, much of the remains have deteriorated, but a large piece of the ship is easily accessible during low tide. Privacy Statement, SEE ALL SIGNED BOOKS by J. Dennis Robinson. You can return the item for any reason in new and unused condition: no shipping charges. But the ship never made it there: A cyclone severed the towline connected with the SS Maheno and the Oonah, the ship towing it, according to Atlas Obscura. They took anchor, but in heavy seas the crew was forced to cut the anchor cables, and they were pushed ashore onto York Beach, Claesson said. OLD SHIPWRECK STORIES STILL RESONATE During World War I, New Zealand converted this passenger ship the SS Maheno into a floating hospital, according to New Zealand History. Sign in or Subscribe Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. Whether the ship is the Defiance or another vessel, it was built in 1753 or soon after, and most likely somewhere along the New England coast, she said. 12:14 AM EDT, Fri April 3, 2020. The crew sent out a distress signal and arranged for all of the passengers to be safely escorted to a passenger ferry. The so-called Penobscot Expedition was this countrys single-largest naval loss until the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor in 1941. Photo courtesy: State Library of New South Wales, The Bath-built schooner Edward J. Lawrence was reportedly the last surviving six-masted schooner when it burned in Portland Harbor in December 1925. More than 40 of the ships 62 crew members died in what was initially attributed to a boiler explosion. After a decades-long career, the ship encountered stormy weather while being towed to Thailand in the early 1990s, where it was meant to be retired and converted into a 5-star floating hotel. Russell, who now works as the director of communications and community engagement at Stoningtons Opera House Arts, said it didnt matter whether someone was 10 or 90 years old they all knew a version of the Royal Tars story. We dont know what happens after that, but she washes ashore.. Thankfully, not all of Maines shipwrecks involve tragedy. : This record was added to Maine Memory Network through the efforts of a student at Scarborough Middle School. With a long maritime history, tales of shipwrecks are expected. The MS World Discoverer sits just off the shore of one of the Solomon Islands in the Pacific Ocean. Shipwrecks are like submerged time machines that offer insights into history but also into that primal form of human drama, writes Jeremy DEntremont in his 2010 book Great Shipwrecks of the Maine Coast., People in shipwrecks often exhibit the greatest in human heroism but also the opposite, so it illustrates the best and worst of humanity, DEntremont, who is president and historian of the Owls Head-based American Lighthouse Foundation, said in an interview. Seventy-five years ago visible hulks like Wiscasset's Hesper and Luther Little were a common sight. She has won multiple awards from the Society of Professional Journalists and the Washington Newspaper Publishers Association for her reporting at a weekly newspaper near Seattle. Copyright 1996-2020 SeacoastNH.com. Its a clich to say that disasters bring out the best and worst in people, but its also absolutely true. Live Science is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Includes initial monthly payment and selected options. Photo: NH 93000 courtesy of the Naval History & Heritage Command. Your recently viewed items and featured recommendations, Free returns are available for the shipping address you chose. - Shipwrecks - Maine (Battleship) . The crew's belongings and most of the cargo were taken to other ships but the Howard H. Middleton could not be saved . Raymond H. Clark, who started the marina, couldn't afford a breakwater levee, so he came up with the unconventional idea of using sunken ships, according to Point San Pablo Yacht Harbor. Maine cant boast as many wrecksif thats something to boast aboutas the Outer Banks of North Carolina, Nova Scotias Sable Island, or Cape Cod. A federal database of navigational wrecks and obstructions lists hundreds of known and suspected wreckage sites along Maines coastline. When the intensity of the heat and the smoke would not permit them to remain any longer in the steamer, they would jump overboard and hold onto the ropes until they were taken off or until the ropes burnt off, when those who could not swim sunk to rise no more.. The best hidden gems and little known destinations - straight to your inbox. Please note the display name will appear on screen when you participate. Full content visible, double tap to read brief content. This wreck is unusual for being buried entirely in the sandit's now stranded about a quarter mile away from shore. Monuments and plaques remembering fishermen can be found in towns all along the coast, from Kittery to Lubec. During the war, there were concerns about steel shortages. Ever since it first emerged in 1958 on a beach in York, Maine, the 50-foot skeleton of a shipwreck has intrigued both locals and experts alike. But countless other shipwrecks are much more accessible, so long as you have Google Earth. $18.39. Other wrecks are rotting or rusting away for anyone to see. Thus, they continued to accumulate. Erosion of sea water at the Pool in 1957, resulted . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login. It was the night of George Washingtons birthday, so the distress flares and gunfire from the ship were mistakenly dismissed as celebratory by some on shore. A THOUSAND SHIPWRECK SITES It was looted and damaged during the Solomon Islands Civil War. Please try again. It still sits at Roderick Bay, where tourists photograph the tropical vegetation growing on its deck. We found just about a thousand sites, Riess said of researchers and state historians attempts to document as many shipwreck sites as possible. 10. Shipwrecks & Salvage Wrecks and abandoned hulks of historic vessels dot the coast of Maine. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. About a month after it is exposed, it gets covered up naturally, but the town also trucks in sand to help the beach recover, he said. But some, like the wreck of the Bohemia, are more awful than others. Not much remains because the rocky bottom meant there was no sediment for wreckage to settle into. Exactly what happened is unclear, although several accounts from the time say the 240-ton ship was cast away by the hurricane, Riess writes in his book. The Khoisan Bushmen, a tribe of hunter-gatherers, apparently call the Skeleton Coast "the land God created in anger," according to Tahir Shah in a BBC article, in which he described the land as being littered with "huge bleached whalebones, the crumbling hulks of shipwrecks, dead plants, and the footprints of infrequent desert creatures, all on a desperate search for sustenance.". In the theater projects version, the little Scottish girl learns to swim by following the example of Mogul the elephant.