Steamship Banan ~ 17 January 1891

Annual Report of the Operations of the United States Life-Saving Service for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1891:

CURRITUCK BEACH, NORTH CAROLINA, January 18, 1891

"DEAR SIR: I beg to state that my vessel, the Norwegian steamship Banan, stranded on the beach about two miles south of the Currituck lighthouse in very thick weather and a heavy sea from northeast, at 8 o'clock yesterday morning. The vessel had been working full speed astern for about two minutes before striking, and continued doing so for about half an hour after, but when it was seen to be of no avail, and the sea was breaking heavily, we fired five distress signals at a few seconds' interval, to call for help. Shortly after 9 o'clock, when the coast was discerned from the vessel, the lifeboat was there reach to be launched. About 9:30 the boat came alongside and took off my wife and some of the seamen. About one hour later the boat came out again and took off a few more, leaving on board both mates, chief engineer, steward, five sailors, and myself, who did not want to leave the vessel. I find it a pleasure to state that Captain Scarborough and his crew worked with the utmost dispatch, and, considering the heavy breakers, handled their boat admirably and took all that were landed ashore without any misfortune. I have also heard today from my wife and the part of the crew that were on shore during the night, that they have been treated very kindly in every respect. For these services I hereby offer, both in their name and in my own, most sincere thanks. I am, dear sir, yours truly, THO. HANSEN, Master of Steamship Banan."

Schooner Charles C. Lister, Jr. ~ 22 January 1891

Just before noon on January 22 keeper James Howard spied a schooner in the breakers off Hatteras Bar about 1-1/2 miles SE of the station with busted sails. The vessel proved to be the Charles C. Lister, Jr. enroute from New York City to Wilmington, NC with a party of four under the command of Captain J.W. Pate. The following day the station crew returned to the wreck to retrieve the crews personal effects before the captain turned the schooner over to salvors. Howard's report follows in part:

... Weather being very thick and stormy, gale wind from SSE. Surf very rough. It look almost imposable to get to the sch. She was about 1 1/2 miles from shore but keep cault out crew took surf boat as it was imposable to reach her with gun. Left station 12 n. Hitch mule to boar carring her to surf. Lanch boat about 12:30 p.m. through very bad surf and very hard to row the current was very strong and gale, wind so hard had very hard tug to get to wreck schooner but with strong effort we wear suckcessful reaching her. We manage boat so one cold get in boat at a time. We refused to take her trunks as the sea was so bad. tuck all the crew, five and landed all right, tuck them up to station, gave them dry clothes and food, ceard for them ...
 
 
Annual Report of the Operations of the United States Life-Saving Service for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1891

HATTERAS, NORTH CAROLINA, January 31, 1891

"DEAR SIR: Allow me to express my fervent thanks to yourself and your noble crew for the prompt and successful rescue of myself and entire crew from our perilous situation when stranded in the breakers on Ocracoke Beach on the morning of January 22, 1891. Trusting that you may be spared many years to your noble calling of saving human life, I am gratefully yours, J.W. COVERDALE, Late Master of Schooner Charles C. Lister, Jr."

Dudley Farlin ~ 2 April 1891

Wrecks and Derelicts in the North Atlantic Ocean, 1887 to 1893, Inclusive

The USS Yantic reports that the sunken ship Dudley Farlin about 24 miles N.E. of Bodie Island is not to be found. Concluded heavy weather has broker her up. The same conclusion may be reached as regards the two wrecks off Cape Lookout, NC (Aberlady Bay and Glenrath). March 30, a careful search during very favorable weather failed to reveal as much as a break or swirl of water by which the whereabouts of the sunken steamers Aberlady Bay or Glenrath might be known, both of which lay off Cape Lookout. Wreck of schooner Mollie J. Saunders was located and marked by a buoy March 31, 7 miles southeast from Bodie Island, the weather being too rough to blow her up.

Schooner J.W. Gaskill ~ 16 February 1891

Annual Report of the Operations of the United States Life-Saving Service for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1891:

PEA ISLAND LIFE-SAVING STATION, NORTH CAROLINA, February 18, 1891

"SIR: I desire to express through you, to the General Superintendent of the United States Life-Saving Service at Washington, D.C., my sincere thanks for the prompt assistance rendered to and the rescuing of myself and crew from the wrecked schooner J.W. Gaskill, on the 16th of February, 1891, one-quarter of a mile north of New Inlet, coast of North Carolina, by the keepers and crews of the Pea Island, Oregon Inlet, and New Inlet life saving stations. JOHN DOUGLASS, Late Master of Schooner J.W. Gaskill."

Schooner Nathaniel Lank ~ 22 January 1891

Annual Report of the Operations of the United States Life-Saving Service for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1891:

The next fatal casualty occurred on January 22, 1891, at the wreck of the three-masted schooner, Nathaniel Lank, of Wilmington, DE. Her captain, N.J. Sipple, of Frederica, DE, was drowned. The Lank was a craft of 288 tons register, with a crew of 8 men. She stranded on the coast of North Carolina, about three and a half miles north of the Gull Shoal Station (6th District) at 4 o’clock a.m., while on her way to the Delaware Breakwater for orders, with a cargo of sugar from St. Thomas, West Indies. The weather was thick and rainy, accompanied by a fresh gale from the south-southeast, and the sea was running high and rough. She struck about 200 yards from the beach, a little south of the halfway point between the Chicamicomico and Gull Shoal Stations, just within the latter’s precinct. She was quickly discovered by the two patrols, who at once hurried to their respective stations with the alarm, and, after a brief consultation between the two keepers by telephone as to what appliances each should take with the the view of working in concert, they set out with their men to the scene of the wreck, the Gull Shoal crew taking their surfboat on its carriage, and the Chicamicomico their beach apparatus, as agreed upon. Before setting out keeper Pugh,, of Gull Shoal, set up two rockets for the twofold purpose of calling in his south patrol and signaling to the people on the stranded schooner that aid was coming. It was about 5:30 o’clock when he started, and fully an hour was consumed in reaching the place of operations, the tide being high and travel necessarily slow over the soft and yielding sand.

     The two crews arrived on the ground at about the same time. It was seen at a glance that the surf was too high for boat service. Keeper Wescott therefore turned his beach apparatus over to Pugh, within whose patrol limits the vessel lay, and placed himself and men under Pugh’s direction, and with this understanding to start with, the two crews worked skillfully and harmoniously together until the end for which they had assembled was accomplished. When all was in readiness the first shot from the gun carried the line over the spring stay between the main and mizzen masts. The crew were grouped on the forecastle and bowsprit, and apparently made no effort to get aft to reach this line, so when the beachmen observed this as the day dawned they put another shot line into use and threw it within easy grasp of the men. The whip was then bent on and the sailors began hauling it off, but when they had pulled it halfway to the schooner the shot line they were hauling it by snapped in two and communication was severed. But this mishap delayed operations only a short time, as a third shot was fired with the dry or shore end of the broken line attached, and this caught on the end of the flying jib boom and was quickly secured by the sailors. Greater caution was not observed by the latter in hauling the whip off, and being aided in this as much as possible by the surfmen, who would walk with both parts of it along the beach to windward to offset the current, and then suddenly slack out, they finally succeeded in getting the block into their hands and making it fast to the flying jib boom. The hawser quickly followed, and in due season the arrangement of the lines between the schooner and the shore was complete.

     The work of rescue was not begun by the sending off of the breeches buoy. There were 7 men in sight at this time at the bow of the vessel, the 8th man, who it appears was the captain, having gone aft and climbed into the starboard mizzen rigging. He had done this soon after the firing of the first shot. The survivors give no reason for his taking this step, and, perhaps, the best that can be advanced is that he thought, as the line just thrown had landed aloft on the after spring stay, no other one would be sent off, and that would have to be used. The gear worked smoothly, and all seven of the men forward were landed safely by 9 o’clock. By this time the schooner had gradually settled in the sand until she was almost entirely under water except the masts, which were still standing. She was also fast breaking up. Under these circumstances it was utterly impossible for the captain to get forward to the jib boom, where the breeches buoy hung in readiness for him should he reach it. The only way at that time to have got forward would have been by the spring stays between the mastheads, and he was doubtless in no condition then to attempt such a perilous feat. It was equally impossible to reach him with a boat, or for anyone to go off the buoy from the shore with any prospect of aiding him, as the surf was dashing wildly over the submerged hull between the bowsprit and the rigging, where he was. After the lapse of about three quarters of an hour, or at a quarter to 10 o’clock, he was observed to descend the rigging as though he meditated a dash for the bow of the vessel. But he had scarcely reached the sheer pole when he was swept away, and after battling desperately for a few moments with the waves in a vain effort to regain the rigging he sunk out of sight and was not seen until his lifeless body was cast up by the surf about half an hour later. Immediate efforts were made to resuscitate the body, but without success. It had been too long in the water and life was extinct. As the head and face were badly bruised it is quite likely that he was knocked insensible by contact with the wreckage very soon after being washed overboard.

     The 7 survivors lost all their effects, and were furnished with a change of dry clothing from the supply of the Women’s National Relief Association, besides shelter and sustenance until the following day, (23d), when passage was obtained for them on a small schooner to Roanoke Island, whence they could proceed by steamer to the mainland. Nothing was saved of the schooner or her cargo.

     The following paper was left by the castaways with keeper Pugh and by him forwarded to this office:

GULL SHOAL LIFE SAVING STATION, Sixth District, January 23, 1891

"The undersigned, crew of the schooner Nathanial Lank, wrecked on Chicamicomico Beach January 22, 1891, do hereby certify that every possible effort was made to save all the crew of that vessel by the keepers and surfmen of the Gull Shoal and Chicamicomico Life Saving Stations, that the drowning of the captain was the result of his own action, and that it was not by reason of any failure on the part of the life saving crews to discharge their duty. While we deeply regret the loss of our captain we desire to express thanks to the keepers and crews of said stations for their promptness in rescuing us and for the hospitality we received after reaching the Gull Shoal Station. HARRY SIPPLE, Mate ; ROBERT GREER ; PETER AUCKER ; HENRY KING ; JOHN SOBER ; L. SANDERAGE ; CHARLES H. WILLIAMS."

The Wilmington Morning Star, Wilmington, NC, 23 Jan 1891

Steamer Strathairly ~ 24 March 1891

Annual Report of the Operations of the United States Life-Saving Service for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1891:

The most disastrous wreck of the year was that of the steamship Strathairly, of Newcastle, England, which occurred on March 24, 1891, a mile and a quarter south of the Chicamicomico Station (6th District), coast of North Carolina. Of her crew of 26 men, 19 were lost and but 7 were saved. The Strathairly, commanded by Captain William Wynne, of North Shields, was a schooner rigged screw steamer of 1236 tons register, bound from Santiago, Cuba, to Baltimore, MD, with a cargo of iron ore. She ran ashore at high water about 20 minutes before 5 o’clock in the morning, while it was yet dark. At that time a dense fog hung over land and sea, the wind was blowing fresh from the northward and eastward, and a heavy surf was breaking upon the shore. The deeply laden ship had grounded some four or five hundred yards from the beach. Distress signals were at once sounded with the steam whistle, and in 10 or 15 minutes they were answered by the red glare of a Coston light, burned by the patrolman of the Chicamicomico Station, who was on his south beat towards the Gull Shoal Station. This man at once hastened back to the station with the alarm, and in as short a time as it was possible for them to get there three crews were on the ground from Chicamicomico and the adjacent stations at Gull Shoal and New Inlet. It seems that keeper Wescott, immediately upon receiving the patrolman’s report, had telephoned to the Gull Shoal crew to come to his assistance. The keeper at New Inlet, on the other hand, some four or five miles northward, hearing the ominous tinkle of the telephone bell caused by the calling up of his distant neighbor, had sprung from his bed and rushed to the instrument just in time to catch the message that a steamer was ashore and the call for aid. This was enough for the veteran Midgett, and without waiting for a personal summons he awakened his crew and set out with them at once to the scene of the disaster. Lieutenant Failing, the district inspector, who was in the vicinity on his regular tour of inspection, was also early upon the ground, being summoned from his vessel, the Alert, lying in Pamlico Sound. This officer was an eyewitness of the unavailing efforts of the station crews to prevent so sad a loss of life, and when the tragedy was over took the statements of the survivors of the wreck. The following is from his report:

The Strathairly was built in 1876 in Middlesboro, United Kingdom by R. Dixon and Company. She operated between 1876 and 1891 as a tramp steamer with no regular route, and participated in the English and Cuban iron trade and Chinese immigration.

   As soon as the steamer struck she blew her whistle and it was quickly answered by the patrol, who then lost no time in reporting the wreck to keeper Wescott, of the Chicamicomico Station. The latter at once telephoned keeper Pugh, of the Goal Shoal Station, and then set out with his beach apparatus to the locality of the wreck and began operations. From the testimony of the survivors they heard a gun fired abreast of the wreck in less than half an hour afterwards. It also appears from this testimony that as soon as the vessel struck, orders were given to clear away the port of leeward lifeboat, and the crew had just got it ready to lower when the vessel gave a heavy lurch and the boat was smashed. At this time all the windward boats were also swept away, and all hope had to be given up of reaching the shore by the ship’s boats. The crew then took to the rigging, as he sea was breaking completely over the vessel, the captain, the first officer, and the chief engineer going aloft aft, and the rest forward. Very shortly after this the steamer commenced breaking in two. At about daybreak the mainmast fell over the side and took with it the captain, first officer, and chief engineer, who were lost. When keeper Wescott arrived at the wreck, which was at about 20 minutes to 6 o’clock, he sent one of his crew to notify me, as I was lying off the station in the sound, in the Government sloop.

     I arrived near the wreck at about 7 a.m. and found keepers Wescott and Pugh with their crews, but could see nothing of the steamer through the fog, although the cries of the unfortunate men could be heard distinctly. Wescott informed me that he had made an attempt to throw a No. 7 line on board as soon as he reached the ground, although he had not seen the vessel and had nothing but the sounds of voices to guide him. The fog hung low and nothing could be seen of the steamer until 10 o’clock. Long before this, however, keeper L.B. Midgett and the crew of the New Inlet Station had arrived. In the mean time, in addition to the beach apparatus, the surfboat, several spare shot lines, projectiles, and an extra supply of powder had been brought to the scene. When at last the vessel could be made out through the slowly vanishing fog it became apparent that she had broken in two, and that all the people alive were at the bow. The first shot after this was with a six-ounce charge. Its shot fell short, the line attached being a No. 7.

     The next shot also fell short. A No. 4, or the smallest-sized line, was then brought into use, and this was landed at the forecastle. As soon as it was seen that the sailors had it, a No. 9 or large line was bent to the smaller one, and it was drawn off in good shape until within a few yards of the vessel when the small line, unable to bear the strain exerted upon it by the longshore current, parted and the attempt had to be made over again. Being prepared for such a contingency no time was lost by the station men, the next shot carrying a No. 7 or medium-sized line. The powder charge was eight ounces. The shot struck the forward rail and the men on board got this line also. A No. 9 line was then bent to it by the surfmen, but the sailors hauled it off very slowly, the current carrying the bight so far to the leeward that gathering the line in was slow and laborious work. To this line the whip was attached and there seemed a good prospect of success at last crowning the joint efforts of the surfmen and the sailors, but before the whip block got more than half way to the ship the stout No. 7 line broke and the situation was as bad as before. In this way effort after effort was made to send the gear off until after 3 o’clock in the afternoon, the gun being fired as fast as the lines could be faked down.

     By this time it was plain to the men on the beach that something must be wrong on board the ship as no less than five shots had been successful in landing the lines and only two or three men could be seen at work supplementing the labors of the surfmen. This is explained by the statement of the second mate, the only surviving officer, that but tree were in condition to do anything, the rest having scarcely any clothing on and being too benumbed and helpless from exposure. Had the sailors succeeded in reaching the No. 9 line it was the final resolve of those on the beach to send off the whip by its single part and, if this in turn reached the ship, then send the block off and rig the gear any way that was possible. At about non one of the seamen, Albert Smith, jumped overboard with a lifebelt on, and after a desperate struggle in the surf was pulled out by the surfmen, unconscious and nearly dead. He was promptly removed to he dwelling of ex-keeper John Allen Midgett near by, where a detail of men put into practice the method for resuscitation of the apparently drowned, and he was finally brought to.

     Shortly after 3 in the afternoon a No. 4 line was landed on the vessel, and to this was attached the next size larger, a No. 7. Three or four men were seen hauling it off, but the smaller line snapped in two when the bend of the No. 7 line was within a few feet of the steamer, and communication was thus again broken. By this time the flood tide was again sweeping in; every shot line had been used and was wet and heavy. The surf also was so high that no boat could live in it. Under these circumstances the surfmen were becoming disheartened. They had labored hard since early morning to effect communication with the ship and rig the gear for the purpose of saving the crew, and every effort had failed. The ship was an unusually great distance from the shore; it was impossible to use the boat, and the life-saving crews seemed to have reached the limit of their resources. The day also was fast waning, and the situation of the sailors was desperate. At 20 minutes before 5 o’clock, just 12 hours after the stranding of their vessel, the sailors were heard shouting to those on shore, and then one by one they jumped into the sea for a final effort to save themselves by swimming, each man being provided with a life belt. It appears in the testimony that at this time, in addition to the loss of the three officers previously mentioned, the second engineer and the cook were also dead. As fast as the poor fellows jumped overboard and began their struggle towards the shore they were swept by the current to the southward. The surfmen and the inhabitants of the neighboring settlements, many of whom had been present on the beach all day, at once followed them, and at great risk to themselves, in wading out into the surf, succeeded in dragging 16 men out of the water. Ten of this number were, however, dead by the time they were reached. Immediate efforts were made to resuscitate them, but without avail. The survivors testify that before they jumped from the ill-fated vessel they were fully satisfied that such a course was their only hope, that no boat could have reached them, and that even if a large line could have reached them then they had not strength enough and were in no condition to rig the gear. N from the moment they reached this conclusion would there have been opportunity to do anything, for in about 20 minutes from the time they abandoned the wreck by jumping into the surf, the foremast went by the board, and very soon thereafter all vestige of the steamer disappeared. In conclusion, I would respectfully say, from personal observation, that every man of these three crews did his duty and used every effort to rescue the shipwrecked sailors. In my judgement, it is plain from the statements of the survivors that the terrible loss of life is in no way attributable to neglect or inefficiency on the on the part of the life saving crews.

     John Northcote, ordinary seaman, was so far gone when taken from the surf that he also had to be carried to Capt. John Allen Midgett’s house, where restoratives were applied, and by working on him until after midnight his life was saved. Both Smith and Northcote were moved to the station the following day. The other five men, also greatly prostrated by exposure and their struggles in the surf, where immediately taken to comfortable quarters in the station, where they were provided with dry clothing from the supply donated by the Women’s National Relief Association.

     The 10 bodies taken out of the surf were carried to the station, placed in boxes made by the life saving men, a minister was sent for, and they were buried on the morning of the 26th near the station. The men saved are being well cared for by the Chicamicomic crew, and will be sent to Elizabeth City, NC, by the first vessel, and thence transportation will be given them to Norfolk, VA. The following is a list of the saved and lost:

     Saved: R. Turner, second officer; George Simpson, boatswain; Albert Smith, seaman; John Wahler, seaman; C. Northcote, orginary seaman; John Campbell, fireman; William McArthur, fireman.

     Drowned, bodies recovered and buried by the station crews: John Blakey, third engineer; John T. Kennedy, steward; John Grandy, lamp trimmer; William McGougill, seaman; M. Lisk, seaman; Peter Hansen, seaman; William Hayward, donkeyman; James Steward, fireman; Walter Angus, fireman; and George Angus, fireman. The two latter were brothers.

     Drowned, bodies not recovered: William Wynne, master; James Watson, first officer; D. Frazier, chief engineer; Charles Witham, second engineer; Alexander Coull, carpenter; William Smith, fireman; John Barron, fireman; and two others, the cook, a colored man, and the mess room boy, whose names are unknown.

     The following letter was received in connection with this sad affair:

CHICAMICOMICO STATION, March 26, 1891

DEAR SIR: We wish to express our heartfelt thanks to the keepers and crews of Chicamicomico, Gull Shoal, and New Inlet stations for the brave and noble service rendered to us by them on March 24, in rescuing us from the surf, as it was impossible for us to gain a footing in our exhausted condition, also for the kind attention we received at their quarters; and we also thank the Women’s National Relief Association for the clothing we received, as were utterly destitute of clothing. Expressions of thanks are but a feeble return for such services, but we hope they will be accepted and prove a source of encouragement to the noble workers in future times of peril. Most respectfully, we remain yours, R. TURNER, Second officer ; G. SIMPSON, Boatswain ; W. McARTHUR ; J. CAMPBELL ; ALBERT SMITH ; JOHN WALER ; C. NORTHCOTE

JUST IN! / January 20, 2018

I am pleased to share this photo of the ship's bell from the steamer Strathairly, just in from Glenn Love of Charlotte, NC. 

"I enjoyed reading your post about one particular shipwreck on your website. In the 1960s, my father bought the ship’s bell that was on the Strathairly and passed it on to me before he passed away in 1998. As I recall, the bell was recovered by a dive team and ended up for sale in a maritime store in Wilmington, NC (I believe) where my father found it and purchased it. He had the bell restored and mounted on a cedar post outside their home on Lake Norman where it stayed for almost 30 years. Today I have the bell mounted on that same cedar post on my back deck. Thank you again for the information you shared about the Strathairly on your website."

THANK YOU, GLENN!

St. Catharis ~ 16 April 1891

They say you can still see the bloodstains on the floor of the old Chicamacomico Station for many of the bodies recovered from the surf following the wreck of the Strathairly were badly cut and bruised from striking pieces of wreckage. Others will say the bloodstains are from the 90 crewmen reported lost on the St. Catharis. But the plain truth is there was no such wreck ... the whole story is the result of a series of coincidences, misrepresentations and misunderstandings.

In 1892 the following notation was included in a listing of ship losses for the year 1891: "British ship St. Catharis wrecked off Caroline Islands, April 16." In more recent years the World Almanac and Book of Facts, in listing marine disasters included: "April 16 (1891) British ship St. Catharis wrecked off Carolina Island."

Somewhere along the line, the letter "e" on the end of "Caroline" seems to have been supplanted by an "a", likely through typographical error. This doesn't account for the widespread story that the St. Catharis was wrecked at the exact point of Chicamacomico and that 90 seamen are buried there. The origin of this is the following published statement: "Close by the station (Chicamacomico) is the burial mound of British seamen drowned in the wreck of the St. Catharis, Apr. 16, 1891, in which 90 lives were lost." (North Carolina, A Guide to the Old North State, Federal Writers' Project, WPA, Chapel Hill, 1939, page 300.)

This statement has been sited as the authentic basis for more recent reprints of the St. Catharis story. But there is no mention of such a wreck in the official reports of the United States Life-saving Service; neither is any mention found in contemporary publications. Though there are folks living on the outer banks who say they remember their parents telling about the terrible wreck of the St. Catharis, two men, both living in the area at the time of the wreck, said there was no such wreck there.

Probable reasons for the unfounded stories of the wreck of the St. Catharis ...

• Within a month's time two large ships were lost.
• Both were British ships
• The St. Catharis was lost off the Caroline Islands in the Pacific and the Strathairly was lost on one of the islands off the North Carolina coast.
• The loss of the St. Catharis was mentioned in listings of great ship losses at that time.
• The listing was reprinted many years later, and the letter "e" on the end of the word "Caroline" was somehow changed to "a".
• A WPA writer, coming across the mention of loss "off Carolina Island" checks with local residents of the islands off the Carolina coast. They remember hearing of a large vessel wrecked in the spring of 1891 ... a British craft ... a number of people drowned ... and, yes, the name was something like St. Catharis.

Thus, through a combination of errors and stories handed down from deceased ancestors, people began to accept as fact the published statements that the British ship St. Catharis was wrecked at Chicamacomico on April 16, 1891, killing 90 people who were laid out on the floor of the old Chicamacomico Lifesaving Station until the floor was covered with blood. but in reality, the St. Catharis sank thousands of miles away from the NC Coast!

Bark Vibilia ~ 25 May 1891

Annual Report of the Operations of the United States Life-Saving Service for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1891:

POPLAR BRANCH, NORTH CAROLINA, May 27, 1891

"I wish to tender thanks in behalf of myself and daughter, officers, and crew of the bark Vibilia to Capt. J.T. Wescott and his life saving crew (of the Poyner’s Hill Station) for their prompt assistance in rescuing us, under trying circumstances. On the night of the 25th instant, from the above-named bark when she was stranded on Currituck Beach. I wish also to express our thanks to Mr. T.J. Poyner, of Poplar Beach, for his kind hospitality to those of us who were at his house. H. BEVERIDGE, late master of the Bark Vibilia."

Schooner William H. Hopkins ~ 21 June 1891

Annual Report of the Operations of the United States Life-Saving Service for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1891:

BIG KINNAKEET LIFE-SAVING STATION, June 24, 1891

"To whom it may concern: On Saturday evening, June 20, 1891, the schooner William H. Hopkins, while bound from New York to Mayport, FL, and when beating along the coast off Hatteras Shoals, sprang a leak, and the efforts of her crew, to keep her afloat proving ineffectual, she sank in 6 fathoms of water near this station about 4 a.m., June 22, and the master and crew, fearing to try to pass through the breakers in their yawl, boarded another vessel that soon came up, and as soon as it was light enough set a signal for the Big Kinnakeet life saving crew. A long delay was expected in answering the signal on account of the crew being off duty, but to our surprise we immediately saw preparations being made to come to our assistance, and in about 20 minutes they were alongside of the wreck of the Hopkins. They then came to the schooner we had boarded, landed us safely, and conveyed us immediately to the station, treating us all the time with the greatest care, kindness, courtesy, and consideration.

     After treating us to a good, warm breakfast, Capt. Gray, of this station, offered his services for anything further concerning the wreck I desired; but thinking that nothing

further could be done immediately, I could but thank him for his offer. Monday morning, June 22, Capt. Gray again offered his services; but he having done so much already, and seeing that plenty of other assistance could be had, I thought it best to tax the generosity of the service no further. I then proceeded to call in the advice of the commissioner of wrecks, D.G. Midgett. A survey was then called, and the schooner was of course pronounced a total loss. Yet, hoping to save some of the rigging and sails, Z.T. Scarborough was appointed wreck master, and up to this date, June 23, 2 p.m., nearly all the material within reach has been landed on the beach.

     I can not too highly commend Capt. Gray and his noble crew for their promptness in our case, and I should not have dared to land in our own boat, but would have had to sail away from the vicinity of the wreck and sacrifice all that has thus far been saved. Capt. Gray also has my gratitude and thanks for needed advice outside of his official position. GIDEON J. FISHER, Master of Schooner William H. Hopkins."

The North Carolinian, Elizabeth City, NC, 24 June 1891