Schooner Alfred Brabrook ~ 7 March 1899

Annual Report of the Operations of the United States Life-Saving Service for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1899:

About 3.40 a.m., patrol discovered this vessel about 2 miles NNE. Of the station. He at once reported to the keeper, who called up Little Kinnakeet and Chicamacomico stations, asking their assistance. Arrived with beach apparatus opposite the vessel in about ½ hour. The gale was very heavy and the surf too high to make an attempt to board the vessel; the keeper accordingly fired a line over her. The line was found and the crew bent on a heavier line which was hauled ashore. Then sent off the whip, but, owing to strong current, it fouled so much that great delay was occasioned in clearing it, and the same trouble occurred in sending off the hawser. It was early 11 a.m., before the gear was in readiness for work. Then made 8 trips of the breeches buoy, landing the 8 persons who comprised the crew of the schooner. Took them to the station an supplied them with dry clothes from the supplies of the Women’s National Relief Association. Next day boarded the wreck and brought off all of the personal effects. The vessel was a total loss. He master remained at the station for 18 days; the remainder of the shipwrecked men remained but two days. (See letter of acknowledgment.)

NORFOLK, VIRGINIA, March 22, 1899

DEAR SIRS: I desire to express thanks to the keeper and crew of the Gull Shoal Life-Saving Station for the timely assistance rendered to the schooner Alfred Brabrook on March 7, when she was stranded 2 miles from their station, in landing all safely in the breeches buoy. We were taken to the station and cared for with dry clothing and kind attention. Very respectfully, R.W. GARLAND, Master

Breeches Buoy

Steamer Ariosto ~ 24 December 1899

It would seem easy to distinguish a fixed white light in Ocracoke’s 65-foot-tall lighthouse from a flashing white light in Cape Hatteras’ 198-foot-tall lighthouse. But under duress during storm conditions, navigators sometimes made costly errors. 

Annual Report of the Operations of the United States Life-Saving Services for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1900:

Stranded about 2 miles SW. of station at 3.50 a.m., during thick weather. Station crew hastened to the scene with beach apparatus, and at 9 a.m. succeeded, after several trials, in establishing communication with the wreck. The greater part of the steamer’s crew shoved off in one of her boats and attempted to lie under her lee to await daylight, but the boat swamped and nearly all of them perished. Three were hailed out of the surf alive by the life savers, and the 6 persons who remained on the wreck were safely landed in the beeches buoy. The crew from Durants Station assisted the Ocracoke crew at this wreck. Seven dead bodies which washed ashore were given Christian burial. Thirty lives were lost in this disaster, and the steamer became a total loss. 

Newspaper Articles:
New York Times, December 25, 1899
Feilding Star, Vol. XXI, Iss. 151, December 28, 1899

Investigative Report:
Wreck Report for Ariosto ~ Formal investigation held into the circumstances attending the stranding and total loss of the Ariosto.

Wreck of British Steamship Ariosto

The most calamitous, because entirely needless, loss of life during the entire year, or indeed for many recent years in the history of the Service, occurred on December 24, 1899, at the wreck of the British steamship Ariosto on the coast of North Carolina about 2 miles to the southward of the Ocracoke Life-Saving Station. Of 30 persons on board the vessel, 21 perished, while there was in the conditions not the slightest necessity that a single one should have been lost.

     The Ariosto was a schooner-rigged steel vessel of 2,265 tons, laden with a very valuable cargo of wheat, cotton, lumber, and cotton-seed meal, carrying 30 men, including officers, and commanded by Captain R.R. Baines. When lost she was bound from Galveston, TX, to Hamburg, Germany, via Norfolk, VA, the object of the call at Norfolk being to refill the coal bunkers.

     During the evening of Saturday, December 23, the weather was clear overhead, but hazy around the horizon, and a smart wind was blowing from the southwest, driving before it a very rough sea. At midnight the weather was thick all around, and heavy showers of rain passed over from time to time, while the sea was constantly making. About 3.45 o’clock (Sunday morning) Captain Baines, who was then lying down in the chart room, heard the telegraph bell ring, and instantly sprang up to inquire the reason, when he was met at his door by the second mate, who had come to request his presence on deck. Proceeding at once to the bridge, the captain saw that his ship was entirely surrounded by “white water.” He says he did not know precisely what part of the coast he was on, but that since he could see no land or light he had an idea that he had struck the Diamond Shoals, off Hatteras. As a matter of fact, he was some 15 miles to the southwest. The engines were working hard astern, but were not able to stop the headway of the vessel, which took the bottom, and remained, as the master says, “bumping and thumping in such a manner that it seemed probable her masts would come down.” All hands were at once on deck, and rocket signals of distress were fired, the first having b seen sent up about 3.50 o’clock, as he thinks. “While still firing,” the captain says, “a red flash was seen in the north, which was taken to be from some source whence assistance might come.” And so in fact it was, being the red Coston signal of the life saving patrol.

     Believing his ship to be among the Diamond Shoals, the master feared she might work off into one of the numerous deep holes or channels and founder there, and besides he was seriously worried by the fact that the heavy seas on the starboard side broke away the three starboard boats, while the ship was constantly heeling over to the starboard, making the destruction of the boats on the port side likely to take place at any moment. He therefore held a consultation with the chief officer, which resulted in a determination to launch the port boats. Here was where the fatal mistake occurred. Signals indicated that assistance would be afforded from the shore had already been seen and correctly interpreted. As subsequent events proved, to a demonstration, if all had simply stood by the ship every soul would have been rescued by the life saving crews. Nevertheless, it must be remembered that Captain Baines supposed his vessel to be stranded on the Diamond Shoals, a place of extreme danger, so far from shore that he might well have doubted the ability of any boat to reach her, and of course miles beyond the range of any life saving gun or rocket. Having in view these facts, it may not be a matter of great surprise that he should deem it the part of wisdom to save his two remaining boats and man them alongside until the dawn of day should make it possible to determine his true position and the proper course of action then to be taken.

     This he asserts to have been his purpose. Accordingly the pinnace was first got out and manned by 11 men, including the chief and second mates, who were placed in charge with instructions to “get away clear” and then lie by until daylight. As soon as the pinnace cleared the ship the lifeboat was successfully put over and manned by 15 men. Twenty-six persons were not in the boats, while there still remained on the ship four others who were also to go in the lifeboat. These were Captain Baines, Third Officer Reed, Chief Engineer Warren, and Carpenter Peltonen. Fortunately for them the lifeboat got away before they could embark in it. To this providential accident, which probably then seemed to them the worst of ill luck, they owed their lives. It would appear that these entire operations were conducted with such haste that they were completed in less than 30 minutes from the moment the vessel stranded. Meantime she was entirely intact (as indeed she remained for several days) and the life savers were constantly firing signals of assurance that aid would be afforded. It would therefore hardly seem unreasonable to suppose that the officers of the Ariosto should have realized that they were on the shore and not on the Diamond Shoals. However, the boats were not afloat, and the entire crew in them, save four men. In obedience to the master’s instructions they lay to under the lee of the ship, the man at the oars backing and pulling to keep them head to the waves. It was an awful position, the sea constantly growing rougher and rougher, while the suction of the water around the bows and stern of the steamer was getting to be irresistible.

     Captain Baines thinks the pinnace held her position for at least an hour, and the lifeboat for full half that time (having been launched last), but at all events, from his place on the bridge he saw the former carried by the swift tide to the north into the breakers, and the lifeboat overwhelmed and capsized, throwing all its occupants into the sea. As a matter of fact both boats were upset, and all in them were cast adrift. Twenty-six persons were not battling for their lives in one of the worst seas with which desperate men have ever contended. And yet one of them, Seaman Elsing, a man of infinite skill in the water and of brave heart and wonderful physical power, actually swam ashore, absolutely unaided even with so much as the slightest piece of wreckage to help bear him up. Two others who left the ship in the lifeboat—C. Peterson, a fireman, and C. Saline, a seaman—were hauled back on board the steamer by means of the boat tackle which hung alongside, while Fireman Henroth and Boatswain Anderson, who embarked in the pinnace, were dragged from the surf by the life savers who were on the beach. By this time daylight was faintly showing, an keeper Howard of the Ocracoke Station, having gained some ocular information of the status of affairs, at once set the international code signal “M K” (remain by your ship).

     Knowledge of the wreck was obtained at the station in the following way: About 4 o’clock surfman Guthrie, while on south patrol, discovered, during a brief interval when the weather lighted, the masthead light of a steamer having such a bearing that he knew she must be ashore, whereupon he immediately fired a red signal and hastened as fast as he could to the station and turned out the crew. Davie Williams, the north patrolman, having also discovered the wreck, likewise returned to the station, finding his comrades already moving.

     The coast runs about northeast by southwest, and the steamer lay about 2 miles southwest of the station. An accident to one of the shafts of the beach apparatus cart caused considerable delay soon after the crew started, but as it was yet very dark, and as subsequent events clearly showed, this fact in no way adversely affected the operations. The tide making over the beach was especially deep at a point where the hurricane of August 16-18 had cut an inlet, and the keeper was obliged to secure the aid of 5 citizens of the vicinity to help his crew get the gear to the wreck, but not withstanding all the difficulties, the life savers were on the scene between 5 and 5.30 o’clock. Hardly had they arrived when they made out in the darkness which still prevailed, a shadowy figure staggering along the beach, who proved to be Seaman Elsing, above named as having swum ashore unaided. He seemed only half conscious, but was able to tell them of the capsize of the boats and to suggest that they might yet find men in the surf. None could be seen, however, and the life savers went quickly to work with preparations to set up the beach apparatus.

     On account of the surf running over the beach there was very serious difficulty in finding a place sufficiently high and solid to bury the sand anchor where it would hold and to place the Lyle gun where it would be out of the water. Both had to be frequently moved during the operations.

     The first shot was fired at about 5.45 o’clock, but the steamer was at least 600 yards distant, and the line failed to reach her. It was therefore hauled in, and with it came a half-drowned man, who was later found to be Boatswain Andersen. He was unconscious, but was resuscitated by the surfmen, and subsequently told them that the line fell across him as he was struggling in the surf; that he had sufficient consciousness to hitch it around his arm, and was thus drawn ashore—an almost miraculous escape from death.

     About this time other persons were dimly discernible in the water making desperate efforts to reach the beach. The life saving men strenuously attempted to reach them, going into the water up to their necks, but the surf was so strong that their utmost exertions resulted in saving only one, Fireman Henroth, who was insensible when taken from the water, but happily not past resuscitation, which was finally affected.

     It was immediately after this rescue that keeper Howard set the signal for those on board the ship to remain there, and then began firing to throw a line across the vessel. While this was going on, and, owing to the great distance, the projectiles were falling short, three sailors were dragged from the surf apparently dead, but nevertheless some of the surfmen devoted themselves to every effort to effect their restoration, although without avail. Not until well-nigh 11 o’clock was it possible to put a line over the steamer. By that hour she had worked within 400 or 500 yards of the beach, and a projectile carrying a No. 4 shot line was finally landed on board. To this was attached a No 7 and to that a No. 9 line (for fear that the smaller one might give way to the intense strain of dragging the tail block and whip line through the powerful longshore current) and when the No. 9 was safe on board, the whip line was attached to it and sent out. The hawser followed, and the actual rescue then began, but the tremendous roll of the ship, which lay broadside to, threatened to part the hawser every time she rolled ashore, and the most critical attention at the relieving tackle was necessary to prevent that disaster. Besides all this the vessel was gradually edging closer in and consequently the gear frequently had to be reset. For these reasons the operations were necessarily so extremely difficult that their completion without mishap affords the best of evidence that they were judiciously and skillfully conducted. Captain Baines was the last to leave the ship, and when he put his feet upon the beach, about 2.30 p.m., a loud cheer was sent up by all the people who had by this time assembled. Every man was saved whom the life saving crews could by any possibility have rescued under the most unfortunate circumstances following the launching of the boats, and if all had remained patiently on board not one would have been lost.

     Keeper Burrus and his crew, of the Durants Life-Saving Station, located next to Ocracoke on the north, were requested by telephone to join keeper Howard’s crew after the latter had begun operations to set up the beach apparatus. They started at once, but were obliged to use the station supply boat on account of the rough sea, and to go on the inside of the beach by way of Pamlico Sound, which consumed about two hours. They made, however, the best possible time, arriving just as the shot line was fired over the vessel, and performed their share of the work.

     A number of citizens of the neighborhood voluntarily rendered extremely valuable assistance to the life saving crews, and it is a pleasure to this office to thankfully acknowledge their praiseworthy conduct, which, it is but simple justice to add, was thoroughly characteristic of the humane and courageous people who inhabit this coast. Unfortunately the names of all of them could not be obtained, but among the number were I.M. Stowe, A.J. O’Neal, B.F. Stowe, B.E. Austin, W.B. Stowe, H.B. Stowe, and C.F. Austin.

     All the testimony taken by the investigating officer demonstrates the entire efficiency of the life saving crews, and the 9 survivors of the wreck addressed to keeper Howard a letter written by Captain Baines, and signed by him with the rest, which contains the following paragraphs:

“The six men met with the most hospitable treatment from the life-saving station and other residents. The rescue was affected under very trying circumstances, and would perhaps have been almost beyond the means at Captain Howard’s disposal had they not had valuable assistance from Captain Burrus and crew from Durants Station and several of the good people from thereabouts, whose strong arms made the use of the method at his disposal a grand success.

     That such a lamentable loss of life occurred is not in any way to be attributed to the want of diligence, promptitude, or lookout of Captain Howard and staff, and we are unanimous in our conscientious declaration that their action in the matter was all that could be done, and is deserving of the highest commendation.”

Read more at the Ocracoke Island Journal.

Capt Ryde Rupert Baines

Ryde Rupert Baines, son of Thomas Baines and Charlotte Richbell, was born in Camberwell, England on 22 Jan 1846. In 1877 he married Mrs. Mary Elly van Troyen with whom he had four children. Capt. Baines died on 9 Feb 1912. Thanks to his great grand daughter, Teresa Collados Baines, who shared photos of the following items that were rescued from the Ariosto before it wrecked. 

The fork on right bears the initials of Capt. Baines.

Schooner Aaron Reppard ~ 16 August 1899

Annual Report of the Operations of the United States Life-Saving Service for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1900:

Wreck of the Schooner Aaron Reppard

The shattered keel and a few jagged oaken timbers of a ruined vessel lying 100 yards above low-water mark on Hatteras Island, NC, 2-1/2 miles below the Gull Shoal Life-Saving station, mark the locality where the three-masted schooner Aaron Reppard was totally destroyed on the 16th of August, 1899, during the prevalence of a West Indian hurricane, pronounced by the observer of the United States Weather Bureau “the most severe in the history of Hatteras.”

     Eight days before the wreck of the Reppard the same storm had spread almost unprecedented devastation over the island of Porto Rico, and during the intervening period had slowly progressed northward carrying more or less of destruction on its evil wings. By August 13 its center was off Jupiter Inlet, FL, and in the meantime all interests in its line of advance were advised by the Weather Bureau of its calculated movements, and all shipping bound for the South Atlantic was informed of the danger of sailing for that region.

     Whether Captain Wessel of the Reppard was actually aware of the advancing tempest is not known. He left Philadelphia at 2 o’clock p.m., Saturday, August 12, bound for Savannah, GA, and was towed as far as Reedy Island, 45 or 50 miles down the Delaware River, where he anchored and remained until Monday, August 14. At about 5 o’clock in the morning of that day he got under way and proceeded out to the capes of the Delaware, standing south with an easterly wind until past Fenwick Island Lightship, when he hauled to south by east and stood so until 8 p.m., and then kept away south.

     At that moment the coming hurricane was raging around the port of his destination, only a few hundred miles to the southward, and he was sure soon to be involved in its dreadful swirl, if he continued on his course. At 8 o’clock that night the wind was from the east and already of sufficient force to require all the light sails to be taken in and preventer stays to be set up. The next morning, Tuesday, the vessel was by calculation somewhere off Cape Henry.

     If the captain had any knowledge of the weather signals flying when he sailed, the increase of wind and fall of barometer might well have caused him to take refuge inside the capes of the Chesapeake and await developments. At 4 p.m. the hurricane, still sweeping northward, was furious around Cape Hatteras, while two hours prior to that time the wind was so heavy off Cape Henry, where the Reppard then was, that the captain hove his vessel to. She had been so strained already that the crew were kept at the pumps two-thirds of the time, and it was now too late to seek a harbor. She remained hove to during the night on the starboard tack under for staysail and mainsail with the helm lashed hard down, and on Wednesday morning the mizzen storm trysail was set to hold her up. The weather was thick, rain was falling heavily and the wind was blowing fiercely from the eastward during all the forenoon of Wednesday, and the already doomed vessel was constantly drifting shoreward, although the proximity of the land was not definitely known to those on board. At about 1 o’clock p.m., however, breakers were reported astern. The captain quickly ordered the staysail to be taken in, and both bower anchors to be let go, which was done, leaving the mainsail and trysail still set in order to keep the schooner’s head to the wind. Although 90 fathoms of chain were run out on each anchor both of them could not hold her against the tremendous sea, and she slowly dragged them for about 15 minutes, when she reached the first line of breakers, which was very heavy.

     At this juncture the mainsail halyards were let go so that the sail would run down, and all hands leaped into the shrouds to escape being carried overboard by the sea which now swept the decks. Besides the crew, which numbered 7 men, officers included, there was one passenger, named Cummings, who is said to have belonged in Charleston, SC. Captain Wessel, Mate Johnson, Steward Robinson, and seamen John Van der Graaf, Pedro Lachs, and James M. Lynott took to the fore rigging; one sailor, Tony Nilsen, to the main rigging, and the passenger, Cummings, to the mizzen rigging. Van der Graaf was the last man to reach the rigging, and he says that when he got aloft he could plainly see the shore astern, where he counted some 20 people, although he had little idea of the distance.

     The heavy hull, laden with some 700 tons of anthracite coal, pounded with terrific force, and still continued to drag farther and farther into the breakers. The persons visible on the shore were the life saving crews of the stations located at Gull Shoal, Little Kinnakeet, and Chicamacomico, who had assembled with their apparatus to render such aid as the almost hopelessly adverse conditions might permit.

     The Reppard was first seen by surfman William G. Midgett, who was on day patrol south of Gull Shoal Station. He says she was then about a mile and a half offshore, southeast of the station, heading about north, and “doing the best she could,” now making a little headway and then dropping back. He was able to make her out for an hour, at intervals when the weather would lighten up, before she anchored. “As soon as she did that,” he says, “I knew she would come ashore, and I then made my way to the station and reported her,” leaving the patrolman of the Little Kinnakeet Station on the beach to watch her. The distance he had to travel was about a mile and a half to the northward, and so heavy were the conditions that, although he was mounted and drove his horse as hard as he could, it took him 15 minutes to cover the ground. He was in ample time, however, so far as movements to effect a rescue were concerned.

     Captain Pugh immediately telephoned Little Kinnakeet Station, next to Gull Shoal on the southward, and Chicamacomico, next to the northward, requesting keepers Hooper and Midgett to join him with their crews abreast of the wreck. Then he attached his own horse to the beach apparatus cart, and those of surfmen G.L. Midgett and D.L. Gray to Service cards loaded with additional equipments, and in 5 minutes after the wreck was reported set out vigorously for the scene, where he and his crew arrived within half an hour and found the position of the vessel and men on board as above described. Within not more than 10 minutes later in either case, the other crews, who had also utilized their own horses to insure speed, also arrived.

     Captain Pugh testifies that the schooner then lay about 700 yards distant, stern toward the beach, “riding to two anchors, but slowly dragging shoreward.” This portion of the land consists of two banks about 50 yards apart with a gully between them, and the sea, which is described as being “as high as it possibly could be,” was frequently sweeping completely over the land from the ocean side into the sound. In view of the fact that the survivors and the members of the lifesaving crews agree that the employment of a boat under the conditions was clearly beyond all possibility, that question need not be here considered. No number of men, no matter how many or how skillful, could have launched a boat.

     Where the schooner then was no life saving ordnance in the world could reach her, and therefore all that the life saving crews could do was to make ready their apparatus and await the moment when she should drift within range. When she was within about 500 yards, as nearly as could be estimated, the Lyle gun was fired with a 6-ounce charge of powder and a No. 7 shot line. The line parted, however, close to the shank of the projectile, which went on its way and was lost. A second attempt was then made, and the line stood the test, but the shot fell “at least 75 yards short.” Wisely concluding, therefore, that the line was too heavy to carry the requisite distance, the gun was again charged and fired with a cartridge of the same weight, but with a No. 4 line attached to the projectile, which laid it safely across the head stays of the schooner. Van der Graaf, one of the surviving sailors, says they saw the line perfectly well and knew what it meant, but that by no possible skill or courage could any of them have reached it. He declares in his testimony that if it had fallen close to him he could have done nothing with it. “She was pounding so heavily that it took both hands to hold on.” “This must have been about thirty minutes after we reached the beach,” says keeper Pugh, “and even if they had secured the shot line I am satisfied they never could have hauled off the whip. The only thing they could have done was to haul off life preservers.”

Constructed of 52 individual cork blocks sewn onto a canvas vest with cotton duck tying tapes, this pattern of life preserver was used by the U.S. Life Saving Service, and was an essential item of equipment at stations from the late 1860s through the 1920s.

It was soon evident that the wreck was about to go to pieces, and the only thing the life savers could not hope to accomplish was to rescue the shipwrecked men from the surf when the last desperate moment should arrive. Even in this they were doomed to an extremely painful degree of disappointment. Seaman Van der Graaf says that first the deck house went by the board, then the hatch coamings and the decks, and then the bulwarks. While this destruction was going on the passenger, Cummings, in the mizzen shrouds, was caught by one leg in the ratlines and “slammed back and forth” until dead before the mast fell, which was the first to go, and went over the port side. He was never seen again.

     The mainmast shortly followed the mizzenmast, first breaking in two pieces and causing the sailor, Tony Nilsen, who was in its rigging, to fall among the debris, where he was seen by Van der Graaf, who says that, although he was badly wounded, he worked himself clear of the wreckage and got over the side, but then disappeared. Before the mainmast fell Captain Wessel jumped overboard from the fore rigging and made a brave effort to swim ashore. The men watched him all the time, now making a little progress, and now sorely baffled by the backlash of the seas until he evidently found that he must fail, when he turned around and tried to regain the vessel. In this last struggle for his life he so far succeeded as to get within 5 yards of her, but then threw up his hands and sank out of sight.

     The mate, Steward Robinson, seamen Pedro Lachs, James M. Lynott, and Van der Graaf, all in the fore rigging, were still alive, but the foremast soon broke into three pieces and fell to starboard, carrying all four men with in into the sea. Lynott was severely bruised, and his shipmates, who never saw him after the mast gave way, believe that he was instantly drowned. The steward was also injured by the fall and soon perished. Three men were still alive in the water—the mate and seamen Lachs and Van der Graaf—and fortunately they were on the side toward the shore.

     While this tragedy was being enacted the life saving keepers had decided that three surfmen from the Gull Shoal Station, two from Little Kinnakeet, and two from Chicamacomico, should put on cork jackets, and, each taking from 40 to 50 yards of shot line, wade out as far as possible into the surf, while each line should be held by two surfmen on the beach. The three men just mentioned as alive among the remnants of the foremast alongside the Reppard clung to such pieces of wreckage as they could lay hold of, and were gradually tossed near enough to the shore to be rescued by the life savers in the surf.

     Tame as these operations may seem when stated in cold and formal terms, they were by no means free from great peril to the rescuers. Heavy pieces of ragged wreckage filled the surf—planks, timbers, and broken spars—and were hurled about with deadly force in every direction, so that the surfmen had to move rapidly and with great skill to avoid them. Indeed, the veteran keeper of Little Kinnakeet Station, Captain E.O. Hooper, who refused to head the entreaties of his comrades to leave the hazardous work to younger men, rushed in at a critical moment, nearly losing his life, and suffering a fracture of one of the bones of his right leg. However, by dint of courageous and skillful effort all three of the shipwrecked men who escaped from the vessel alive were rescued from the surf. Being too weak to walk, or indeed, to stand, they were conveyed in beach carts to the Gull Shoal Station. There they were treated with proper stimulants, clad in dry underclothing, and placed in bed, where, after several hours, they recovered from their terrible experience.

     The names of the three men saved were Bernard Johnson, Pedro Lachs, and John van der Graaf, and the five who perished were Oscar Wessel, James M. Lynott, W. Robinson, Tony Nilsen, and _____ Cummings.

     The body of only one of the drowned was recovered, that of the steward, W. Robinson, which was buried on the bank north of the Gull Shoal Station.

     The fact that three life saving crews were promptly assembled on this occasion affords excellent testimony to the inestimable value of the telephone system of the Service, which is principally designed for precisely such emergencies. A single crew could not have accomplished what was done, and they could have received no assistance from beachmen, as, to the credit of these ever-ready brave men it should be stated, they often do, for the reason that the storm and consequent furious sea rolling clear across the island compelled the fishermen and other residents to stay at home and devote their utmost energies to the preservation of the lives of their families and themselves. Waste and desolation covered the entire region to an extent hitherto unknown even on that storm-beaten coast.

     Lieutenant C.E. Johnston, a most competent officer of the Revenue-Cutter Service, who investigated the circumstances of this wreck, closes his report with the following paragraph:

“There is no doubt that the surfmen did everything possible under the adverse conditions to save the lives of the people on this schooner. The storm was the worst in the recollection of any one now living on the Carolina Banks, and it is little short of a miracle that any one now lives to tell the tale of the wreck. If the master had not anchored, or if he had slipped his cables as soon as he reached the breakers, it is probable that all hands would have been saved, as the schooner would not have stopped until she was right up against the bank. Three other schooners, a barkentine, and a lightship all went ashore in the same general vicinity and in the same storm without anchoring, and the only loss of life from the five vessels was occasioned by a tremendous sea which boarded the barkentine when she first took bottom and washed four persons overboard. All the rest were rescued by the life savers.”

     The opinion of the survivors regarding the conduct of the life saving men appears from the following letter written by one of their number and signed by all, which was handed to keeper Pugh before they left the beach:

GULL SHOAL, August 21, 1899

This is to certify that the loss of the lives of the captain, three seamen, and one passenger of the late schooner Aaron Reppard wrecked near the above-named station was not because of any failure on the part of the life-saving crews to do their duty. They were at the scene of the wreck promptly, and put a line over her head stays, but we could not get it, and if we had we could not have done anything, as we had all we could do to hold on, as the vessel was rolling heavy and fast going to pieces. The life-saving crews did what they could to save our lives. BERNARD JOHNSON, First Mate ; PEDRO LACHS, Seaman ; JOHN VAN DER GRAFF, Seaman

Newspaper Articles:

Virginian Pilot, August 17, 1899
Virginia Pilot, August 20, 1899



Steamer City of Jacksonville ~ 19 September 1899

City of Jacksonville

On September 19, 1899, the side-wheel steamer City of Jacksonville, under the command of Captain Thoms Cresner with a crew of 16, stranded 6 miles SSW of the station. The keeper's report follows and is transcribed as found:

Annual Report of the Operations of the United States Life-Saving Service for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1899:

"At 5:40 a.m. Dennis Mason reported to keeper that a steamer to the southerd of station was acting as if something was the mater with her. Keeper went in lookout and spied a few minutes, she hauled off shore turned and run down the beach. Kep watch of her at 6:20 a.m. she hauled into beach and stopped. We left station at 6:35 a.m. with beach apparatus. The beach all under water, had to cross eight small Inlets most of the time water over our knees, arived abrest of vessel 9:55 a.m. She proved to be the City of Jacksonville from N.Y. bound to Jacksonville, Fla. At 2 a.m. the rudder chain parted, Capt had it fixed. At day light she run in shore to look for an Inlet, when a mile from beach rudder chain parted again, wind fresh from the S.E. sea rough, she came to the beach over the outer and inner reefs. Keeper boarded vessel wanted Capt and crew to leave but they would not. Got men to carrie dispatches to Beaufort, N.C. for Capt. Brought letters to Portsmouth and mailed them. Steamer being right close to Old Whale Bone Inlet could go to her from the inside with surfboat. Keeper found the vessel would shift about on high water and her main steam pipes out of plumb. Concluded to stay by her with surf boat which we did for three nights. Sept. 22nd Backed first anchor with another, brought pilot to Portsmouth in surfboat, got parties to carrie him to Morehead City, carried provisions to vessel at different times."

Keeper Terrell and his crew stood by the Jacksonville until a wrecking company arrived to take charge. He didn't finish his report until November 9, concluding that the vessel "...is not on the sound side. Wreckers at work on her. Think she will be saved."

Schooner Charmer ~ 4 March 1899

At 9:20 a.m. on March 4, 1899, Surfman David S. Willis reported a vessel stranded four miles east of the station. Keeper Terrell took the station crew to her assistance, arriving at 1010. The vessel proved to be the three-masted schooner Charmer (341 tons) from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, bound for Charleston, South Carolina with 567 tons of coal. She had struck bottom on the shoal during a heavy fog and had beat to within 800 yards of the beach. Captain Bragg, a local pilot of Ocracoke, also boarded the vessel to assist. Keeper Terrell landed Captain Charles L. Olsen and his crew of six at Ocracoke in order for him to have easier access to a telegraph.

The entire cargo, valued at $1,700.00 was lost. The only thing saved from the vessel was about $60.00 worth of sails and rigging. Soon after wards, the Charmer went to pieces.

Annual Report of the Operations of the United States Life-Saving Service for the fiscal year ending June 30 1899:

In attempting to make Ocracoke in a fog this vessel stranded on the bar. Crew from Portsmouth boarded her, but could do nothing further than to land the crew. Later on they took the master to Ocracoke to send a telephone message to Hatteras, to be forwarded thence to the owners of the vessel. When the owners arrived they turned the vessel over to Captain Bragg, a local pilot, but she soon went to pieces. (See letter of acknowledgment.)

OCRACOKE, NORTH CAROLINA, March 10, 1899

DEAR SIRS: The owner of the Charmer was here and put everything in charge of Captain Bragg, and as I am leaving Ocracoke today for Philadelphia, I take this opportunity of thanking you for the prompt assistance rendered to myself and crew in our distress. Yours, in dept, CHARLES L. OLSEN, Master of Schooner Charmer

Diamond Shoal Lightship 69 ~ 17 August 1899

Annual Report of the Operations of the United States Life-Saving Services for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1900:

Parted moorings during the terrible storm and stranded at 3.30 a.m. 1 mile SSW. of station. Surfmen hastened to the scene with the beach apparatus. They fired a shot line across the wreck and safely landed the crew of 9 men in the breeches buoy. Took them to station in a much exhausted condition and provided them with dry clothing from the supplies of the Women’s National Relief Association. They were succored at station until the next day, when, having recovered their strength, and the storm having abated, they boarded their vessel again. Wreckers were sent for, and efforts were made to save the vessel. On September 12, the weather being rough, the life savers assisted the crew to land, and succored them at station until the next day, when they were able to return to the wreck. On September 19 it was necessary for the crew to quit the wreck once more, and the station crew hauled them ashore. This time they stayed at the station until the 21st, and then went back on board. Soon afterwards the Merritt Wrecking Company succeeded in hauling her off the beach and towed her to Baltimore for repairs. (See letters of acknowledgment.)

CREEDS HILL LIFE-SAVING STATION, August 26, 1899

SIR: In behalf of the crew of the Diamond Shoal Lightship, No. 69, which stranded near Creeds Hill Life-Saving Station on the morning of August 18 in the hurricane from the southeast, we, the undersigned, wish to thank the Life-Saving Service for the timely assistance which was rendered us by the Creeds Hill life-saving crew.

     At 5 a.m. we discovered the life-savers coming to our rescue. The weather was thick and rainy and blowing a hurricane. All hands were in the rigging and the seas were breaking completely over the vessel. We were all landed safely and taken to the station in an exhausted condition, where e were kindly treated by Captain H.W. Styron and his crew, for which we desire to tender our thanks. J.I. BOWLING, Master ; H.D. RULEY, Assistant Engineer ; JERRY PERRY, Fireman ; GEO. H. WILLIS, Cook ; HENRY ADDICKS, Seaman

Diamond Shoal Lightship 69

Hulk Fred Walton ~ 17 August 1899

Annual Report of the Operations of the Unitd States Life-Saving Service for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1900:

Parted its moorings and driven on Hog Shoal, 2 miles ENE. Of station, by the fierce hurricane which was raging. Owing to thick weather, the surfmen did not discover the casualty until 5.25 p.m. on the 18th, when they made out the hulk, which is used as a lay boat off Ocracoke by the Norfolk and Southern steamers, flying a signal of distress. Surfmen pulled out to it and found it broken in two and full of water. They took the ship keeper and his wife, who were the only ones on board, into the surf boat and landed them at Ocracoke.

Wreck of the Fred Walton & the Lydia A. Willis
During the Storm of August 1899

On the morning of August 16, 1899, it became apparent that a large scale storm was in the making. The wind had shifted and was steadily increasing. By noon it had reached 50 miles per hour and by dark it was blowing full hurricane force. Two local families arrived at the station by boat, seeking shelter. They had been driven from their homes by the extremely high tides. It became necessary for the keeper to "scuttle" the station to keep it from floating away. On the following morning the full force of the storm struck with plus 100 mile perhour winds. There was nothing they could do but ride out the storm.

By late afternoon on the 18th the storm had subsided enough for the lookout, Surfman William T. Willis, to see something which looked like a vessel. He called for Keeper Terrell, who "... went in lookout, took glasses and spied, just then it cleared up, we could see that she had distress signals." They left immediately in the surfboat, arriving at the wreck at 6:15 p.m. The vessel proved to be the unrigged Fred Walton, which was used by the Norfolk and Southern Railroad as a lay-boat off Ocracoke. "She had parted her moorings and drifted down on Hog Shoal (two miles ENE of the station), broke into and filled up, we took the ship's keeper and his wife (Captain and Mrs. W.D. Gaskill) ashore to Ocracoke, where they lived." At 8 a.m. on the 19th the Portsmouth station crew left Ocracoke to take the agent of the Walton to the wreck to look for money which was left on board. The keeper reported:

"... on our way we saw colors aboard Sch. LYDIA A. WILLIS. She had parted her chain thursday morning and drifted on Dry Shoal Point (three miles east of the station). We had past her Friday afternoon when we went to Lay boat FRED WALTON but could see nothing that looked like life abord. The Captain said they was all to the lee of house and did not think to set colors until saterday morning. There was four men abord had been six but two had been swept off Thursday in the Hurricane. They wanted to be carried to Ocracoke ware there friends was. One was very bad off. We used bottles of hot water and heated bricks to his limbs and soles of his feet. We stade with them all night and brought them out all right. Put them aboard Steamer OCRACOKE, Sunday morning which they took for thear homes, Washington, N.C."

The rescued men, all of Washington, were: Captain Robert Griffin; Benj. Griffin; A.S. Kelley; and John Rors. Those swept away by the hurricane, also from Washington, were George L. Buckman and Henry Blango.

The lifesavers had left the station at about 5:30 p.m. on the 18th and didn't return until 1:05 p.m. on the 20th. Both vessels were complete losses.

Schooner Florence Randall ~ 16 August 1899

Annual Report of the Operations of the United States Life-Saving Services for the fiscal year ending June 30 1900:

Stranded at 5.30 p.m. 2 miles S. of station during a furious storm. Life savers from Cape Hatteras and Creeds Hill stations came to the assistance of the Big Kinnakeet crew. They assembled on the beach abreast the wreck with the beach apparatus and soon had a shot line on board. After setting up the gear, the whole crew of 9 men, together with the captain’s wife, were safely landed in the breeches buoy. When the surfmen had cut the hawser and secured the apparatus, they took the shipwrecked crew to station, furnished them with dry clothing from the stores of the Women’s National Relief Association, and succored them until the 21st, when they received transportation to Norfolk. The schooner became a total loss. (See letter of acknowledgment.)

Florence Randall

BIG KINNAKEET, NORTH CAROLINA, August 21, 1899

SIR: I hereby certify on honor that my wife and myself and crew of 8 men were rescued from the stranded wreck of the American schooner Florence Randall on 16th day of August, 1899 by the crew of the Big Kinnakeet Life-Saving Station, and that we were cared for at the station to the best of their ability. C.A. CAVILEER, Master of Schooner Florence Randall

Schooner Fannie Brown ~ December 1899

Asheville Daily Gazette, Asheville, NC, December 31, 1899

Schooner Henrietta Hill ~ 24 August 1899

On August 24, 1899, the schooner Henrietta Hill was on passage from New Bern to New York City with a load of shingles valued at $225.00. She left Portsmouth late that afternoon to pass through the inlet and continue her voyage to New York. When about three miles southeast of the station, trouble struck.

Annual Report of the Operations of the United States Life-Saving Service for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1900:

Dragged anchors during a heavy squall and stranded 3 miles E. by S. of station. Foreseeing that she would drag into the breakers, the surfmen made ready and were alongside soon after she struck. They brought the crew of four men to station with their cloths, the captain’s sextant, charts, compass, and clock. On the next day the surfmen helped to strip the vessel. On the 28th they ran out anchors and tried to heave her afloat. On the 30th the revenue cutter Boutwell tried to release her, the surfmen running the lines, but the effort was unsuccessful. On September 7 the surfmen helped to take the pump ashore, and the master gave up the hull as a total loss. The shipwrecked crew were succored at station for 14 days.

Keeper Terrell reports:

"... a heavy sqwal from the westward struck her. Capt. let anchor go but could not hold her. We was sure she would get in the breakers and got ready for it when it lit up. Keeper was in lookout with William T. Willis, Surfman No. 5, saw man when he went aloft with color 6:07 p.m. arrived alongside 6:45 p.m. Brought Capt. and crew to station also there clothes, Capt. sexton and charts, vessel's coumpuss & clock. Friday Aug 25 helped Capt. strip vessel. Aug 28 helped Capt run anchors and chain, Capt. thinking he mite save his vessel. Aug 30 Revenue Cutter Geo S. Boutwell tryed to pull vessel off shoal but was unsuccessful. We run lines to cutter and carried messages from sch. to cutter. Sept. 7 helped Capt. to get vessel pump. Sept. 12 vessel mast fell - no chance to save hull."

The crew were Captain Ernest Golden of Cedar Island/New Bern; Geo. Ventus of Washington; Frank Hamilton of Baltimore, Maryland; and James Wilcox of New Bern. They spent 14 days at the station, consuming 169 meals. Only $150,000 worth of the cargo was saved before the vessel was given up a total loss.

Schooner J.C. McNaughton ~ 8 April 1899

Annual Report of the Operations of the United States Life-Saving Service for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1899:

Parted her cable, stranded and sank ½ mile E. of station at 2 a.m. The Durants and Creeds Hill life saving crews were soon on the beach abreast the stranded vessel with the beach apparatus. Shot line was quickly thrown across her, the whip hauled off and made fast in the main rigging, the hawser set up, and the crew of 5 men safely landed in the breeches buoy, and provided with dry clothing from the supplies of the Women’s National Relief Association. The wreck became a total loss, but about $800 worth of her cargo of lumber was saved by the surfmen. The shipwrecked crew was succored for 5 days at the life saving station.

Wreck of the J.C. McNaughton

The 146-ton J.C. McNaughton parted her cable during a gail of wind and stranded near Hatteras about 4 or 6 miles from the Durants Station. Built at Delaware in 1888, the three-masted schooner was under the command of Captain Outten and bound for New York City from Scranton with a load of lumber.

The Durants lookout spotted the vessel about 8 a.m. Surfman D.E. Willis, at the Ocracoke Station had already discovered the vessel and keeper Burrus and his crew were on the scene when the Ocracoke crew arrived. They worked together for four full days until they obtained another vessel to use as a lighter. After transferring most of the cargo they finally floated the McNaughton at 6:30 p.m. on the 13th.

Sloop June ~ 11 August 1899

Annual Report of the Operations of the United States Life-Saving Service for the fiscal year ending June 30 1900:

Stranded on south side of bar while trying to enter inlet. Life saving crew pulled alongside and found the sloop in a bad condition, being full of water and the surf breaking over her continually. They took off the crew of three men and carried them to station, but nothing could be done to save the sloop, and she soon broke up. The shipwrecked crew were provided with dry clothing from the stores of the Women’s National Relief Association, and were succored at the station until the next afternoon.

Schooner Lydia A. Willis ~ 17 August 1899

Annual Report of the Operations of the United States Life Saving Service for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1900:

Two lives were lost from the small schooner Lydia A. Willis near Dry Shoal Point off Ocracoke, NC, during the hurricane of August 17, 1899. The names of the lost were G.L. Buckman, passenger, and Henry Blango, cook, both residents of Little Washington, NC.

     The Willis was an old craft of 17 tons, which had been chartered for a pleasure trip by a party of 9 gentlemen belonging in Little Washington. The entire company on board when the vessel sailed numbered 12—3 of whom made up the crew. On Wednesday, August 16, the schooner anchored off Ocracoke, and as the wind was already blowing well-nigh a hurricane 6 of the passengers wisely chose to go ashore, leaving the crew and three of the pleasure party still on board. During the night the full force of the storm broke upon the ill-conditioned craft, which parted her chains and brought up at 4 a.m. of the 17th on Dry Shoal Point about 3 miles east of the Portsmouth Life-Saving Station.

     The testimony of the captain (who was saved) could not be obtained, but he is understood to have vaguely stated the time when the two men were lost during the day or the night of the day of stranding—“Thursday or Thursday night.”

     The weather was so thick that nobody on shore saw, or possibly could have seen, the wreck, and as a matter of fact its presence was not known to anybody until the afternoon of Friday, August 18, when it was discovered by patrolman William T. Willis of the Life-Saving Service who reported it to keeper Terrell. At that hour the “lay boat” used by the Norfolk and Southern steamers was reported ashore on Hog Shoal flying a signal of distress, and the life-saving crew at once launched a surfboat and started to board her. On their way they saw the Willis apparently deserted, and showing no signal whatever. The wind was still blowing hard, and piling up a high sea, and the keeper therefore kept on his way to the vessel which had called for aid. He started out about 5 o’clock, and at 6.15 reached the lay boat, which he found broken in two, full of water, and having on board the ship keeper and his wife. These the life-saving crew took off and landed at Ocracoke, reaching there at 7 o’clock, having again pulled within a mile of the stranded Willis, which they scrutinized in vain for signals of distress or the slightest signs of life on board.

     The keeper determined not to attempt to return to the station that night, but to remain in Ocracoke; but before he “turned in” the agent of the Norfolk and Southern Railroad hunted him up and requested him to make another trip to the lay boat in the morning, for the purpose of recovering some $300 from the safe.

     About 8 a.m. the next day the agent appeared at the landing, and with him keeper Terrell and crew started out in the station surfboat to board the lay boat, when, as they opened out the point, they perceived a signal flying on board the Willis. It was only a bit of canvas, but the keeper was sure it was not flying when his boat passed the Willis the previous evening, and he was therefore satisfied beyond any question that there must be some person or persons on board the wreck. Therefore he pulled that way and soon made out four men, whom, upon boarding her, he found to be two of the crew and two passengers. They desired to be taken to Ocracoke instead of the life-saving station, and therefore they were speedily placed in the surfboat and conveyed to the village, which they reached between 10 and 11 a.m. Three of the men were taken in charge by some of their friends, while the fourth, Mr. A.S. Kelly, of Little Washington, was conducted to a hotel, where he was provided with proper care, and on the next morning had so far recovered as to be able to go to his home.

     The captain of the Willis told the keeper that as soon as she struck the shoal all hands took to the rigging, and that after that time there was no possibility of leaving the rigging to make a signal. Previous to that time the weather was so thick that the vessel could not be seen. He further stated that late Friday afternoon, 36 hours after she stranded, the tide and sea had fallen so that the deck was out of water, and as the weather was still thick they all lay down in the lee of the deckhouse and went to sleep. None of them was awake when the weather lightened up about 5.30 p.m. and consequently no signal of distress was set up that night. On Saturday morning it appears to have occurred to them that it might be a good plan to set a signal, which they did, with the result that they were promptly rescued as already stated.

OCRACOKE, NORTH CAROLINA, August 21, 1899

We, the survivors from the schooner Lydia A. Willis, which was wrecked on a shoal near Ocracoke Inlet on August17, hereby certify that Captain Terrell and his crew from the Portsmouth Life-Saving Station came to our assistance and rendered most valuable service in bringing us around all right. We desire to hereby express our sincere to Captain Terrell and his crew. ROBERT GRIFFIN, Master ; BENJ. GRIFFIN, Mate ; A.S. KELLY ; JOHN ROSS