Ship Agness ~ 6 June 1811

Raleigh Minerva, June 28, 1811

Steamer Aberlady Bay ~ 10 May 1889

Annual Report of the Operations of the United States Life-Saving Service for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1889:

Between 9 and 10 o’clock in the morning of this date the keeper of the Cape Lookout Station (6th District), North Carolina, saw a small boat, containing several men, land about a mile and a half north of the station. Upon investigation he found them to be the first officer and four men from the steamship Aberlady Bay, of North Shields, England, which had stranded on the outer end of Lookout Shoals, some 10 miles to the south-eastward. They desired to forward telegrams for assistance. These the keeper conveyed to Beaufort, the nearest office, about 11 miles distant, and the following day several tugs arrived from Wilmington and Norfolk, but their efforts to save the vessel were fruitless, as she broke in two and became a total loss.

Wilmington Morning Star
Sunday, May 12, 1889

A steamship in distress - Information was received here yesterday that the British steamship ABERLADY BAY, 1188 tons, Captain McGregor was ashore off Beaufort with prop broken. The steamer is bound from Port royal, South Carolina to Norfolk, Virginia for coal.

Wilmington Morning Star
Tuesday, May 14, 1889

Advices were received here last night from Beaufort, N.C. that the British steamship ABERLADY BAY, ashore off Beaufort, N.C. had broken in two and was a total wreck. The tugs BLANCHE and ALEXANDER JONES went to the assistance of the stranded steamer last Saturday night, but were unable to get her off, and during the high sea that was running yesterday she broke up.

Mr. W.H. Sprunt, acting British Vice Consul at this port telegraphed last Saturday that all assistance required would be rendered, and sent the two tugs named to assist the distressed steamer. Last night he received a telegram from the Collector of Customs at Beaufort, Mr. W.T. Howland, stating that the steamship was a total loss, and that Captain McGregor and his crew of twenty-one men were at Beaufort and desired to go to Norfolk.

Steamer Constitution ~ 27 December 1865

New York Times
January 3, 1866

WRECK OF THE CONSTITUTION

DETAILED ACCOUNT OF THE DISASTER BY THE CAPTAIN OF THE STEAMER.

THE SHOALS OF CAPE LOOKOUT STRUCK DURING A DENSE FOG.

FAILURE OF ALL ATTEMPTS TO REACH THE SHORE IN BOATS.

A FEW OF THE PASSENGERS AND CREW SAVED ON RAFTS.

NAMES OF THE SAVED AND THOSE SUPPOSED TO BE LOST.

Capt. GREENMAN, late master of the steamship CONSTITUTION, wrecked on Cape Lookout shoals, arrived at this port last evening from Morehead City, N.C., in the steamer Louisa Moore, and makes the following statement:
     Saturday, Dec. 23d, 11:30 A.M. -- Left the dock at Savannah with a cargo of 728 bales of cotton, a crew of 33 men, 10 cabin passengers, 3 steerage, and six men found stowed away after leaving, in all 52 souls; passed Tybee Bar 2 P.M., wind blowing a gale from northeast; at 4 P.M. bore up for Port Royal harbor where we anchored at 6 P.M. in company with steamers San Salvador and Lee, wind still blowing a gale and weather looking bad.
     Dec. 24, 6 A.M. -- Got underway, and proceeded to sea. Wind light from southwest, with a heavy sea running from southeast. Ship going about nine knots, and rolling badly. 5 P.M. The packing from joint of steam pipe blew out; blew off steam and repaired it, causing a delay of three hours.
     Dec. 25, 4 A.M. -- Passed lightship, supposed to be on Cape Fear shoals, but found her to be about eight miles to the westward, in fifteen fathoms water. At 5 A.M. got soundings on the shoals in 10 fathoms; 6 A.M., sounding in 15 fathoms to the eastward of the shoals, at which time the steam pipe gave out, caused by the rolling of the ship; blew off steam to repair the pipe and secure the boiler which was working some; got under way again at 10:30 P.M.; steam pipe still leaking, and engineer reported it not safe to carry more than 10 inches of steam. It being foggy through the day, could get no observation, and the ship not having steerage way part of the time, could not keep a correct fun of her; but to the best of my judgment made the end of Cape Fear shoals to bear S.W. by S. 40 miles, and Cape Lookout Shoals N. E. by E. 45 miles distant. Steered E.N.E. At 12 midnight got soundings in 20 fathoms; ship running at the rate of seven miles per hour, with nine inches steam.
     Dec. 26, 1 A.M. -- Got 20 fathoms. 2 A.M., 17 fathoms, steering same course. At 2:30 A.M., ship struck on what proved to be the outer shoals of Cape Lookout, judging myself to be at the time we struck about 14 miles to the westward, and had been steering E.N.E., which would have cleared us of the shoals; in four hours after going on, ship was full of water; made every effort to get her off, but was unsuccessful.
     At daylight 27th a dense fog prevailed, and being in the midst of the breakers, it was too rough to launch the boats without immediately filling. Called all hands and organized boats crews. One boat I put in charge of Capt. FRENCH, a passenger; another to Capt. LANE, a passenger; another in charge of the mate; and taking charge of the remaining one myself, and had everything ready to leave when the sea moderated, or in case the ship showed any signs of breaking up.
     10 A.M. Cut away the foremast. 5 P.M. Fog cleared off with a light breeze, from northwest, and every indication of a pleasant night, the sea still running too high to launch a boat with any degree of safety; called a consultation of the passengers, all of whom preferred to stay by the wreck than to take to the boats. I also gave permission to any of the boats to leave, but none would risk it. At midnight the wind commenced breezing from the southward and the sea to increase; the ship swung two points to the eastward and began to show signs of breaking up; ordered the boats to be launched; my boat was launched successfully, but immediately filled; requested some of the passengers to take her, but all refused, and the boat, after lying alongside a short time, broke adrift; the crews at the same time attempted to launch the other boats, but they were stove by the sea, which was now breaking fiercely over us, and the ship breaking up very fast. The only chance now left to save ourselves was by clinging to pieces of the wreck or cotton bales.
     At 4 A.M. of the 27th the whole side fell in, with a large number of the crew and passengers clinging to it, all of whom were thrown into the sea. The next sea that came carried the forecastle with it, and on which I was standing with several others. After being in the water a few minutes I succeeded in getting on a piece of timber where there were three others, after being washed off it several times; saw another raft, which I hailed, and found the second mate and steward on it. I swam for it, and succeeded in getting to it, calling for my companions to follow me, two of whom reached in safety, the other going down before he could get to it. Could see a number around us; hailed for the mate; he answered that he was on a raft all right. At daylight, 28th, could see two rafts, with men on them, drifting to the N.E. At 12 o'clock could discern the lighthouse on Cape Lookout.
     5 P.M. saw a boat coming toward us, which proved to be the boat that was lost from alongside and had been picked up by four of the crew. After getting into her we succeeded in picking up two passengers; cruised around the vicinity of the wreck for some time but could find no others. Started for the beach, but finding it too rough to land, lay by for the night; next morning succeed in reaching Cape Lookout, where we landed at 8 P.M. Dec. 28, after being on the raft and in the boat forty hours. After arriving at the Cape, dispatched a boat to Beaufort to get some steamer to go out and cruise. At daylight the steamers Goliah and Corman went out, the latter shortly after broke down and returned, the Goliah came back in the afternoon without success. Have heard nothing since of the others."

The Names Of The Lost.
The following are the names of the passengers lost as near as can be ascertained:
MISS LAND, residence unknown.
CAPT. SHERWOOD, of Savannah.
CAPT. FRENCH, of New York.
CAPT. LANE, of Brigatine.
MR. FITZGERALD, of Savannah Daily Herald.
DANE BIGGS, of Philadelphia.
ANTONY FRENCH, engineer of steamer Indian River.
MR. HAYDEN, of Hartford.
Three other cabin passengers, one small girl, three steerage and six stowaways, names unknown.
List Of Crew Supposed Lost.
C. W. GREENMAN, Mate.
WM. TILTZ, Chief Engineer.
W. J. CROCHERON, Purser.
CAPT. KING, Savannah, Pilot.
EDWD. BAILY, oiler.
DANL. McNEAL, seaman.
JOHN FITZGERALD, seaman.
ANDREW BURK, second steward.
EDWARD READ, pantryman.
MR. READ, mailer, brother to EDWARD.
PATRICK BROWN.
Three Mailers, Second Cook, Stewardess, Two Coal-Passers, One Fireman, names unknown.

The following are the names of passengers and crew saved.
Passengers -- MR. W. P. LONG, of New York; RALPH LEWIS, engineer of steamer Indian River.
Crew -- WILLIAM GREENMAN, Master; EDW. COTTER, second mate, of Boston; ROBERT L RAY, steward, New York; CALEB P. BORLEY, second engineer, New York; JOHN BORLEY, third engineer, New York; LEWIS SAMSON, New York, carpenter; PETER MURPHY, fireman; ROBERT ERWIN, fireman; CHARLES LEWIS, seaman; C. WRIGHT, seaman; JOHN NELSON, seaman; BENJAMIN BUSH, seaman.

CAPT. GREENMAN wishes to return his thanks, on behalf of himself and crew, for the kind treatment received at the lighthouse on Cape Lookout and at Beaufort. Also to CAPT. PHILLIPS and officers of the steamer Louisa Moore, which brought them to this port.

Brig Carroll ~ 8 February 1837

On January 25, 1837 the brig Carroll set sail from New Orleans, bound for Baltimore. She carried a cargo of cotton, pork, hides, lard, castor oil and madder. Captain Miller and his crew also carried two passengers and a dog named Pillow.

     After two uneventful weeks at sea, they approached Cape Lookout the night of February 8. Because it was obscured by fog, the first indication Captain Mitchell had of his proximity to Lookout Shoals was when, at 10 p.m., the Carroll suddenly struck a sand bar, ground to a stop and careened over on her side. Almost immediately, the brig drifted over the bar and into deep water again. An investigation showed she was shipping relatively little water and to outward appearances was not badly damaged. But when the helmsman tried to carry out a command he found that the wheel had lost contact with the rudder—it was soon obvious the rudder had been completely torn loose from the ship, leaving her practically unmanageable.

     Due to rapidly increasing winds from the southeast, Mitchell decided to make every effort to get his vessel ashore before she foundered at sea with the imminent possibility of death for them all. “Finally,” passenger Bangs reported later, “the light of Cape Lookout came in sight, distance about one mile. We endeavored by shifting the position of the sails to gain the light, but it was impossible to do so as the wind headed too much, and we struck the shore one mile to the south of the Cape. We remained beating on the shore all night, with a tremendous sea breaking over us every minute, looking forward with the greatest anxiety for daybreak, to see and get ashore if possible.

     “The looked-for hour arrived,” Mr. Bangs continued. “Orders were given to clear the boat and all hands get in. The boat, however, no sooner touched the water than was filled, capsized, and dashed to pieces in the surf. It was fortunate for us all it so happened, for it was impossible a boat of any kind could live on such a sea, much less gain the shore with the wind ahead and the tide making out.”

     As the morning wore on Mitchell, his crew and passengers made attempts to get a line to the beach some 40 or 50 yards away, but without success; and when people arrived on shore opposite the wreck they were powerless to get a line out to the Carroll as Mitchell and his cohorts were to get one in to them. Soon, the sky clouded and it began to rain. This turned to sleet, then hail and finally snow. By noon, with huge breakers crashing down around them, Mr. Bangs noted, “we had been exposed for 14 years and almost chilled to death.”

     No one had attempted to swim to shore for rear of the terrible surf, but as the prospect of high tide threatened to engulf them all, it was decided to try to swim ashore with a line. It was further decided the one to do the swimming should be Pillow. As the crew of strong, able-bodied men clung helplessly to the violently pitching hull of the wrecked brig—other standing equally as helpless on the snow-covered show—Pillow, half choked by the rope around his neck, swam with all his fast ebbing strength toward the low lying beach and made it, with the line still tight around his neck. Soon afterwards his shipmates, nearly dead from cold and exposure, were safely pulled ashore!

Schooner Future ~ January 1913

NORTH CAROLINA MARITIME MUSEUM

Beaufort, NC

www.ncmaritimemuseum.org

On this day in 1913 the Evening Star of Washington D.C. reports on a ship that wrecked off the North Carolina Coast. The schooner Future is wrecked in a storm 100 nautical miles SE of Cape Lookout. She departed from Tampa, Florida on December 7, 1912 en-route to Maryland with a half a million feet of lumber on board. The wreckage of the Future stayed afloat and drifted as far north as the New Jersey coast. The Jan. 15 article was followed by two more which revealed that five of the nine crew members survived and were picked up off the wreckage by a passing steam ship.

Steamer Glenrath ~ 30 September 1890

NORTH CAROLINA MARITIME MUSEUM

Beaufort, NC

www.ncmaritimemuseum.org

On this day in 1890 at roughly 4:45 p.m. the British steamship Glenrath, enroute from Pensacola, FL for Antwerp via Norfolk, Va, hit the remains of the British steamer Aberlady Bay off of Cape Lookout. The Glenrath eventually sank along with it's cargo of lumber. Around 9 p.m. the chief mate and 12 crew members manned a lifeboat and left to summon help. They made it to shore safely in the ships boats after rowing for eleven hours and were cared for at the Cape Lookout Life-Saving Station. The master and remaining crew departed the sinking vessel the next morning and were met by a life boat around 2 p.m. and towed to Beaufort. 

New Berne Weekly Journal, October 9, 1890

Schooner Henry W. Cramp ~ 15 November 1914

On November 15, 1914 the schooner Henry W. Cramp sprung a leak during a heavy southeast gale and sank about four miles northeast of the Cape Lookout lightship. The keepers report follows, transcribed as found:

Annual Report of the Operations of the United States Life-Saving Service for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1914:

"At 12:45 p.m., the daywatch (Daniel W. Yeomans) reported a vessel some distance off shore with the American Ensign Union down. We hoisted the answering Penant to let them know we had seen there signal. We launched Power Surfboat as soon as possible. Owing to high surf it took us some time to get from the beach. We boarded the Vessel. It proved to be the Schr Anna M. Hudson with the shipwrecked crew of the Schr Henry W. Cramp which she had picked up a drift in small boat. The Captain and crew of the shipwrecked Schr requested me to land them at this Station, which we did. Owing to the high surf and loaded condition of our Power Surfboat, she was completly submerged at times, while comeing to the beach through the breakers, but we come through all safe with no mis hap. The next day the 17th, I took the Captain to Beaufort, N.C. so they could get to there homes. I also notified the Revenue Cutter Service."

The Cramp was oaned by Coast Wise Transportation Company of Boston, MA and commanded by Captain E.H. Mercer of Ellsworth, ME. His crewmen were J.R. McDonald, Mate, Baltimore, MD; William Morris, 2nd Mate, Boston, MA; William Hanson, Engineer, Boston, MA; Fred Morris, Cook Baltimore, MD. The seamen, all of Boston, MA were: Pat Henderson, John Hanson, Charles Anderson, Olof Algren, Ed Nicholson and Frank Laverta. The vessel and its cargo of crossties were all lost at sea.

Schooner Hattie P. Simpson ~ 21 March 1914

NORTH CAROLINA MARITIME MUSEUM

Beaufort, NC

www.ncmaritimemuseum.org

On this day in 1914 the schooner Hattie P. Simpson sank off of Cape Lookout. The ship was headed from Philadelphia to Galveston with a load of anthracite coal but suffered continual damage in successive storms along the way. The crew dealt with the situation the best they could, but after three days the ship eventually succumbed to its wounds. The Captain and five crew members were lost with the vessel. Four survivors managed to swim to a life boat that had drifted free of the ship, and spent six days afloat. Finally a passing steamship, the Caracas, spotted the small boat and picked up the surviving sailors. They were later transferred to the U.S. Navy Battleship Kansas and taken to Philadelphia. 

Schooner Helen E. Taft ~ 29 January 1908

NORTH CAROLINA MARITIME MUSEUM

Beaufort, NC

www.ncmaritimemuseum.org

On this day in 1908 the schooner Helen E. Taft was lost at the Cape Lookout Shoals. (The USLSS annual report for 1908 is not available.)

Greensboro Daily News, January 31, 1908.

Barkentine James H. Hamlen ~ 28 August 1903

Annual Report of the Operations of the United States Life-Saving Service for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1904:

Stranded at 12:30 p.m. on Lookout Shoals about 8 miles S. by E. from station, while en route from Jacksonville, FL, to Portland, ME, with a cargo of cross ties. The lookout soon discovered the stranded craft, and the surfmen manned the lifeboat and got alongside the vessel at 5:30 p.m. As she had filled and the weather appeared threatening, the life savers took the crew, 8 all told, into the lifeboat, then took the ship’s longboat, loaded with the personal effects of the crew, in tow, and returned to the station. The master was supplied with needed clothing from the stores of the Women’s National Relief Association and all of the shipwrecked men were succored until the afternoon of the 30th. Several tugs visited the Hamlen but she could not be floated, and ship and cargo were lost.

1900 Chart of Area

New Bern Daily Journal
September 2, 1903

WRECKED BARKENTINE

Capt. C. Harding, Master of the barkentine JAMES H. HAMLEN, which was wrecked Friday, on Cape Lookout shoals arrived in the city yesterday from Beaufort, along with the two mates and five seaman of the stranded ship.

The HAMLEN was of Portland, Me. and had cleared from Jacksonville, Fla. laden with railroad cross-ties and was bound for New York City.

Capt. Harding stated to the Journal that Friday morning the wind was very light, that his ship was no more than drifting and that off Cape Lookout, with a flood tide standing ten miles off shore with nothing to indicate shoals, he was surprised to find the water rapidly shoaling.

Orders were immediately given to put the ship about, but the wind being so light, the efforts to do so were unavailing. At noon she struck, being soon hard and fast aground.

Distress signals were made, and at 4:30 the crew from the life saving station answered. The captain and crew were taken off at 8 o'clock, but owing to the head sea and distance they didn't get to Beaufort until 3 o'clock Sunday morning.

Eight souls were aboard at the time of stranding and all were saved, but the ship is a complete wreck. The cargo was valued at $6,000, while the barkentine was worth $16,000. There was no insurance.

The captain insisted that if there had been a light ship off the shoals, or some other indication as there should have been, the accident could not have accounted.

It is said that a light ship has been appointed for that dangerous cape some time ago, but for cause known only to red tape officials, has never been stationed.

The shipwrecked captain and crew will leave here today for Norfolk, and will make their way from there to Portland, Me.

Schooner Joseph W. Brooks ~ 17 January 1904

Annual Report of the Operations of the United States Life-Saving Service for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1904:

Keeper William H. Gaskill’s report on the wreck of the 728-ton schooner Joseph W. Brooks, of Philadelphia, on the outer point of Lookout Shoals, January 17, 1904, is fairly typical of long-distance rescues. Gaskill was a seaman, his life dedicated to saving others; but his official report, written in longhand and submitted in duplicate to Lifesaving Service headquarters when the rescue mission was completed, is concise, well-written and interesting:

“At 9:45 a.m. the day watch dimly discovered with the telescope through the mist and smoke which hovered over the shoals the mast of a schooner ashore o the end of Lookout Shoals. The lifeboat was gotten out and a start for the wreck was made. Having a strong fair wind was soon within hailing distance of what proved to be the schooner Joseph W. Brooks, lumber laden, from Savannah, Geo., bound to Baltimore, Md., which was laying in a bed of heavy breakers, with a bad list to port, full of water, boa gone, and the sea going over her from end to end. Getting a favorable chance I got hold of a line from the end of the jibboom to the boat, and the bight of another line down from the same place, which the wrecked crew was instructed to come down on. And when the heaviest breakers would pass, I would haul up under the end of the jibboom, a man come down and be taken in the boat, and pull out again when compelled to do so by the sea. In this means the entire cew of seven was taken on board the lifeboat. When all was taken off we pulled out clear of the breakers and made a start for the shore, arriving at the station at 7 o’clock p.m. The wrecked crew was wet, cold and hungry, having eaten nothing since supper the day before and had been wet since early morning. All were provided with a warm supper, and an entire suit of clothing (Captain excepted, who needed none) from the supply furnished by the Women’s National Relief Association, and all made as comfortable as possible or the night. The 18th, a boat came from Beaufort and took captain and crew of the wrecked schooner Brooks to Beaufort, N.C.”

The crew members were N.A. Davidson, Master, Camden, New Jersey; Edward Woodfum, Mate, Portland, Maine; Joseph Camerol, Steward, Georgetown, South Carolina; All Morris, Virginia; Lewis Heath, Richmond, Virginia; Jno H. Blackson, St. Marys, Virginia; and Daniel Strang, Kingston, Jamaica; all seamen.

Although the crew suffered very little, the schooner, along with her expensive cargo of yellow pine lumber, was completely lost.

Wilmington, N.C. Morning Star
January 22, 1904

Newbern Journal: A number of sailors from the schooner JOSEPH W. BROOKS, which wrecked near Cape Lookout Sunday, arrived from Beaufort yesterday morning. They left last night on the steamer NEUSE for Baltimore.

Schooner Joseph Rudd ~ 22 March 1890

At 3:20 a.m. on March 22, 1890 the three-masted schooner Joseph Rudd stranded on Cape Lookout Shoal, 7 miles SSE of the station during a heavy fog and fresh south wind. She was loaded with lumber from Charleston, SC and bound for New York City.

Because of the fog it was three hours later when the day watch finally discovered her. The station surfboat was immediately sent to the vessel arriving at 10:30 a.m. The lifesavers had experienced a very difficult passage because, according to the wreck report, “a very heavy and dangerous sea was encountered rising from every direction making it very difficult to handle the boat as quickly as the sea would dash upon all sides and threaten to swamp her.” The U.S. Life-Saving Annual Report for 1890 stated: “To add to the difficulty a strong current had to be contended against… There was a small lee just astern of her and, after some maneuvering, this was gained by the surfmen and a line was thrown to them by the sailors.”

At this time the sea was washing completely over the forward half of the vessel, making it extremely difficult to approach her from any direction. Five of the crewmen were on the stern and the remaining two were in the ship’s yawl which was loaded with their personal belongings, ship’s papers and nautical instruments. The five survivors on the stern climbed down to the surfboat, one at a time, while the lifesavers desperately tried to keep the two boats apart and to avoid becoming entangled in the wreckage. The men in the yawl were furnished cork jackets and then towed clear of the vessel and transferred to the lifeboat. The ship’s crew, along with the yawl and all its contents, was safely landed at 12:30 p.m., “all thoroughly wet and fatigued from the hard pull.” The Annual Life-Saving Report concluded:

“The following morning (23^rd) the patrol, when some four miles northeast by north of the station, saw a vessel close inshore and flashed his signal of warning. The craft soon took bottom and, as day was just breaking, the surfman delayed a few minutes and ascertained that she was the same schooner that they had boarded with so much difficulty the previous day. She had pounded over the shoals during the night. The keeper and the captain walked up the beach and viewed the wreck. Her port side was stove, the sails (excepting foresail and jib) were blown away, deck load and after house washed off, and the foremast had settled. Later in the day wreckers took charge and saved such of the rigging and cargo as they could. Some lumber that washed ashore was secured by the surfmen. On the morning of the 24^th the keeper took the shipwrecked men and their baggage to Core Sound (about two miles distant) in a wagon and there procured a boat to convey them to Beaufort. On the 26^th the captain returned to the station and remained until the next day, when the wreck was sold.”

Wilmington Morning Star
March 26, 1890


A telegram from Beaufort, N.C. says: Schooner JOSEPH RUDD, went ashore on Lookout at 8 o’clock Saturday morning. The station crew took off the crew and their personal effects. The sails were left set and the vessel worked off and went ashore three miles north of Cape Lookout. She sunk fifty yards from the beach. The top hamper is out of the water. The hull looks all right. Vessel and cargo fully insured. The RUDD cleared for New York from this port Thursday last with cargo of pine lumber shipped by C.B. Mallett, Esq.

Atlantic Seaside
Beaufort, NC / March 26, 1890

Editor SEASIDE We wish to express, through the columns of your paper, our sincere thanks and appreciation to Captain Gaskill and his brave crew of the life-saving station at Cape Lookout for the heroic bravery displayed by them in rescuing the crew from the ill fated schooner JOSEPH RUDD. The hardship and perils which they encountered in saving our lives will long be cherished and remembered. Thomas Hanson, Master; F.W. Robertson, Mate; in behalf of the crew

Steamer Oneota ~ November 1867

The Evening Telegraph, PA, Nov. 15, 1867

Steamer Patapsco ~ 12 September 1868

NORTH CAROLINA MARITIME MUSEUM

Beaufort, NC

www.ncmaritimemuseum.org

On this day in 1868 the steamer Patapsco was lost off of Cape Lookout. Everyone on-board survived.

Sloop Sally ~ 4 May 1772

Edinburg Evening Courant
Scotland, July 25, 1772

"Captain Hunt, in the sloop Sally, from New York to Charles-Town, was cast away the 4th of May, on Cape Look-Out shoals, 10 leagues from land. The vessel and cargo are entirely lost, with seven persons; the rest of the people, with much difficulty, got safe to shore, 15 in number; in the boat, after being in her 15 hours. The Captain was once knocked overboard, but with much difficulty was got in."

Schooner Sarah D.J. Rawson ~ 9 February 1905

Annual Report of the Operations of the United States Life-Saving Service for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1905:

The three-masted schooner Sarah D.J. Rawson, of 387 gross tons and carrying a crew of 7 men, sailed from Georgetown, SC, for New York, with a full cargo of lumber on February 2, 1905. At 5.30 a.m. on the 9th following, while standing to the northward under short canvas in a SSE. Gale, with thick fog and rough sea, the vessel stranded in the breakers on the S. side of Lookout Shoals. As soon as she struck, the master gave orders to take in sail, and while the crew were performing this work one of them, Seaman Jacob Hanson, was swept overboard and lost his life. At 12.06 p.m. the keeper and lookout at the station, 9 miles N. by W. from the wreck, discovered the vessel through a rift in the fog and the lifeboat was at once called away and manned. Under sails and oars she reached the place of disaster at 4 p.m. The Rawson lay in a seething mass of breakers, badly dismantled and surrounded by drifting wreckage, so that all efforts of the lifesavers to reach her were vain. Fortunately, enough of the hull and bulwarks remained intact to afford somewhat of a shelter for her crew, 6 men. Night soon came on, and the lifesavers brought their boat to an anchor and throughout the night kept watch upon the wreck, hoping, should it break up, that they might be able to pick up the crew. At 11 a.m. the following day the wind had shifted and the sea become a little smoother. The surfmen then anchored the lifeboat to windward of the wreck, and by veering upon the cable and heaving a line to the shipwrecked men, succeeded, one by one, in hauling all hands safely into the boat. The rescued men were taken to the station, provided with dry clothing from the stores of the Women’s National Relief Association, and succored until the 12th instant, when the U.S. revenue cutter Seminole took them on board and carried them to Wilmington, C. The Rawson broke to pieces and disappeared soon after the rescue of the crew was accomplished. (For detailed accounts, see caption “Loss of Life.”)

Wreck of the Schooner Sarah D.J. Rawson

The three-masted schooner Sarah D.J. Rawson, of 387 gross tons burden, and carrying a crew of 7 men, all told, sailed from Georgetown, SC, for New York with a full cargo of lumber, on February 2, 1905. At 5.30 p.m. of the 9th, following, while standing to the northward under short canvas, in a SSE. Gale, with a thick fog and rough sea, the vessel stranded in the breakers on the south side of Lookout Shoals, and, with her cargo, became a total loss.

     As soon as the schooner struck the master gave orders to take in sail. While the crew were performing this work, a heavy sea swept the decks, carrying Jacob Hansen, a Norwegian seaman, into the raging surf, where he soon disappeared and was seen no more. The same sea struck the master and 3 other seamen, and it was only by the most desperate efforts that they were able to cling to the vessel. The schooner gradually worked up on the shoal and lay somewhat easier, but the violent onslaughts of the seas breaking over her soon carried away her boat, together with deck houses fore and aft, started her deck load of lumber, and her spars began to fall. The crew, powerless to do anything for the vessel, sought refuge in the highest part of the wreck, their situation gloomy and almost hopeless.

     At Cape Lookout Life-Saving Station, about 9 miles N. by W. from the place of the disaster, a vigilant lookout had been maintained during the day, the keeper in person visiting the tower during the morning and forenoon, and a surfman constantly on watch, but a thick mantle of fog covered the ocean, shutting the doomed vessel from view. At noon, just as the lookout had been relieved, the keeper again climbed into the tower, and at 12.05 p.m., while scanning the sea with the glasses, he caught, through a rift in the fog, a glimpse of the schooner’s topmost spars. Knowing from her bearings that she probably was upon the shoal, he immediately called away the lifeboat, every member of the crew promptly responding.

     Though the testimony taken in this case shows that the men were nearly all more or less ill, there having been an epidemic of influenza at the station, not one shrank from what all knew must at best be a long and wearisome pull in wintry weather over 18 miles of rough sea. The wind being favorable, a light WSW. Breeze, the surfmen made sail, and with 8 men at the oars were off to the wreck within 25 minutes of the time it was discovered by the keeper, and a 4 p.m. reached the scene of the disaster. The schooner lay upon her starboard side in the midst of a seething mass of breakers, her bowsprit, foremast, main topmast, and deck houses fore and aft gone, and her stern to the mizzen rigging carried away. She was surrounded by wreckage and lumber, which, pitching and beating upon the breakers threatened the safety of the lifeboat and the lives of its crew. The crew of the Rawson, 6 in number, could be seen by the surfmen, and though the latter repeatedly attempted to make their way through the mass of debris, they could not approach the wreck nearer than about 200 yards, when they would be beaten back. The master of the schooner, watching his would-be rescuers, stated that he momentarily expected to see the lifeboat pitched end over end in the turbulent sea, and this, without doubt, would have occurred, but for the cool and skillful management of the keeper and crew.

     Night soon came on and the life-saving crew anchored near the edge of the breakers, hoping, as stated by the keeper, that in case of the schooner’s going to pieces they still might be able to rescue some or all of the sailors. They maintained a vigilant lookout, frequently fending off fragments of wreckage that menaced their boat, until after midnight, when the wind increased in force, hauling to NW. with the weather still thick, and much colder. The crew then shifted the lifeboat to an anchorage about 500 yards to windward, in order, as the keeper states, that should worst come to worst they might be able to weather the shoal and put to sea. Throughout the long, tedious night the surfmen suffered greatly in their open boat from exposure, fatigue, and hunger, but the keeper maintained his post, giving encouragement to his crew, and urging them not to fall asleep, for fear of disastrous results in their debilitated condition.

     At dawn they returned to the wreck and found that, while her remaining masts had gone by the board, a portion of the hull remained intact, and the crew had survived the perils of the night. The sea was still running very high, and the keeper decided to defer the attempt to rescue the crew until the tide turned, when he rightly judged that conditions would improve. At about 11 a.m. the wind and sea moderated somewhat, and the life-savers pulled to a position about 50 yards to windward of the wreck (to windward by both wind and tide) and anchored. By veering carefully upon the cable, and steadying the boat with the oars, they dropped in among the breakers and debris as far as possible, and succeeded in throwing a heaving line on board the schooner. Then one of the seamen bent the line around his waist, jumped into the sea, and was hauled into the lifeboat. His companions followed his example, and, one by one, all hands were rescued—drenched, chilled, and nearly exhausted, but safe. The surfmen removed their own oil coats, wrapping them about the shipwrecked men, and without mishap made the return trip to the station, arriving at about 5 p.m. The crew of the Rawson had been 48 hours without food or water, and the life-saving crew had spent 28 hours in an open boat, without food, and with no other nourishment than cold water, their limbs cramped with cold and the lack of room to move about, and their bodies aching from maintaining so long in a sitting posture. That the wrecked crew had not succumbed to their terrible ordeal is doubtless due to the fact that the vessel lay so nearly on her beam ends as to afford them something of a lee from the wintry NW. wind sweeping over them.

     The rescued men were furnished food and shelter at the station, also with clothing from the supplies of the Women’s National Relief Association, but this stock becoming exhausted the surfmen supplemented it from their own stores. The master of the Rawson was cared for part of the time by a personal friend, whom he found in command of the schooner Lottie W. Russell, at anchor in Lookout Bight. No member of the crew had suffered serious injury, though one seaman was afflicted by an attack of rheumatism and when removed from the station was transported upon a stretcher.

     On the 12th instant the revenue cutter Seminole arrived in Lookout Bight, and the following day at 2 p.m. she took the crew of the Rawson on board and carried them to Wilmington, NC.

     The loss of one life at this disaster occurred a very short time after the vessel struck, when all hands were in extreme jeopardy, and it was impossible for anyone to lend a helping hand to the drowning man as he was carried to his death in the breakers. Had the weather been clear and the schooner plainly visible from the life-saving station it would have been impossible for the life-savers to reach the scene in time to be of any assistance to the unfortunate seaman.

     On the other hand, the keeper without doubt discovered the Rawson at the first instant that she became visible at the station. No other eye sighted her, no one but the life-savers went to the rescue; the shipwrecked men lost their boat soon after the vessel struck, and not many hours elapsed after the rescue before the vessel broke up and disappeared. Hence all hands must have been lost, and the fate of the Sarah D.J. Rawson and her crew would never have known but for the unflinching heroism of the crew of the Cape Lookout Life-Saving Station, each of whom was subsequently awarded the gold medal of honor authorized by Congress (act of June 20, 1874) for extreme and heroic daring in saving life from the perils of the sea.

U.S. Coast Guard Award: 

---

William H. Gaskill
Kilby Guthrie
Walter M. Yeomans
Tyre Moore
John A. Guthrie
James W. Fulcher
John E. Kirkman
Calupt T. Jarvis
Joseph L. Lewis

Awarded 12 April 1905

---

The 387-ton, three-masted schooner Sarah D. J. Rawson, with a crew of seven, sailed from Georgetown, SC for New York with a full cargo of lumber on 2 February 1905. While standing under short canvas in a SSE gale at 5:30 PM on the 9th, the vessel stranded in the breakers on the south side of Lookout Shoals. She became a total loss. As soon as the schooner struck the master gave orders to take in sail. While the crew reformed this work, a heavy sea swept the decks and carried Jacob Hansen, a Norwegian seaman, into the surf. He soon disappeared.

The same sea struck the master and 3 other seamen. Only by the most desperate efforts, did they cling to the vessel. The schooner gradually worked onto the shoal and lay somewhat easier. The violent onslaughts of the sea, however, broke over her and soon carried away her boat. Then they swept the fore and aft deckhouses, her deck load of lumber and her spars. Powerless to do anything for the vessel, the crew sought refuge in the highest part of the wreck. Their situation appeared to be hopeless.

At Cape Lookout (NC) Life-Saving Station, about 9 miles N by W from the vessel, a vigilant lookout had been maintained during the day. A surfman remained constantly on watch while the keeper himself had twice visited the tower during the morning. A thick mantle of fog, however, covered the ocean and shut the doomed vessel from view. At noon, just as the lookout had been relieved, the keeper again climbed into the tower and at 12:05 PM, while scanning the sea with the glasses, he caught a glimpse of the schooner’s topmost spars. Knowing from her bearings that she probably was upon the shoal, he immediately called away the lifeboat. Every member of the crew promptly responded.

Though nearly all the men were ill, there having been an epidemic of influenza at the station, not one shrank from what all knew would be a long and wearisome pull in wintry weather over 18 miles of rough sea. A light WSW breeze made for a favorable wind and allowed the surfmen to make sail. With 8 men at the oars, they were off to the wreck within twenty-five minutes. At 4:00 PM they reached the scene of the disaster. The schooner lay upon her starboard side in the midst of the breakers. Her bowsprit, foremast, main topmast, and deckhouses were gone and her stern to mizzen rigging carried away. She was surrounded by wreckage and lumber. This pitching and beating flotsam threatened the safety of the lifeboat and the lives of its crew. Rawson’s six remaining crewmen could be seen by the surfmen. Though the latter repeatedly attempted to make their way through the mass of debris, they could get no closer than about 200 yards, when they would be beaten back. The master of the schooner stated that he expected to see the lifeboat pitched end over end in the turbulent sea. This would have occurred, but for the cool and skillful management of the keeper and crew.

Night soon came and the life-saving crew anchored near the edge of the breakers. They hoped, that in case of the schooner’s going to pieces, they still might be able to rescue some or all of the sailors. They maintained a vigilant lookout, frequently fending off fragments of wreckage that menaced their boat. After midnight, the wind increased in force and hauled to NW. With the weather still thick but much colder, the crew shifted the lifeboat to an anchorage about 500 yards to windward. The keeper stated that he did this so that should conditions worsen, they might be able to weather the shoal and put to sea. Throughout the long, tedious night the surfmen suffered greatly in their open boat from exposure, fatigue, and hunger. The keeper, however, maintained his post. He encouraged his crew and urged them not to fall asleep.

At dawn they returned to the wreck and found that, while her remaining masts had been swept away, a portion of the hull remained intact. This enabled the crew to survive the perils of the night. The sea was still running very high and the keeper decided to wait until the tide turned before attempting to rescue the crew. He had rightly judged that conditions would improve. About 1:00 AM the wind and sea moderated and the lifesavers pulled to a position about fifty yards to windward of the wreck. Here they anchored. By veering carefully upon the cable, and steadying the boat with the oars, they dropped in among the breakers and debris, as far as possible, and succeeded in throwing a heaving line on board the schooner. Then one of the seamen bent the line about his waist, jumped into the sea, and was hauled into the lifeboat. His companions followed his example, and, one by one, all hands were rescued--drenched, chilled, and nearly exhausted, but safe.

The surfmen removed their own oil coats and wrapped them about the shipwrecked men. They made the return trip to the station without mishap, arriving about 5:00 PM. The crew of the Rawson had been forty-eight hours without food or water. The lifesaving crew had spent twenty-eight hours in an open boat without food and their limbs cramped with cold. Lacking room to move about, their bodies ached from maintaining a sitting posture for so long. That the wrecked crew had not succumbed was due to the fact that the vessel lay nearly on her beam ends and afforded them something of a lee from the wintry NW wind.

The rescued men were furnished food and shelter at the station. Though there was clothing from the supplies of the Women’s National Relief Association, this stock became exhausted. The surfmen supplemented it from their own stores. The master of the Rawson was cared for part of the time by a personal friend at anchor in Lookout Bight. No member of the crew had suffered serious injury, though one seaman was afflicted by an attack of rheumatism and was transported upon a stretcher. On the 12th the revenue cutter Seminole arrived in Lookout Bight and the following day she took the crew of the Rawson on board and carried them to Wilmington, NC. The loss of one life at this disaster occurred a very short time after the vessel struck. It was impossible for anyone to lend a helping hand to the drowning man as he was carried to his death in the breakers.

The keeper discovered the Rawson at the first instant that she became visible at the station. No other eye sighted her, no one but the lifesavers went to the rescue. The shipwrecked men lost their boat soon after the vessel struck. Not many hours elapsed after the rescue before the vessel broke up and disappeared. All hands might have been lost. The fate of the Sarah D. J. Rawson and her crew would never have been known but for the unflinching heroism of the crew of the Cape Lookout Life-Saving Station. Each was subsequently awarded the Gold Lifesaving Medal for extreme and heroic daring in saving life from the perils of the sea. Those awarded for their rescue of the six crewman on Sarah D. J. Rawson included Keeper William H. Gaskill, Surfmen Kilby Guthrie, Walter M. Yeomans, Tyre Moore, John A. Guthrie, James W. Fulcher, John E. Kirkman, Calupt T. Jarvis, and former Surfman Joseph L. Lewis.

---

Schooner Sylvia C. Hall ~ 17 March 1915

The first instance of a ship loss in North Carolina within the domain of the new Coast Guard was the wreck of the 384-ton schooner Sylvia C. Hall on Lookout Shoals, March 17, 1915. Loaded with lumber, the Hall was bound from Jacksonville to New York with a crew of five. Buffeted by a strong gale during the night she struck the shoals just before dawn and was sighted from the Cape Lookout station soon after.

     Keeper F.G. Gillikin launched his powerboat at 6:45 a.m. and ran into exceptionally rough seas en route to the Hall. Upon arriving at the vessel he couldn't get close enough to make a rescue. While waiting for the tide to change and the wind to moderate the powerboat was struck by a huge wave, completely burying the small craft and seriously injuring one of the crew.

     Gillikin decided to return to shore for a self-bailing surfboat, in which he could stand a better chance of getting alongside. He didn't reach shore until late that afternoon which delayed a second rescue attempt until early the next morning. The surfboat was towed to the scene with the powerboat and maneuvered in close enough to rescue the 5 men who had taken to the the jib boom.

CAPE LOOKOUT, March 20, 1915

Dear Sir: I wish to sincerely thank you and your sturdy crew for the valuable services which you rendered me and my crew of the Schooner Sylvia C. Hall which stranded on the shoals March 17, 1915, also for the treatment shown me while at your station. You deserve great praise and I shall not fail to do my part in making it know. Yours, very truly, C.W. Sprague, Master

Steamer Thistleroy ~ 28 December 1911

Annual Report of the Operations of the United States Life-Saving Service for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1911:

On the night of this date the British steamer Thistleroy, of 4,027 tons, en route from Tampa, FL, to Liverpool, England, via Norfolk, VA, with a cargo of cotton, mistook the Cape Lookout (N.C.) Light for the lightship on Cape Lookout Shoals, ran off her course, and stranded about 3 miles offshore and 4 or 5 miles south by east of the cape mentioned. Vessel and cargo, valued together at $310,000, became a total loss. The entire crew of 30 men and the single passenger—the master’s wife—aboard the vessel were saved, however, by the crew of the Cape Lookout Life-Saving Station, assisted by boats’ crews from the revenue cutter Itasca and the wrecking tug Rescue. This case is regarded, aside from the great property loss involved, as one of the noteworthy wrecks of the year, because of the fact that no lives were lost, notwithstanding the rescuers had to contend with unforeseen and disheartening difficulties and accidents in their work of saving the imperiled ship’s company.

     When the steamer struck, shortly after nightfall, the sea was moderate, there was little wind, and the weather was clear. The life saving crew discovered her situation as soon as she got into trouble and promptly put out to her in their power lifeboat. They found her resting easily on the shoal, with everything on board apparently in good condition and her crew taking their misfortune philosophically. As the weather outlook was good and no one on board desired to leave, the life savers soon put back for the shore, carrying with them, for delivery at Beaufort, NC, messages from the master to his owners.

     On the morning of the 31st, the weather becoming threatening, the life saving crew boarded the Itasca to ascertain whether they could take a hand in wrecking operations. The captain of the cutter responded to the proffer of assistance by asking them to stand by. They accordingly dropped astern of the cutter and anchored. Shortly after wards a signal was observed aboard the wreck signifying that some of her crew wished to be taken off. The life saving crew and a boat’s crew from the cutter responded to the signal. The cutter’s boat hove to about a hundred yards from the steamer, while the power lifeboat ran in alongside and took on board 10 men and the master’s wife—all who desired to leave the vessel at that time.

     A short distance from the wreck, on the way to the Itasca and while the lifeboat was still in the rougher water on the shoal, the engine stopped. As the occasion was one in which time could not be taken to work over the machinery, the crew immediately resorted to the oars to get out of the dangerous area. After rowing a distance of perhaps 50 yards they took a line from the waiting cutter’s boat, with which assistance they proceeded to the Itasca.

     At this point arose the second obstacle to be encountered by the life saving crew in the course of their day’s work. When they attempted to transfer their passengers to the cutter they found that the exchange could not be made except at great risk owing to the state of the sea. There was nothing to do under the circumstances but hoist sail and run the four or five miles necessary to be traversed to reach sheltered water. This they did, the cutter accompanying them in.

     While the power boat lay in protected water near the Itasca an engineer came aboard from the cutter and set the boat’s engine to running again. The life saving crew thereupon returned to the wreck. They reached the vessel on the second trip just in time to save one of her boats containing 14 men. Unused to working in broken water, the sailors had got into the trough of the sea and were in imminent peril of swapping with the power lifeboat overhauled them. They were transferred to the service craft and their own boat taken in tow. When the party were halfway to the shore their engine stopped a second time. They immediately resorted to the sails, as on the preceding trip, and came safely into harbor, where the load of passengers joined their shipmates aboard the Itasca.

     Twenty-four men and a woman comprised the number saved from this wreck through the efforts of the life saving crew, a boat from the tug Rescue having taken off the 6 others included in the Thistleroy’s crew. The entire party of rescued persons were transported by the Itasca to Wilmington, NC.


Wilmington Morning Star
January 2, 1912

British Steamer THISTLEROY Aground

Cannot Be Sold

Beaufort, N.C., Jan. 1 - Efforts to save the British steamer THISTLEROY, aground on Lookout shoals have been unsuccessful, and the vessel will be a total loss. After a hard battle with a heavy sea, twelve members of the crew were picked up from a disabled motor life saving boat sent out from the Cape Lookout station, the revenue cutter ITASCA sending out a crew in an open life boat to rescue them.

Aide by the tug MERRITT, the steamer RESCUE and the power schooner PILGRIM, an attempt was made today to pull off the THISTLEROY. She was moved twice her length, but the heavy sea put an end to further efforts. When it became apparent the ship would have to be abandoned, the master's wife and remainder of the crew were taken from the ship by the ITASCA and brought to the cape station.

Master Ferguson has refused to leave the ship, and is aiding the wreckers in the effort to save 8,000 bales of cotton, shipped from Galveston for Liverpool. The THISTLEROY left Galveston December 21st.