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

Sailboat Anna Laura ~ 15 December 1896

Annual Report of the Operations of the United States Life-Saving Service for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1897:

The Anna Laura capsized during a gale and struck on a shoal 3 miles N.W of the Chicacomico Station at 6 p.m. on the 15th. The Keeper discovered it at daylight, and saw the two men wading ashore. Lifesavers went to their assistance and took the boat to a secure berth and the men to the station where they were furnished with dry clothing. Surfmen succeeded in saving the mail from the overturned boat, and on the 18th the two men left for Roanoke Island.

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



Schooner Benjamin M. Wallace ~ 26 March 1904

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

At 10.20 p.m. the N. patrol from Chicamacomico discovered this vessel ashore, fired two Coston signals to inform her that assistance was at hand, and then reported the facts to the station. The keeper telephoned the adjoining stations, New Inlet and Gull Shoal, then proceeded to the scene of the wreck with the crew, transporting the surfboat by wagon. The vessel had struck the beach in the vicinity of the N. Patrol house, but was now driving along the shore to the northward. She was followed by the Chicamacomico and New Inlet crews until about midnight, when she sank, about 1-1/2 miles S. of New Inlet and 300 yards off the beach. The three crews working together launched the surfboat, which proceeded to the wrecked vessel and it was found that the hull was under water and abandoned. The surfmen then pulled seaward, and made signals to notify the crew of the abandoned vessel that search was being made for them; these were soon answered by blasts of a fog horn, and about ½ mile distant 16 men, in four dories, were found. The dories were anchored, and the men with their clothing were taken into the surfboat and landed through the breakers. They were then taken to the New Inlet station and sheltered for three days. The next morning the crews of the New Inlet and Chicamacomico stations landed the dories which were left at anchor the previous night.

Newspaper Article:
New York Times, March 28, 1904

Schooner Blanche Hopkins ~ 11 April 1905

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

At midnight the patrol returned to the station and reported that he had sighted a vessel perilously near the beach and warned her of the danger by burning a Coston signal. Before she could heed the warning she stranded, 2-34 miles N. by W. of the station. The disaster was at once reported to the Chicamacomico and Little Kinnakeet stations, and the three crews set out in the surfboats to the rescue. Upon arriving alongside they found the vessel full of water and the crew ready to abandon her. The entire crew, consisting of 11 men, together with their personal effects, were taken from the wreck and brought to the station, and succored for two days, when they proceeded to their homes. The vessel was lost.

Schooner F.A. Tupper ~ 27 March 1843

Captain Parkinson and the crew of the bark Mary Ballard, which sailed from Boston March 2, 1843, bound to New Orleans with a cargo of ice, did not reach their destination and almost failed to make it back home again. On March 12 the Ballard was cast away on Berry Island in the Bahamas. Fortunately, the Captain and crew were picked up by the wreckers, who took them to Nassau.

     There they met up with the crew of the ship Algonquin, of Philadelphia, which had also been wrecked on one of the near-by islands, and together the two crews of shipwreck survivors took passage on the schooner F.A. Tupper, bound from Nassau to Baltimore.

     They had an uneventful trip until March 27 when they ran into a severe gale and struck the beach southeast of Chicamacomico. The three crews, numbering 31 men in all, spent the night in the Tupper’s rigging, expecting at any moment to be thrown into the seething surf below. At 4 a.m. the next morning the vessel broke in two, and at 5 a.m. completely disintegrated in the breakers, casting the men into the sea.

     Though the vessel was a total loss, all 31 men managed to make it ashore and from there continued on to Boston.

Schooner Florence ~ 5 January 1884

Annual Report of the Operations of the United States Life-Saving Service for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1884:

During the severe northeasterly gale and snow storm of January 5, the patrol of the Chicamicomico Station (6th District), North Carolina, discovered at half past 3 in the afternoon the schooner Florence, of Baltimore, MD, from Beaufort, NC, bound to Norfolk, VA, with a cargo of guano, stranded near the beach. He immediately notified the station crew, and the beach apparatus was run down opposite the vessel. The hawser was sent on board and the gear rigged. One of the surf men was sent on board to direct the operations, and the four persons comprising the vessel’s crew were soon handed and conducted to the station. Part of the crews of the New Inlet and Gull Shoal Stations (all the same district) assisted the Chicamicomico crew in working the gear. The vessel became a complete wreck. The following testimonial was received by the keeper of the station:

I was 8 miles north of Whale’s Head on January 5th, when at 8 a.m. the gale came, with a heavy snow; the wind being north by east, I had to send down the shore, and stranded at Chicamicomico. We had all the assistance any station could give, and were taken to the station, where we were treated with all the respect due any one and well cared for by all. John E. Ireland, Master of Schooner Florence

Schooner George L. Fessenden ~ 27 April 1898

Annual Report of he Operations of the United States Life-Saving Service for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1898:

Wrecked about a mile NE. of the station, and four men were lost; three men rescued by the life saving crews. (For detailed account see caption “Loss of Life.”)

Wreck of the Schooner George L. Fessenden

The three-masted schooner George L.Fessenden was wrecked in the forenoon of April 27, 1898, about 1 mile northeast of the Chicamacomico Station, coast of North Carolina, and four of her crew, whose names, except one, could not be ascertained, were lost.

     The vessel was 24 years old, of 414 tons measurement, hailing from Bridgeton, NJ, and manned by 7 men, including the master, C.B. Norton, who was one of the drowned. She was loaded to her full capacity with crushed stone in Philadelphia, PA, whence she sailed for Southport, at the mouth of Cape Fear River, NC, on March 30. For some reason which does not appear, but was probably stress of weather, she put into Hampton Roads, VA, where it is likely she remained for some time, not having been again heard from until the morning of Tuesday, April 26, when she was discovered by Surfman E.S. Midgett, of the Chicamacomico Life Saving Station, which is some 20 miles north of Cape Hatteras, heading toward New Inlet in a partially disabled condition. Her foremast was broken off about one-third of its length below the crosstrees, and her main topmast was also gone, while it was clear that she had lost most of her sails from the fact that the only canvas spread was a double-reefed spanker, a topsail set as a mainsail, a storm trysail as a foresail, and a flying jib. These damages, as was subsequently ascertained, had occurred some days previous to the wreck in a furious southeast gale which struck the Fessenden in the vicinity of Cape Lookout, not far from her destination, and compelled her to put about and run northward of Cape Hatteras to the vicinity where she appeared on the morning above mentioned.

     When first observed she was about 8 miles east-northeast of the Chicamacomico Station, and after standing toward the shore for a while she tacked off, and finally came to anchor about 4 miles distant, to the northeast. The wind was moderate and the weather clear and fine, but the condition of the vessel and the danger of her position, should a storm arise, caused her to be scrutinized with much care for signs of a signal for assistance; and as the day advanced and none was made, keeper L.B. Midgett, from the lookout of his station, set his code flags to inquire whether she wanted aid. No notice whatever was taken of them, and when the sun went down the schooner still lay comfortably at her anchor.

     During the evening the wind began to freshen, and continued to increase to such an extent that strong fears for her safety were entertained, and all preparations were therefore made at the station for instant action. No alarm occurred, however, during the night, and at daylight Wednesday, the 27th, the vessel was still holding her own, but the sea was very rough, with the wind blowing a stiff northeast gale, and she was riding so heavily that it seemed as though her cables might at any moment give way. She still showed no signal of distress, but incessant watch was kept upon her, and between 8 and 9 o’clock it became evident that the cables had parted and she was drifting toward the beach. At 8.50 she struck on the outer bar about a mile north of the station, and finally fetched up, a few minutes later, some 250 yards from the beach, head on.

     The Chicamacomico crew started out with their apparatus as soon as they saw that the vessel was going ashore, and reached the place of stranding within 20 minutes after she struck. The crews of the New Inlet and Gull Shoal stations had been requested by telephone to cooperate, and both promptly responded, the former reaching the scene almost simultaneously with the Chicamacomico crew, and that from Gull Shoal arriving a few moments later.

Lyle Gun

     When the schooner stranded her crew were gathered on the forecastle deck, but the heavy waves at once began to sweep the whole hull, and the men were therefore compelled to seek refuge on the jib-boom. Even there they were constantly beaten by the crests of the great waves and their position was extremely precarious. The Lyle gun was instantly placed in position and a moment later sent out its first friendly shot, which was so well aimed that it laid its line fairly across the jib-boom, almost at the very hands of the shipwrecked men, who seized it at once and began, as well as they could, to haul it out in order to get the whip line and block aboard. Situated where they were, this task would have been hard under almost any conditions, but was now extremely so because of the swift longshore current which caught the line and swept he bight of it far to the southward. At times the men would almost fall from the boom, but nevertheless they were doing fairly well and would probably have succeeded had the hull of the vessel been sufficiently sound to stand the shocks of the sea for even a good half hour. One of the witnesses describes her as “rotten as a pear.” Her dead weight cargo of 521 tons of stone fixed her as firmly in the sand as a breakwater, and under such circumstances her weakness made it impossible for her to hold together. While the poor sailors were desperately struggling to get the life saving lines on board, and within not more than 20 minutes after stranding, she broke into a thousand pieces and the entire crew, still clinging to the jib-boom, were precipitated into the surf. Two of them, it was stated by some of those present, were struck by pieces of wreckage and killed outright. The captain was said to have been washed overboard and drowned when the schooner struck and while all hands were still on deck. At all events, fur of the seven were alive just after the hull broke up and these manfully breasted the waves in a desperate and almost forlorn attempt to save their lives.

Lyle Gun Projectile

      The life saving men were properly equipped with heaving lines, and the moment the crash came they scattered along the shore to the southward, in which direction the current carried the swimmers, and pushed out into the surf as far as they could go without losing foothold and being themselves swept seaward, so that whenever a man came within possible reach they either caught him in their arms or threw him a line, by which they drew him within grasping distance. In this way three were rescued, but the fourth, who was also the fourth member of the ship’s company to perish, drifted beyond reach and drowned. The last man saved was taken from the water fully a mile south of the wreck, and all three were nearly exhausted—one to every outward appearance being beyond possibility of resuscitation. The most vigorous efforts, however, were made to restore him to consciousness, and by the intelligent and persistent application of the Directions for Restoring the Apparently drowned, in which all the crews are thoroughly drilled, his life was saved.

Faking Box

     The work of rescue involved peril to the life of every man engaged in it, and it is, therefore, only a matter of justice to state that the life savers were bravely assisted by two volunteers of the neighborhood, C.P. and A.F. Midgett, who were under no obligations to participate save that imposed upon noble minds by the highest sense of humanity, and who well performed their voluntary part.

     Strange as it may appear, none of the rescued men knew the names of their lost shipmates, although they had been in daily association with them for at least a month within the narrow limits of a vessel’s forecastle.

     The survivors, who remained at the station for several days, were provided with proper clothing from the stores of the Women’s National Relief Association, and when they were ready to depart were supplied with the month necessary to secure transportation by contributions from the crews of the Chicamacomico, New Inlet, Gull Shoal, Little Kinnakeet and Cape Hatteras stations.

     The incidents of this wreck were much like those of the Edward W. Schmidt, recorded in previous pages, and there is room for scarcely a doubt that I both instances the lives of all on board would have been saved had the masters signaled for, or even in case of the Fessenden, shown a willingness to accept aid or advice from the keepers of the life saving stations before it was too late.

     The following letter from the shipwrecked men was sent to the General Superintendent:

CHICAMACOMICO LIFE-SAVING STATION, NORTH CAROLINA, May 4, 1898

SIR: We, the three survivors of the schooner George L. Fessenden, wrecked near this station April 27, 1898, wish to state that everything was done by the crews of the three stations, Chicamacomico, New Inlet, and Gull Shoal, to save us, and that the loss of the four other men was in no way the fault of the surfmen, as the vessel went to pieces in twenty minutes after we got the shot line. We all had to take to the jib boom, and it was impossible for us to haul off the whip line from there; the vessel was as rotten as a pear, and was a wreck before we ran ashore. We also wish to heartily commend the work of the Life-Saving Service along this dreadful coast; the men are experts in the heroic performance of saving life and property. In conclusion we wish to express our thanks for the kind treatment given us by your men while we were with them. Respectfully yours, JOHN F. JONES, Steward ; GEORGE RAASCH, Seaman, LOUIS BURNS, Seaman, of the wrecked schooner George L. Fessenden

Newspaper Article:
New York Times, May 1, 1898

Schooner G.A. Kohler ~ 23 August 1933

Schooner G.A. Kohler

The American-owned G.A. Kohler was built in 1919 and was one of the last of the large sailing vessels. She sailed from the pier of the Redman-Vane company of Baltimore, MD on August 20, 1933. 
     A huge four-masted schooner, she was reported as “wallowing helplessly in the breakers a mile south of Gull Shoal Station,” when the full fury of a storm struck the Carolina banks the morning of August 23, 1933. Throughout the day and night, she remained there, showing distress signals, while the coastguardsmen stood helplessly by waiting for a break in the storm. The following morning, after hurricane winds started to subside, crews from Gull Shoal and Chicamacomico, led by Coast Guard Capt. John Allen Midgett, rescued the crew, which consisted of Captain George H. Hopkins, his wife, 8 crewmen and a dog. All were brought to shore safely using the Lyle gun and the Breeches buoy.
     After the hurricane tide subsided, the ship was left high and dry on the beach, far beyond the reach of all but the highest tides. The Kohler remained there for 10 years, until burned during WWII for her iron fittings. The captain had earlier sold the wreck to a local Avon resident for $150.
     Over time the remains of the wreck have been covered and uncovered by shifting sands. Her charred remnants remain—often obscured by shifting sand.

Photo made sometime between her wreckage and 1945.

  

Schooner General S.E. Merwin ~ 4 March 1901

Annual Report of the Operations of the United States Life-Saving Service for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1901:

Stranded ½ mile SSE. of station at 3:15 a.m. Station crew hauled the surfboat to the beach abreast the wreck, launched it, and boarded the wreck at 4:30 a.m., the crews from the Little Kinnakeet and Chicamacomico stations assisting. The schooner’s crew of 7 men were safely landed in the surfboat, and afterwards their personal property and the schooner’s boat were taken ashore. The master was succored at the station for 5 days, in order that he might look after the wreck which became a total loss. (See letter of acknowledgement.)

GULL SHOAL LIFE-SAVING STATION, March 9, 1901

DEAR SIR: I wish, through you, to extend the thanks of my crew and myself to the brave keeper and crew of this station for their prompt and valuable services in rescuing us through the heavy surf with surfboat, as the schooner lay too far from shore to use the beach apparatus, and she was fast filling up. Keeper D.M. Pugh would have come to our assistance sooner if he had not had to wait for two men from the crew of one of the adjacent stations to help man his boat. We also wish to thank them, one and all, for their generous treatment while we stayed at their station; and I personally wish to thank Captain Pugh for the personal aid which he rendered me while I remained there. I remain yours, very respectfully, J.F. RUTLEDGE, Master of the Schooner Gen’l S.E. Merwin

Barkentine Henry Norwell ~ 7 July 1896

Annual Report of the Operations of the United States Life-Saving Service for the fiscal year ending June 30 1897:

Stranded at 2 a.m. 2-1/2 miles NNE. of the station, having failed to wear ship in a heavy squall. Information of the disaster was brought to the keeper two hours later by a local resident. A crew of 8 men was employed (inactive seamen), and with the assistance of the keeper of the Chicamacomico Station the life savers proceeded to her aid in the surfboat. Finding that the vessel had worked over the outer bar, close inshore, it was decided not to use the boat. A line was sent from the wreck and a hawser set up by the life savers; a boat-swain’s chair was then rigged on a traveler, and all hands (10 in number, including the master’s wife) were safely landed, together with their effects and a portion of the ship’s stores, which were hauled to the station by the service team from Chicamacomico. By ordered of the owners the vessel was turned over to the wreck commissioner on July 10, and the material saved was sold on the 14th, the barkentine proving a total loss. The shipwrecked people were sheltered at the station, the crew leaving for Elizabeth City on the fourth day, but the master remaining until the final disposition was made of the wreck.

Schooner Isabella Parmenter ~ 31 October 1925

Daily Press, Newport News, VA, November 1, 1925

Bark Josie Troop ~ 22 February 1889

The Sunday Inter Ocean
Chicago, IL
February 24, 1889

ELEVEN SEAMEN DROWNED OFF THE NORTH CAROLINA COAST.
MARINERS DROWNED.

The Nova Scotian bark Josie Troop, with a cargo of chalk and a crew of seventeen men, was wrecked at 7 o'clock last evening at Chicamicomico, N. C. The master and ten men were drowned. Six were saved. The vessel and cargo are a total loss. The vessel is broken up and strewn on the ocean.
     The cause of the disaster was miscalculations owing to thick weather, which made it impossible to get accurate lights and bearings. The crew of life-saving station No. 19 could see no signs of the vessel until the eleven men had been lost, and were just in time to save the six survivors. Thus far only one body has come ashore, that of CHARLES MEDEAC. Following is a list of the saved and lost:

Saved:
Robert Hunter, chief mate;
Edward Hunter, steward;
Albert Williams, seaman;
A. Brown, seaman;
Walter Cauley, seaman;
C. Anderson, seaman.

Lost:
Capt. W. G. COOK, master,
C. S. SCINDBALD, carpenter
H. R. CHRISTIESIN,
J. B. RUTHDERSEN,
THOMAS MCCOY,
GEORGE WILLIAMS,
HARMOND ANDERSON,
JOHN CAFFIE,
CHARLES MEDAAC,
JOHN ROGERS,
J. JOANNSEN, seaman

Albert Williams is badly injured about the neck and is being attended by the physicians at the station.

The North Carolinian, Elizabeth City, NC, 6 March 1889

Schooner Minnie Bergen ~ 18 August 1899

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

Sprung a leak during the severe storm and anchored 3 miles offshore. Her master, seeing that he could not keep her afloat, slipped her cables and let her drift onto the beach in order to save the lives on board. Life saving crew were watching her, and were on hand with their beach apparatus when she struck. Communication was established with the wreck by the use of the Lyle gun at a distance of 300 yards, and the beach apparatus was set up. The crew of 7 men were hauled ashore safely in the breeches buoy, none too soon, however, as the heavy seas were breaking over the wreck and it was fast going to pieces. They were taken to station, and, having lost all their effects, were supplied with necessary clothing from the stores donated by the Women’s National Relief Association. The shipwrecked crew were succored at the station until the 21st. The master remained until the 30th, when, having sold the part of the cargo of oil which had washed ashore, he left for his home. (See letter of acknowledgment.)

CHICAMACOMICO LIFE-SAVING STATION, August 29, 1899

DEAR SIR: I wish through you to return the tanks of my crew and myself to the brave keeper and crew of this station for their prompt and valuable service in rescuing us with the breeches buoy on the morning of August 18, during a severe gale of wind and rain. Schooner was fast breaking up and seas were sweeping across her. We also thank them for their general treatment while we stopped at the station.

     Please thank for us all the Women’s National Relief Association for their generous supply of clothing. Heaven bless these noble-hearted women! Yours, respectfully, S. BOEMAN, Master of the Schooner Minnie Bergen

Fisherman & Farmer, August 25, 1899

Schooner Mary Eliza ~ 8 May 1875

The Donaldson Chief, Donaldsonville, LA

Packet Memphis ~ 24 July 1843

Newbernian and North Carolina Advocate, 5 August 1843

Vicksburg Daily Whig, Vicksburg, MS, 10 August 1843

Schooner Margaret A. Spencer ~ 18 May 1925

Bound for Georgetown, SC for New York. Loaded with stock timber. Cause of wreck unknown but rough surf and flood tides had been reported.

Ship Milledgeville ~ September 1839

The Courier Journal, Louisville, KY, 13 September 1839

Schooner Nathaniel Lank ~ 22 January 1891

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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