Steamer City of Houston ~ 23 October 1878

Steamer City of Houston

As was common in steamships of the day, the City of Houston was fitted out with two masts and auxiliary sails that were, in this case, barkentine rigged. Her primary route was New York to Galveston via Key West, FL. She carried passengers in spacious accommodations and much–needed supplies in her ample cargo holds.

Fast steamer service was more desirable than the bouncy, dusty, weeks-long travel suffered by stagecoach. When the City of Houston left New York on October 20, 1878 her departure was like any other: 34 passengers, many of whom were emigrants, eagerly looked forward to landing in Galveston a week later.

But two days from port she ran head-on into a gale moving north along the coast. The storm quickly increased in intensity until the City of Houston was engulfed by mountainous waves that slapped her hull with rivet-loosening violence. The bilge pumps could not stem the rising tide and the boiler fires were soon damped. The engine coughed its last and the ship was driven broadside to the sea where she wallowed sickeningly in the troughs. By this time it was two in the morning on October 23. Captain Stevens roused the passengers from their staterooms and explained the situation as he passed out life preservers, telling them to stand by and be ready to abandon ship.

The outlook was bleak. The lifeboats were prepared, but it seemed sheer madness to put people into the wave-tossed sea, especially women and children, and expect them to row to shore in the dark during a tempest. They were abreast of Frying Pan Shoals, and off an area nearly as desolate as the plains of Texas. There seemed little chance for survival. “Signals were burned from the pilot house, but it was intensely dark and raining heavily, so that no vessel saw them.”

The ship was settling by the stern, where the water had risen to a depth of 10 feet. A little brig was seen 10 miles to leeward at daybreak, but owing to the wind she could not reach them. The steamer was now beginning to sink, and the boats were about to lowered when the steamship Margaret arrived. An hour later the passengers and crew were all safely transferred to the Margaret, although there was a heavy sea running at the time.

Newspaper Article:
New York Times, November 1, 1878

Schooner Carroll A. Deering ~ 31 January 1921

Click HERE for the Mystery of the Carroll A. Deering

More at the Ocracoke Island Journal. 

More ...

The Ghost Ship
Posted by Philip

In August, 1921 the five-masted schooner, Carroll A Deering, wrecked under mysterious circumstances on Diamond Shoals off the coast of Cape Hatteras. The sails were set and food was in the galley stove, but only a cat prowled below decks. No other living soul was aboard. The Deering soon became known as the "Ghost Ship of the Outer Banks."

The schooner broke apart, and much of the wreckage washed ashore on Ocracoke, where it remained visible for more than 30 years. The Deering's windlass provided an iconic image for many a professional and amateur photographer. In 1955 a storm carried the remains of this once grand ship to Hatteras. For years it rested in front of Wheeler Ballance's Texaco station in Hatteras village, where it was when my mother made this snapshot. 

Today, the remains of the Deering are on display in the Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum in Hatteras.

6-toed cats ...

On January 21, 1921 the five-masted schooner, Caroll A. Deering (one of the largest schooners ever built), foundered on Diamond Shoals.

When the weather finally cleared and the US Coast Guard was able to board the vessel they discovered all sails set, galley tables set with dinnerware, food in the galley stove....and not a living soul aboard the Deering -- with the exception of one cat. To this day no one knows what happened to the crew. Not a trace of any of them has ever been found.

The story goes that the cat, with six toes on each paw, was taken ashore. Before long six-toed cats started to show up on Hatteras Island, and later, on Ocracoke. Just a couple of years ago, at dusk, Amy noticed a six-toed feral cat skulking about near her house. Perhaps the crew of the Ghost Ship continues to haunt the Outer Banks.

Steamer Mount Dirfys ~ December 26, 1936

GRAVEYARD OF THE ATLANTIC MUSEUM

Hatteras, NC

www.gravehyardoftheatlantic.com

Late December 1936, traveling from Travancore, Marques, India to Wilmington, Delaware, Mount Dirfys ran aground on Frying Pan Shoals. The Greek Freighter had 36 people on board and was carrying a cargo of chrome ore. It took seven hours before the US Coast Guard cutter Modoc met up with Mount Dirfys. The cutter hooked up to the stranded vessel as the ship was taking on water. Due to the poor condition of Mount Dirfys, and the possibility of her sinking, it was requested that Modoc pull her into port. But the freighter did not budge, and the salvage operations were abandoned. The crew was landed at the quarantine station in Southport. Pictured here is tableware from the ship. (Courtesy of the North Carolina Maritime Museum at Southport.)

Brig Escambia ~ March 25, 1840

Vicksburg Tri-Weekly Sentinel Mississippi, April 17, 1840

                           

Schooner Eleazer W. Clark ~ November 17, 1909

The Wilmington Morning Star, NC, Nov. 20, 1909

Schooner George Weems ~ 20 May 1908

At about 12.05 p.m., as she was steaming from Charleston and Georgetown for Baltimore, fire was reported in the after part of the engine room on bulkhead of steamer George Weems, Captain L.G. Hudgins. Fire apparatus was immediately manned, and three streams of water obtained in 10 to 15 seconds. Excellent discipline was maintained. Both officers and crew working valorously to extinguish the fire until about 1.30 p.m., when, on account of the great rapidity with which the fire was gaining, and the captain seeing that by remaining longer he was jeopardizing the lives of the officers and crew, he gave the order to abandon ship, which was done in a seamanlike manner. After seeing all hands safely in the lifeboat, the captain left the ship and laid his course for Frying Pan light-vessel, from the desk of which he saw the steamer George Weems disappear about 8 p.m. Steamer valued at $25,000.

Clipper Henrietta ~ 4 November 1873

The Henrietta left Puerto Rico in late October, loaded with molasses, sugar and syrup. The 950-ton vessel carried a crew of 16 plus the master, and was bound for Philadelphia.

     While en route north, she came upon a disabled schooner lying low in the water. In order to lighten the schooner, most of her cargo of coffee was transferred to the Henrietta which continued on her course north.

     The morning of November 4 she encountered a strong northeast gale. Before it was over her main topsail was carried away, her foremast falling with it, and her mizzenmast was wrung off 6 feet above the deck leaving her little more than a log drifting on the stormy sea. The wind soon let up, but the waves grew larger as the vessel drifted toward shore. Soon all of her boats were swept away except one which was lashed amidships. The steward was washed overboard.

     By the time she appeared off the Carolina coast she was a complete derelict at the mercy of the wind and waves. She finally struck on the southern end of Frying Pan Shoals, lodging briefly on a far in about three fathoms of water, then drifting clear and sinking in the deep gully beyond. The 15 remaining crewmen put off in the lone boat, but two hours later it capsized, throwing all of them into the raging surf. The captain and mate managed to regain the boat, but the others drowned. For 5 days the two survivors drifted on the open sea without food or water until they were eventually picked up by a passing vessel.

Schooner Hattie S. Clark ~ 15 May 1890

THE HATTIE S. CLARK LOST.

ALL HANDS EXCEPT THE COOK SUPPOSED

TO HAVE BEEN DROWNED.

BOSTON, May 18. Capt. Lewis of the steamer City of Macon, from Savannah, reports that on Friday, the 16th, at 11:20 A.M., in lattitude 33° 38', longitude 77° 21', he sighted a man adrift in a waterlogged dory, with the sea breaking over him. Capt. Lewis stopped his steamer and sent a boat, which rescued the man and brought him on board in an exhausted condition.
     He said his name was Charles Polaski, cook of the schooner Hattie S. Clark of Gloucester, Mass. that the Clark had capsized Thursday, the 15th, at 6 A.M., in a squall off Frying Pan Shoals, and that he believed all hands on board except himself were lost, including Capt. Sargent Lane. The agents of the steamer will forward Polaski to his home in New-York. The City of Macon furnished him clothes, and among the crew and passengers raised $40.
     The Hattie S. Clark was bound for Key West for pineapples. She carried no passengers. There were six men in her crew. The supposed owner is George Steele of Glouster.

The New York Times
May 19, 1890

Schooner Mercy T. Trundy ~ 24 April 1882

Annual Report of the Operations of the United States Life-Saving Service for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1882:

The schooner Mercy T. Trundy, of Calais, ME, bound from Philadelphia, PA, to Wilmington, NC, with a cargo of railroad iron, and carrying a crew of 6 men, ran ashore on Frying Pan Shoals, Cape Fear, NC, at half past four in the morning, during prevalence of thick weather, the captain having mistaken his position in supposing he was outside the Frying Pan Shoals light-ship, as in the case of the Minnie, wrecked a few days previous on the same shoals. The schooner was discovered soon after daylight by the patrol from Station No. 25 (6th District), 8 miles distant (Smith’s Island), and as quickly as possible the life saving crew put off to her. With a favoring wind from the north they made good progress, and when about halfway out to the schooner spoke the tug Italian, bound in, which reported passing the wreck, and that the crew were still on board with a signal of distress flying. The vessel was reached at 8 o’clock. She lay, as the keeper described it in his report, in a bed of breakers, with the seas dashing completely over her, and there was no one on board. It was evident that the crew had either been washed away, or that they had sought refuge in their boat, the absence of the latter from its davits creating this presumption. The schooner had commenced breaking up, and as nothing could be done in way of salvage, and they had about all they could do to prevent their boat from swamping in the heavy sea, it was resolved to turn back and keep a sharp lookout for the missing crew.
     Upon heading about, the wind was full in their teeth, and after pulling steadily for three hours, during which time they made but four miles headway, the wrecking schooner Charlotte Ann Pigott, of Wilmington, was fallen in with on her way to the wreck. Anxious for the safety of the wrecked crew, the life savers boarded the Pigott and accompanied her out, believing such a course would afford them a better chance of finding the missing boat. This action was fully justified, for upon arriving the second time in the vicinity of the stranded vessel, their search was rewarded by the discovery of the yawl in tow of pilot boat No. 6, which was standing in, on the wind, towards Cape Fear. They at once shoved off from the Pigott, and upon reaching the pilot boat found the wrecked crew safe on board of her, the yawl having been picked up some miles to leeward. Upon comparing notes it was learned that the sailors must have abandoned their vessel but a few minutes before the station crew arrived, the roughness of the sea, no doubt, preventing their seeing one another. They were at one transferred to the surf boat and taken ashore to the station to await an opportunity to save their effect, the men having brought nothing but what they stood in. An unsuccessful attempt was made the following day (25th to board the vessel, but the sea was still too rough and breaking clean over her. The weather moderated, however, during the following night, and on the 26th the life saving crew again went out, hoping to save something. The vessel had then become a complete wreck, and everything belonging to the crew was swept away. Under these circumstances there was no need of the wrecked crew remaining longer at the station, and they were therefore conducted the same day in the surfboat to Smithfield, several miles distant, whence they could take passage to their home.

Schooner Minnie ~ 12 April 1882

Annual Report of the Operations of the United States Life-Saving Service for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1882:

The schooner Minnie, of and from New York for Charleston, SC, with a cargo of guano and empty barrels, stranded on Frying Pan Shoals, Cape Fear at 3 o’clock in the morning, during the prevalence of a severe northeast rain storm. It was high water on the shoals when she struck and the sea was very rough. There were 8 persons all told on board the schooner, including the captain’s wife. The captain had mistaken his position by supposing he was to the southward of the Frying Pan Shoals lightship and did not discover his error until the vessel grounded in the breakers about five miles south of Smith’s Island. The crew of Station No. 25 (6th District), Smith’s Island, North Carolina, discovered the vessel at daylight (5:30), and at once went off in the surf boat to render assistance, reaching her at 7 o’clock. It was at first thought that by throwing cargo overboard the vessel might be saved. The men, therefore, bent their energies in that direction, keeping the pumps going to free the vessel of water. They soon found, however, that she had bilged and that all efforts to relieve her would be futile. Her abandonment was therefore reluctantly determined upon by the captain, who was part owner of the vessel. After consultation as to the safest way of reaching the island, it was decided to use the schooner’s yawl in conjunction with the surf boat. The former was therefore hoisted overboard and five men took passage in it, while the rest, including the captain’s wife, went in the surf boat, and after a hard and dangerous pull for nearly three hours all hands raced the shore in safety, the life savers beaching their boat first and then assisting the other boat to land. The rescued party were sheltered at the station until the next day (13th), when the weather having moderated they were conducted to Smithville, Cape Far River. A wrecking company was employed by the captain to save all the property possible, but beyond the recovery of the sails and rigging and some empty barrels nothing could be done, the vessel and the rest of the cargo becoming a total loss. This simple narrative of the rescue of the Minnie would be incomplete were the statement omitted that the entire affair, in the opinion of seafaring men in the vicinity, reflected much credit on the crew of the station, some of the bar pilots at Smithville marveling greatly that such a gallant feat as reaching the vessel through so rough a sea and boarding her in the midst of the breakers during the severity of the tempest could be accomplished.

Schooner Myrtle Tunnell ~ 9 March 1906

Annual Report of the Operations of the United States Life-Saving Service for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1906:

Ran aground on Frying Pan Shoals, 12 miles from shore, during a fresh SW. wind and smoky weather. The keeper notified the commanding officer of the revenue cutter Seminole, also a tug, then launched surfboat and boarded the stranded craft at 6.30 a.m. Part of her cargo was jettisoned and the Seminole and the tug pulled on her but failed to float her. The crew then abandoned the wreck and were conveyed to Southport. Later her hull filled with water and she was lost.

Schooner Minnie Anna Bonsail ~ 31 January 1890

Annual Report of the Operations of the United States Life-Saving Service for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1890:

Daybreak discovered to the lookout at the Cape Fear Station (Sixth District) coast of North Carolina, a large three-masted schooner aground on the west side of Frying Pan Shoals. Notwithstanding the wind was light and the sea smooth, it took the life savers more than two hours to pull out to her in their surf boat. She was the Minnie Anna Bonsall, of Wilmington, Delaware, loaded with lumber, but full of water. She had been abandoned by her crew, but just before the station men reached her four pilots had boarded her from their schooner. At 1 o’clock, on the rising tide, she was hove into deep water, and the surfmen then started to row to Southport for a tug. Before arriving at the bar off the entrance to Cape Fear River, they fell in with a tug and returned with her to the schooner. An attempt was made to tow the latter into port at high tide, but she drew too much water and stuck on the bar. All hands then went to Southport to get something and also to procure assistance to discharge the deck load before the next full sea. During their absence the crew of the Oak Island Station visited the vessel and remained until the others returned (at 9 o’clock in the evening), when, their assistance not being required, they went home. About one-quarter of the cargo was thrown overboard before the schooner could be got over the bar. She was towed in and run aground on the flats off Southport. It was subsequently learned that the Bonsall had sprung a leak and filled at sea, and that when some fifteen miles southwest of the Frying Pan Shoals lightship her crew had been taken off by a passing vessel.

Schooner Marie Palmer ~ November 30, 1909

Daily Press, VA, Dec. 4, 1909

Freighter Normannia ~ 17 January 1924

On January 16, 1824 the Normannia encountered a fierce gale off Frying Pan Shoals. Her crew tried valiantly at first to stem the rapidly gaining flood, but soon was compelled to call for help as the sea poured in faster than the pumps could eject it.

     Complying to their SOS was the coast guard cutter Moduc, the Henry R. Mallory and the Charles E. Hargood which was the first to arrive at the scene. 20 people were taken on board: 19 crew and, under protest, Captain Blom’s wife Anna who didn’t want to leave her husband. He insisted saying that “if she did not go he would drop her over the side into the boat.” Anna also saved her two pet dogs.

     Captain Blom and 6 of 7 officers remained on the Normannia in hopes that they could rig salvage lines before the Moduc arrived. After the Harwood arrived, the Mallory continued on her way to New York. By daybreak Captain Blom realized there was nothing he could do to save his ship and abandoned her with his officers. The Moduc arrived in time to catch a last glimpse of the Normannia as she sank completely out of sight.

Schooner Robbie L. Foster ~ 14 October 1883

Annual Report of the Operations of the United States Life-Saving Service for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1883:

At daylight the crew of the Cape Fear Station (Sixth District) Smith’s Island, North Carolina, discovered a large three-masted schooner ashore on Frying Pan Shoals, about nine miles south-southeast of the station. The boat was launched as soon as possible, and after a hard pull for two hours they reached the vessel to find her abandoned, her people having been taken off by a steamer which passed them on the way out. The schooner proved to be the Robbie L. Foster, of Saint George, Maine, bound from New York to Savannah with a cargo of railroad iron. She was full of water, with the sea breaking over her, and it was apparent she could not be saved. The life-saving crew returned to their station, reaching there at 3 in the afternoon, much fatigued from the trip, which had taken over eight hours. The keeper afterward learned from the captain of the steamer which took the people off, that nine men were rescued, including a passenger, and that he had landed them at Smithville, at the mouth of Cape Fear River. Although no assistance was rendered in this case, the life saving drew deserve the credit of making a gallant effort by undertaking a long and dangerous journey to the stranded vessel. The schooner became a total loss.