. With a Press Herald subscription, you can gift 5 articles each month. In 1769, a cargo ship laden with flour, pork and English goods set sail from Salem, Mass., headed to Portland, Maine. Riess eventually walked away from the search around the time he wrote his book. Search. This wrecked ship known as the Altair is wasting away on the coast of southern Brazil, just south of the Rio Grande. She has won multiple awards from the Society of Professional Journalists and the Washington Newspaper Publishers Association for her reporting at a weekly newspaper near Seattle. Thus, they continued to accumulate. It also analyzed reviews to verify trustworthiness. Videos. Mural of the Bohemian Wreck from South Portland Post Office. An assault by the British Ships, that bombarded the coast resulted in the destruction of the shipyard and boats moored there. The outline of a shipwreck can still be seen on Cape Cod's Long Point. All rights reserved. Altair off Brazil (Image credit: Google) This wrecked ship known as. The SS Francisco Morazan sits at the Bottom of Lake Michigan, after it ran aground during a wild snowstorm in 1960. All of the materials that are associated with shipwrecks within Maine state waters belong to the Maine State Museum, said Leith Smith, a historic preservation coordinator with the Maine Historic Preservation Commission. Here are 17 mysterious shipwrecks you can see on Google Earth. Forty-three crew members died. Other wrecks are rotting or rusting away for anyone to see. , Paperback Privacy Statement, SEE ALL SIGNED BOOKS by J. Dennis Robinson. Photo courtesy: State Library of New South Wales, The Bath-built schooner Edward J. Lawrence was reportedly the last surviving six-masted schooner when it burned in Portland Harbor in December 1925. The captain managed to get the 295-foot ship to shallower waters but, amid the frenzy, panicked passengers overloaded one lifeboat and caused it to plummet and sink into the icy waters. In the tradition of Edward Rowe Snow the author tells salty tales of Maine wrecks including The Nottingham Galley . This Natural Smiley Face Appears in an Oregon Forest Every Fall, The Ultimate Guide To Airbnbs in the Coolest Towns Along Oregon's Coast, Download the (Photo: Francesco Paroni Sterbini), Also known as Smuggler's Cove, Navagio Beach in Zakynthos is one this area's most popular tourist attractions. The ship continues to weather damage. In subsequent years, the Albany seized ships throughout the midcoast and launched raiding parties before the ship by then relegated to a prisoner transport ran aground and sank on the ledges near Vinalhaven in 1782. Please try again. Sloops were single-mast vessels used for transporting cargo. Then, I stumbled across a photo of the Peter Iredale. The Half Moon is now visited by snorkelers and divers visiting the archaeological preserve. Downriver from the Defence, somewhere near the dangerous Triangles Ledge area of Penobscot Bay, rests whatever remains of a British ship that was key to the American debacle at Castine. But with about 3500 miles of coastline (more than California) and more than 2000 islands, there have been plenty of disasters. Full content visible, double tap to read brief content. Please try again. Here is a look at some of the famous, dramatic or intriguing shipwrecks from Maines history, pulled together from historic sources, newspaper accounts and books on the states rich and, at times, tragic maritime history. The hole tore the engine area and resulted in Captain Borland ordering the crew to head for land as quickly as possible. Seventy-five years ago visible hulks like Wiscasset's Hesper and Luther Little were a common sight. Mr. Claesson, who grew up in Maine and spent his summers and early years in York, said he first became interested in the wreckage after a storm in 2007. Now a maritime archaeologist believes he may have solved the mystery. Although attempts were made to save the ship, they were all futile. (Continued below), This excerpt published exclusively on SeacoastNH.com with permission of the author and publisher, Introduction toGREAT SHIPWRECKS OF THE MAINE COASTBy Jeremy DEntremont BUY THIS BOOK. Photo courtesy: South Portland Historical Society. Every few years, the remains of a shipwreck have surfaced on a beach in York, Maine. WARS CASUALTIES He chartered it for salvage operations, but it ran into engine trouble and rudder damage in Beagle Channel by Ushuaia. After it was made in Oakland, California, the SS Palo Alto was moved south to Aptos, California, by the Cal-Nevada Company in 1929. Great Shipwrecks of the Maine Coast. Stories of shipwrecks sort of draw us back into that.. Heres how it works. OLD SHIPWRECK STORIES STILL RESONATE A person photographs a shipwreck's remains after the nor'easter that battered the New England coast made it visible Monday, March 5, 2018, on Short Sands Beach in York, Maine. Remnants from roughly a half-dozen of the expeditions sloops, troop transports and other ships have been located. in printable PDF format Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with used items. You'll receive your first newsletter soon! It would be impossible to include information on every maritime disaster on the coast of Maine in any single volume, but I apologize if a particular wreck thats of special interest to you is not included here. But, this wasnt always the case. Live Science is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. : Now, the decades-long mystery has been somewhat solved after marine archaeologist Stefan Claesson discovered evidence that links the shipwreck to a Colonial-era ship called the Defiance that was built in 1754. There is still a lot to learn about how exactly these ships were designed and built ships that were the lifeline for early settlements, and were the main vehicles of trade and commerce in New England and the U.S.. When there are no survivors to provide witness, careful detective work can sometimes give us an idea of what happened. The map also shows the phases of the Moon, and all solar and lunar eclipses. The ship hit a ledge off of Higgins Beach in Scarborough, damaging the hull. The schooner Equator was burned and destroyed by the British, during the war of 1812, in 1814 at Biddeford Pool in Maine. Maine has thousands of miles of coastline owing to its craggy peninsulas and hundreds of islands, most uninhabited. The Royal Navy decommissioned the tug after the war, and sold it in 1947 to a man in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Warren C. Riesss Angel Gabriel: The Elusive English Galleon and Stacy L. Welners Tragedy in Casco Bay, about the 1941 Don tragedy, deserve special mention as the best sources on those wrecks. Wrecks of small fishing vessels were unfortunately so frequent a century or two ago that they often werent even recorded and have been lost to history. : Mr. Claesson said he has presented his research to the York board and the Ellis Park Committee, which manages the beach. (Photo: Ed Yourdon), Exhaustive Googling found no information about this abandoned tug boat beached near the Vila Nova de Milfontes in Odemira other than the fact that many have been pleasantly surprised by its presence on one of the area's most attractive beaches. For more information, please contact the contributing organization. The incident, whether true or rumor, highlights the fact that collecting relics from shipwrecks in Maine is usually prohibited unless authorized. Not much remains because the rocky bottom meant there was no sediment for wreckage to settle into. Over centuries, the states craggy coast has been the final resting spot for nearly one thousand fishing vessels, warships and passenger steamers. In addition to the smell of ocean water in the air on rainy days in Portland, she loves puppies, photography, funny people, the Maine Red Claws, traveling, fresh tomatoes, Cambodia and filling out forms. This would ensure, even if it is taken one day by the ocean, that we have preserved its memory for future generations. Destruction to shipping was widespread, especially along the Massachusetts shore. Great Shipwrecks of the Maine Coast (Maritime) [D'Entremont, Jeremy] on Amazon.com. During the war, there were concerns about steel shortages. (Photo: Ghost of Kuji), The Eduard Bohlen ran aground on Namibia's Skeleton Coast in 1909 due to heavy fog. This one sits in San Leandro Bay, not too far from the Oakland International Airport. The final chapter includes quick synopses of many additional wrecks. They were just eggshells so it was very tricky trying to preserve them.. I should mention that the 1898 wreck of the steamer Portlandpossibly New Englands most famous shipwreckisnt included because its final voyage began in Maine but ended in Massachusetts waters. . The last time waves exposed its frame was in March 2018. The steamship was carrying more than 200 passengers many of them Irish immigrants in the final leg of a voyage from Liverpool, England, to Portland. It was the night of George Washingtons birthday, so the distress flares and gunfire from the ship were mistakenly dismissed as celebratory by some on shore. Questions or comments? Future US, Inc. Full 7th Floor, 130 West 42nd Street, The river seems to be a graveyard of sorts: According to estimates by the General Company of Ports of Iraq (GCPI), around 36 sunken ships lie in the Shatt al-Arab, according to niqash.org. Monuments and plaques remembering fishermen can be found in towns all along the coast, from Kittery to Lubec. But some, like the wreck of the Bohemia, are more awful than others. Create one. Please note the display name will appear on screen when you participate. On August 10, 1897 this schooner was under full sail despite the near zero visibility. Coordinates List In one of the largest ecological disasters caused by man, the once 4th-largest in-land sea shrank by 90%, leaving the fishing economy of Moynaq in ruins. THE ELUSIVE . Create a commenting profile by providing an email address, password and display name. The ship is now the habitat for many species, and the beach is well known for fishing and nautical sports, including surfing. One of the best-studied wrecks is of the Defence, a 170-ton American brig that was scuttled by its crew near todays Stockton Springs to keep it from falling into the hands of the Royal Navy. And somewhere in Penobscot Bay south of Hampden is whatever remains of the USS Adams, a 28-gun frigate scuttled during the War of 1812. Documenting shipwrecks can be a difficult task, however. Japanese B5N2 Kate torpedo bombers sank the USS Utah during the Pearl Harbor attack on Dec. 7, 1941. They took anchor, but in heavy seas the crew was forced to cut the anchor cables, and were pushed ashore onto York Beach, Mr. Claesson said. Copyright 2000-2023 Maine Historical Society, All Rights Reserved. Cover has no visible wear, and the dust jacket (if applicable) is included for hard covers. Shipwrecks of Maine and New Hampshire, Like New Used, Free shipping in the US. If you'd like to privately share a comment or correction with MMN staff, please send us a message with this link. The amount exposed depends on the amount of beach sand from tides and ocean storms. This list may not reflect recent changes . . But countless other shipwrecks are much more accessible, so long as you have Google Earth. "An accidental marine museum," as one nautical magazine calls it, this boat graveyard on the shores of southern Staten Island, New York, was founded in the 1930s by John J. Witte (who died in 1980), the The New York Times reported; Witte reportedly would not dismantle any of the ships unless he had a buyer, according to The New York Times. That's when the captain, who had 22 years of skipper experience, realized that the Bohemian was off course by more than 6 miles. But a New York Express report claimed the elephant survived by swimming to a nearby island, where he went into a barn-yard, and after frightening the cattle there out of their wits, was taken care of by the proprietor of the farm until a circus hand came to take care of him.. In the tradition of Edward Rowe Snow the author tells salty tales of Maine wrecks including The Nottingham Galley, The Angel Gabriel, the Penobscot Expedition, Royal Tar, Steamer Bohemian and more. My biggest criticism about the book is that there are zero graphics to accompany any given story related within. : Also, a nice bit of history without being too didactic was nice to give context when called for. GPS coordinates for over 150 wrecks (Photo: Sergio Tudela Romero), Point Reyes National Seashore in California has a history of being a magnet for boats. Use it to locate a planet, the Moon, or the Sun and track their movements across the sky. The Holland-bound ship left Chicago on Nov. 27, 1960, with 940 tons of cargo, according to the National Park Service. At least three such wrecks can be found on Rhossili Beach, including the remains of the Helvetia, a Norwegian vessel that washed ashore in 1887. Tourists visiting the boat can also see sand dunes, waterfalls and wild animals, including black seagulls, tortoises and hawks. Make a note in the comment section if you can find any others. DREADFUL ACCIDENT, declared one headline days after the steamship Royal Tar caught fire near Vinalhaven in October 1836, killing dozens of passengers and an entire circus or caravan., The dreadful steamboat calamity yet continues to attract universal attention, reads the account in Virginias Richmond Enquirer. Every few years, waves expose the shipwreck, which a researcher believes was a ship named the Defiance. But then the wreck disappeared again, frustrating those who desired to know more about the ships history. He then looked through nearly 50 years of notary records to discover that a sloop called Defiance had wrecked at the York Beach location in 1769. This record was added to Maine Memory Network through the efforts of a student at Scarborough Middle School. Historian Jeremy D'Entremont has a new book and we have the introduction. , ISBN-13 Over the last century, much of the remains have deteriorated, but a large piece of the ship is easily accessible during low tide. The bodies of these passengers came ashore for days after the shipwreck. As it turns out, you dont actually need a scuba suit to visit many shipwrecks around the world. Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page. A shipwrecked Colonial-era sloop periodically emerges during heavy surfs, and is then reburied on Short Sands Beach in York. . (Photo: Alberto Perdomo). A few of these wrecks, including the famed Astron, can be spotted from the comfort of your reclining beach chair. This year, we observe the 300th anniversary of the tragic wreck of the Nottingham Galley at Boon Island, and Kenneth Roberts novel Boon Island remains an eminently readable account of a staggeringly harrowing story of survival. Two crewmen died trying to reach the mainland on a makeshift raft, and after the ships carpenter died, the remaining men resorted to cannibalism to stay alive. This wreck is unusual for being buried entirely in the sandit's now stranded about a quarter mile away from shore. It was commissioned as the USS YP-414 patrol boat during World War II. We found just about a thousand sites, Riess said of researchers and state historians attempts to document as many shipwreck sites as possible. This enormous vessel washed ashore on a beach in Mexico's Baja California Sur. Forty-two people died in February 1864 when the British steamship RMS Bohemian struck Alden Rock another boat-killing ledge off Cape Elizabeth and began taking on water. Vintage Maine Images . . . I'm still working on Italy and France, but I wanted to share with ya'll! Shipwrecks--Maine--Scarborough; Marine accidents--Maine--Scarborough; Schooners--Maine--Scarborough; . The Eerie Tale Of This Shipwreck Off Maine Will Keep You Awake Tonight. Many images on this website are for sale on VintageMaineImages.com. Deb Cram/Portsmouth Herald, via Associated Press, were cooking and eating brown crab 90,000 years ago, for the now-extinct straight-tusked elephants, the Phillips Library at the Peabody Essex Museum. Maine Historical Society. In January 2017, a storm off the coast of California ripped the stern off the SS Palo Alto. 42 people were killed when the passenger steamship RMS Bohemian sank off the coast of Cape Elizabeth on February 22, 1864. It had just the right amount of spooky touch when the particular tale called for it. With its incessant fogs and infamously craggy coast, Maine has long been a bane of mariners. It is the subject of poems, numerous historical books and is the namesake of a Royal Tar Blend coffee sold by a Deer Isle coffee roaster. The cost of archaeological excavation to document and reconstruct the vessel is very doable, Claesson said. In fact one of (the cannons), as we touched it underwater, it just snapped, Riess said. My sincere thanks once again to Commonwealth Editions, whose staff and consultants always help to make the process of writing and publishing a book a pleasure. Maine cant boast as many wrecksif thats something to boast aboutas the Outer Banks of North Carolina, Nova Scotias Sable Island, or Cape Cod. In addition to lobster, coastal homes and funny accents, Maine is known for its weather. Numerous accounts tell of sailors seeing his carcass floating days later. Top subscription boxes right to your door, 1996-2023, Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates, Learn more how customers reviews work on Amazon. Kate Russell, the founding artistic director of Threadbare Theater, said she was inspired to develop the play after hearing so many people talk about the Royal Tar during an artistic residency in Stonington. Riess spent several decades searching for wreckage from the Angel Gabriel, the British galleon which reportedly sank with all of its cargo in Pemaquid Harbor one day after arriving with new settlers from Bristol, England, in 1635. Shipwrecks of Maine The state of Maine has some 3,500 miles of undulating coastline and over 2,000 coastal islands. In addition to the 93 passengers and crew, the Royal Tar was carrying a circus menagerie or caravan that included two lions, numerous horses, monkeys, a camel and at least one elephant, named Mogul. Photo courtesy: Allan Wood: Jeremy DEntremont, Great Shipwrecks of the Maine Coast, Bangor Daily Whig & Courier, Oct. 31, 1836, Kate Russell, founding artistic director, Threadbare Theater. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. Some vessels possibly including the Colonial-era sloop that periodically emerges and is then reburied on a York beach were purposely scuttled or abandoned while many sank at anchor or after escaping a mooring. Statistically, there should be pretty close to a thousand shipwreck sites off the coast of Maine which is an incredible amount, but you are talking about centuries of shipping, said Warren Riess, an associate research professor of maritime history and archaeology at the University of Maines Darling Marine Center in Walpole. The ship encountered a fierce storm and never made it to its destination. A sloop in His Majestys Royal Navy, the HMS Albany successfully defended Castines narrow harbor entrance for days until reinforcements drove the American forces upriver. The so-called Penobscot Expedition was this countrys single-largest naval loss until the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor in 1941. When the ship most recently emerged at Short Sands Beach in 2018, locals flocked to the site. On the night of February 22, 1864, Capt. The story has been turned into at least two childrens books in which the animals survive and go on to help (or entertain) local islanders. This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login. George E. Bukers The Penobscot Expedition is a thorough telling of a dark, but fascinating, episode in American military history. The schooner-yacht sank in 1930, when a storm ran it aground, according to DiveSpots.com. return here. Thankfully, not all of Maines shipwrecks involve tragedy. Please post your comment below to share with others. Discovery Company. . Help others learn more about this product by uploading a video! window.__mirage2 = {petok:"N9vB8B1BuHhwW95CvHrq3T.sB_0.OFQ60Co_0u8_9p4-1800-0"}; Love Maine? All Rights Reserved. Many of the boats left without being full and another broke completely sending Irish immigrants into the ocean waves. I wish to thank the Maine Historical Society, the Museum at Portland Head Light, the Vinalhaven Historical Society, and all the organizations and institutions that provided information and photos for this book. For more information read our privacy policy. A federal database of navigational wrecks and obstructions lists hundreds of known and suspected wreckage sites along Maines coastline. So if people were to find objects, it would be important for folks to get in touch with the museum. Its kind of neat.. You will receive an email to complete the registration. A THOUSAND SHIPWRECK SITES With all that water and coastline, it's no wonder that Maine has an abundance of shipwrecks. On August 10, 1897 the schooner Howard H. Middleton was under full sail despite near zero visibility. When they lost a fishing boat in the 1800s, nobody recorded that.. Some of the wrecks described were modern enough to imagine that there must be some pictures of the subject vessels. Some of Maines oldest military shipwrecks are buried usually, at least in the muddy bottom of the Penobscot River. Anyone can read what you share. You can share 5 more gift articles this month. The crew's belongings and most of the cargo were taken to other ships but the Howard H. Middleton could not be saved . [CDATA[ Research also showed that a sloop of the same name was coincidentally built in 1754 in Massachusetts, which fits well with our tree-ring dates of circa 1753, Claesson said. A boy displays pieces of wood he took as souvenirs from a shipwrecked sloop at Short Sands Beach on March 6, 2018. Don't have a commenting profile? About two years ago, a nor'easter struck York Beach, Maine, revealing the skeleton of a centuries-old shipwreck beneath the sand. She also reports on general science, including archaeology and paleontology. Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app. That's because when the Atlantic's cold currents mix with the dry, warm air from the Namib Desert, the two create a cold, dense fog that can befuddle even careful ship captains, the HuffPost reported. With a long maritime history, tales of shipwrecks are expected. Given the intense physical and emotional stress produced by a shipwreck, flight and fight are two sides of the same coin. Most of the 400 wrecks in. Some shipwrecks, such as the Royal Tar steamship, will never be visible to Maine residents or visitors except in images. Since then, the wrecks have become a habitat for underwater marine life. It would be great to have a chance to conduct a more detailed archaeological investigation to understand how the ship was designed and built, and confirm the identification as Defiance, he said. appreciated. Your effort and contribution in providing this feedback is much FRESH STUFF DAILY Of interest in this particular study was that three different species were used, two that are not commonly used in shipbuilding, that grow right here in New England and northeastern North America, Carol B. Griggs, a senior research associate at the Tree-Ring Laboratory, said on Sunday. Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.