Cindy Vallar's Blog - Posts Tagged "shipwrecks"

The Palatine Wreck: The Legend of the New England Ghost Ship by Jill Farinelli

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


History knows her as the Palatine, initially a sailing ship, then a wreck, and later a fiery ghost. Her name and those of most passengers have been lost until now. For the first time, we finally learn a bit about fifteen emigrants who set sail in April 1738 aboard the Princess Augusta. The total number who left Rotterdam in the Netherlands is uncertain, this cargo ship carried around 300 men, women, and children. At least 240 of these died during the crossing of the Atlantic. Of her crew of sixteen, half succumbed, including one of the principal owners, Captain George Long, who, at twenty, was making his first Palatine run.

The Princess Augusta was bound for Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and the journey to their new homes should have taken three months for the German. Instead, those who survived reached the mouth of the Delaware River in December, only to discover the waterway was frozen shut. Unable to wait any longer to reach land, the ship headed north to Rhode Island, where she grounded and sank off Block Island. A year later, the first sighting of a full-rigged ship on fire occurred, but when rescuers reached the site, nothing was there except water – no survivors, no dead bodies, no wreckage. From time to time in the intervening years the ghost ship has reappeared.

The majority of emigrants came from the Palantinate, a region in Germany that bordered both sides of the Rhine River. One town in this area was Schwaigern, where the residents’ lives were controlled by the market, the palace, and the church. Inheritance laws, financial burdens, and the possibility of another war convinced many in the region to immigrate to the New World and many went to William Penn’s colony because he offered cheap acreage without heavy taxation or government interference. One man who decided to leave Schwaigern was Sebastian Dieter, who took with him his wife and three children. The first section of the book, “The Old World,” recounts what it took to leave their homeland and the trials they endured during the journey to the Netherlands and the wait to board a ship bound for America.

“The Voyage” recounts the crossing of the Atlantic. Farinelli skillfully weaves a horrific tale where greed, overcrowding, illness, poor provisions, delays, and storms impacted everyone aboard. Where details specifically about the Princess Augusta are available, she includes them. She fills in missing information with details of what other Palatine ships experienced. At the same time, she shares the questions that remain unanswered about this particular cruise – many of which are mysteries that will never be solved.

The third portion of the book, “The New Land,” focuses on what emigrants experienced once the ship arrived on the east coast of America, as well as what happened to the survivors of the Princess Augusta after she sank. “The Legend,” the fourth part, discusses some of the best-known sightings, John Greenleaf Whittier’s poem “The Palatine,” the stories of two female survivors who opted to remain on Block Island, and how the publicity of the ghost ship forever changed the island and the islanders’ way of life. The endnotes contain fascinating historical tidbits beyond identifying the source. The bibliography includes famous poems and stories inspired by the Palatine Legend, as well as primary and secondary source materials. There is also an index.

The Palatine Wreck is an invaluable addition to any collection dealing with maritime history and the immigrant experience. Part of the Seafaring America series, it delves deeper into the true story of the fateful journey, while clearly separating fact from fiction. For example, one persistent legend is that wreckers lured the Princess Augusta to her death and murdered the passengers, yet Farinelli’s research clearly shows this is not what happened. Her spellbinding account reads like a novel, but is totally non-fiction. The manner in which she recounts what occurred concisely demonstrates that the horror of the shipwreck was merely the final episode in a series of tragic events – some manmade, some no one could control. She immerses readers in the time period, ship life, and the emigrant experience, making this engrossing presentation difficult to put down.




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The Lost Story of the Ocean Monarch by Gill Hoffs

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Water and fire. Two elements – one of which will extinguish the other – except when the fire is aboard a wooden ship and the water is all around her. Then you are faced with little hope for escape and must decide whether to drown or burn to death.

This was the tragedy nearly 400 men, women, and children – seventy of whom were under the age of 14 – faced the day they set sail from Liverpool, England that fateful day in August 1848. Within a few hours, their ship sank off the coast of Llandudno, Wales.

The Ocean Monarch was bound for Boston and built by Donald McKay just the year before. She had three decks and was considered far safer than the coffin ships that carried many immigrants. Life boats weren’t required, although a couple were carried. What firefighting equipment she had consisted of a dozen buckets and a water pump that wasn’t up to snuff. By the time the fire was discovered, there was little anyone could do and nowhere for most people to go until other ships arrived to help.

Those who boarded the Ocean Monarch came from a variety of backgrounds. Some were Irish emigrants seeking a new homeland. Others were tourists returning from their travels. A handful possessed money and stature. The majority worked for a living or were penniless. Nearly half of them would not survive. A number of the passengers are introduced by name and followed as events unfold, such as the Dows, who were newly married; Nathaniel Southworth, a well-known miniaturist; James Fellows, a watchmaker and jeweler; and Thomas Henry, who expressly waited to sail on this ship because he knew her captain. There was also a man who abandoned his wife to run off with another man’s wife. Others are mentioned for something they did, such as a stewardess, whose name is unknown, who sacrificed her life to prevent gunpowder from exploding which would have made the tragedy even worse.

But this is more than just the story of those aboard the burning ship. It is also about her rescuers, including members of the Brazilian navy, exiled French royalty, and a man who had rescued people from another shipwreck. One of the captains had even served under Admiral Lord Horatio Nelson. Then there are the pilots and a rumor of a possible murder.

In twelve chapters, Hoffs explores events and people before, during, and after the fire. She includes some black-and-white photographs, an epilogue, and personal note, as well as appendices that provide a chronology of the corpses and details about them, locations of grave sites and inquests, and a list of medals. In addition, there is a list of names of passengers, stewards, stewardesses, the captain and crew, and some who were aboard other vessels and came to the doomed ship’s aid. A select bibliography and index complete the text. Interspersed throughout the narrative are firsthand accounts and newspaper reports of what happened that day and in the days that followed.

What becomes clear in reading this story is that this travesty need not have been as horrific as it ended up being and that despite the passing of more than a century and a half, there still is no concrete proof as to how the fire started. In explaining how she came to write this story, Hoffs also demonstrates the role social behavior played in the events. She deftly shows the chaos and confusion that resulted from the fire, and her words paint a gruesome image of what the victims endured. (She does include a warning note of what pages to skip for readers who might be squeamish.) Rather than focus on just the microcosm of the ship, she elaborates on what was happening in the world at the time. Yet she also leaves readers with many questions that were never clearly answered by the inquests or investigators. By the end of the book, she does share that her research enabled her to identify six nameless victims and what happened to known survivors.

Perhaps not as gripping a tale as Hoffs’ earlier book, The Lost Story of the William & Mary, nor as clear-cut as to why the Ocean Monarch is a “lost” tale, The Lost Story of the Ocean Monarch is still an important contribution to collections focusing on shipwrecks and emigrant stories.




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Shipwrecks and Other Maritime Disasters of the Maine Coast by Taryn Plumb

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Shipwrecks fascinate us. They stir our curiosity, raising questions, some of which can never be answered. The first is unknown, although the oldest one found dates to 400 BC. They are evidence that no matter how hard we try to tame the ocean, powerful forces disabuse us of this. We still continue to try.

Shipbuilding, trade, and travel have long been tied to Maine’s history, yet the state’s coastal waters are also the final resting place for many vessels. One thousand six hundred are documented, but we may never know the full count because prior to 1874, it wasn’t necessary to report such sea disasters and witness accounts didn’t always agree. The 3,500 miles of shoreline is treacherous, with many hidden dangers, and the names of offshore islands – Deadman Ledge, Devil’s Island, Hell Gate, Burial Island – portend this peril. Then there are the structural failures, human error, manmade dangers, and the whims of Mother Nature that are also responsible for endangering lives and ships that venture near these shores.

An integral part of the history of shipwrecks is man’s attempts to prevent them. The first lighthouse in Maine began operating in 1791. The US Life-Saving Service, a forerunner of the US Coast Guard, helped rescue crew, passengers, and property beginning in 1848. The seventeen chapters of this book recount “stories of tragedy and triumph, loss and salvation, [and] can serve as cautionary tales and reminders of the sea’s mighty dominance and will.” (xv)

Following her introduction, Plumb shares the earliest account of a Maine shipwreck, which Governor William Bradford of Plymouth Colony recorded in 1624. She also chronicles losses during the Great Colonial Hurricane in 1635 and the story of the James, which found herself in the midst of a hurricane. Among her passengers was the Reverend Richard Mather, whose offspring would become famous Boston theologians.

Plumb writes a history of shipwrecks and other maritime disasters that is at times gripping, at times hopeful, and often poignant. Those familiar with Maine’s history may be familiar with many of these tales, such as that of Katherine Bright who kept the light on Boon Island burning for five days after a storm killed her husband, or the Penobscot Expedition during the Revolutionary War, which ranked as the US Navy’s worst defeat until Pearl Harbor, or the 1813 battle between HMS Boxer and the USS Enterprise, in which both captains died. Many readers, however, are introduced to new accounts of cannibalism, heroism, deplorable exploitation, puzzling disappearances, ghosts, nightmares foretelling doom, frozen lovers, a concrete ship, and a German U-boat on the hunt. There’s even the story of the Royal Tar, an early steamship that caught fire while transporting a circus.

This is a worthy addition to any maritime collection. A list of sources is provided and, although there is no index, the recounting of shipwrecks and disasters unfold mostly in chronological order. A great, yet haunting, read on a dark and stormy night.




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The 50 Greatest Shipwrecks by Richard M Jones

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


According to the author, history has seen more than 3,000,000 shipwrecks through the years. There is no way to narrow down that number to the fifty greatest. Any such list is subjective, especially if the parameters of the criteria used to select them isn’t stated. The author concurs with this assessment: “It would be impossible to truthfully dictate what the fifty most interesting wreck stories would be,” although he goes on to make such a list. “[I]n my opinion, those in these pages come as close as you can get to a list that is as diverse and varied as possible: a mixture of the world’s worst number of deaths – both wartime and peacetime – and wrecks that register no deaths at all.” (x)

A handful of the ships mentioned will be known by the majority of readers. Titanic struck an iceberg in April 1912, and more than 1,500 of those aboard died, while Carpathia – a ship that sank six years later – rescued 705 survivors. A similar ratio of victims to survivors happened after a German U-boat torpedoed the Lusitania in 1915. It is the many unanswered questions surrounding her loss, however, that make for compelling reading. Two others are the USS Arizona and the Edmund Fitzgerald. Those within maritime circles will recognize the names of other vessels, such as the Mary Rose and the Vasa – two warships that heeled over and sank because water poured in through the gunports – or the Endurance, the vessel that carried Ernest Shackleton and his crew to Antarctica in 1915. She was crushed by ice and sank; they survived. Many other vessels will be unfamiliar to the many readers. For example, the Waratah that disappeared off South Africa in 1909; the Mendi which was struck by another ship that kept on going rather than stopping to render aid in 1917; or the Musashi that sank in 1944 after being hit by nineteen torpedoes and seventeen bombs.

Each of the entries in this book averages three to six pages. A summary of the ship’s history prior to her sinking is provided, as are details of her demise and what happened to her afterwards. Some, like Vasa and Mary Rose, are now museums. The latter is the earliest ship mentioned, having sunk in 1542. The most recent two sinkings pertain to Costa Concordia in 2012 and an unknown vessel carrying migrants in 2015. In addition to warships and passenger liners, Jones’s list includes oil tankers, submarines, cargo ships, and ferries. There are also plates of black-and-white photographs.

While Jones includes a wide variety of vessels, it’s interesting to note that steamboats are missing. For example, neither Sultana (1865) nor General Slocum (1904) make the list. Only four vessels are included from the many shipwrecks before 1800, but there are none from the nineteenth century. There is no index, but the table of contents provides a chronological list of the shipwrecks and the year each sank. Also absent is a bibliography, which is surprising given that the author’s intention is to arouse readers’ interest sufficiently that they go on to learn more about the shipwrecks.

The author specializes in researching lost ships and maritime disasters. In the epilogue he writes, “Each one has its own story, each has real people affected by the loss of the vessel, cargo, and crew. No disaster should be forgotten and it has always been my intention to get as many on record as possible.” (157) In this regard, he is correct and this book contains compelling accounts of fifty shipwrecks, although some readers may argue that HMS Scylla may technically fall under the definition of shipwreck, but doesn’t truly qualify as one since she was sunk on purpose to serve as an artificial reef. For readers who seek an introduction to maritime disasters, The 50 Greatest Shipwrecks is a decent starting point.




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Shipwrecks in 100 Objects: Stories of Survival, Tragedy, Innovation and Courage by Simon Wills

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


A rosary from the wreckage of the Mary Rose, which Henry VIII witnessed sink. “The Shipwreck,” William Falconer’s poem based on his experience aboard the Ramillies as a midshipman. A letter placed within a bottle from an officer who thought he and his family were about to die. The life jacket that saved one man’s life when his comrades, who wore none, died. The anchor of a ship that sank in 1878 but has been seen several times since then.

These are a few of the items showcased in this book about shipwrecks. They do not represent the 100 worst shipwrecks in history nor vessels other than British. Instead, the author seeks to touch our heartstrings, to make us care about the lives lost, the living, and the aftermaths of such tragic occurrences. To guide him in achieving this goal, Wills asked himself two questions: “is there a notable personal story to tell” and did the shipwreck contribute “something to the overall narrative of ancestors’ experiences at sea across centuries”? (13)

While tragedy abounds within these stories, there is also hope. Mention “shipwreck” and our thoughts immediately turn to the men, women, and children on the vessels at the time of the sinking. Or perhaps to their loved ones who bear the grief and adjust to severe changes in their circumstances because of the losses suffered. But there are also those determined to survive or to help, such as Grace Darling, who helped her father, the lighthouse keeper, rescue stranded victims.

Wills, perhaps better than another author, is the best person to write these stories. His family has gone to sea since the time of Queen Elizabeth I and some experienced the wrecking of their ships firsthand. As a result, Wills’s abiding respect for the sea and empathy for victims, survivors, and rescuers are evident in each tale.

The selected objects include artifacts, medals, images, writings, charts, memorials, music, and buildings. Some are as intangible as storm clouds or sea monsters. Of particular interest to readers interested in maritime piracy are William Dampier’s giant clam, a Jolly Roger (representing pirates, like Samuel Bellamy who died in a shipwreck or Edward Teach who wrecked his flagship), and a first edition of Robinson Crusoe, the lone survivor of a fictional shipwreck who survived on an island for twenty-eight years before being rescued.

Wills arranges the entries in chronological order, beginning with 1539 and ending in 2012 when two Titanic museums opened 100 years after that ship sank. Both an index and a table of contents that identifies and dates each object allows for easy access to individual shipwrecks.

This book is an eclectic collection of objects that introduces us to shipwrecks we probably may not know about but should. Wills hopes these intriguing stories spur us to learn more about the vessels and the tales they have to reveal.


(This review was originally posted at Pirates and Privateers at http://www.cindyvallar.com/adultpirat...)



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Weymouth Bound: Jack Stone, seaman, and the French naval plot to strike a mortal blow against England during the Napoleonic Wars by Paul Weston

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Jack Stone has a dream. He wants to be a sailor, to travel the seas in search of adventure. His father, a fisherman and smuggler, wants Jack away from the dangers of illegally trafficking goods. To that end, he arranges for Jack to apprentice for seven years with the captain and part owner of the Cicely, a merchant ship that carries cargo from one port to another.

May 1800 finds Jack learning the ins and outs of Cicely and seafaring. With the keen eyes of a youth, he often finds himself aloft as lookout. He gets on with most of the crew, but the one man to steer clear of is the mate, Dennis Vasey. Rumor has it that he frequents opium dens and he’s got a temper. His father is part owner of the ship, so the captain cannot fire him. Nor does Vasey do much even when he is aboard.

One evening, while the rest of the crew is ashore, Jack remains aboard. He’s aloft watching the stars and the area around the ship when he spies Vasey nearing the ship. His movements are furtive, as if he doesn’t wish anyone to know he’s around. Terrified of the mate after almost dying because of one of his orders, Jack remains hidden. Soon after Vasey comes onto the Cicely, he’s joined by a stranger. He’s even more scary, especially since he wears a coat of the Royal Navy and has a scarred scalp. Jack knows he should tell the captain, but he holds his tongue. Doing so turns out to be extremely dangerous, not only for the crew, but also for England. Jack is the only one who can remedy his silence to warn his homeland and the king before it’s too late.

Weymouth Bound is an alluring tale that slowly weaves its spell on the reader. Although written for adults, even young people will enjoy Jack’s ingenuity and courage as he gets far more adventure than he craves, some of which is nerve-wracking and tense. Readers who enjoy nautical tales of accidents at sea, revenue agents, privateers, and shipwrecks will enjoy this first volume in a new trilogy written by a merchant seaman.


(This review was originally published at Pirates and Privateers: http://www.cindyvallar.com/adult-hist...)




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British warship losses in the age of sail, 1650-1859 by David J. Hepper

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


(Note: This review is for the latest edition, published in 2024.)

Loss is inevitable in a time when wooden ships sail the seas. Charts aren’t always accurate, which results in ships running aground or foundering on unseen rocks or reefs. Weather plays a role sometimes, as happens in October 1744, when storm-tossed seas bring about the demise of HMS Victory and the deaths of Admiral Sir John Balchen and nearly 900 others. Additional causes stem from collisions, engagements with the enemy, and navigational errors. Fire is perhaps the most-feared danger, not only because there is nowhere to flee if a ship catches fire but also because the flames may eventually reach the powder magazine. The loss of Queen Charlotte in 1800 is just such an example. Another contributing factor is mutiny as happens aboard HMS Bounty and HMS Hermione.

Hepper’s goal is to provide a comprehensive compilation of vessels lost over a period of 211 years. He begins in 1649, which is the year when the last Royalist ships depart British waters and a new navy is established under the Protectorate. The list ends in 1860 with the launch of Warrior, a ship with an iron hull that is powered by steam.

A brief introduction precedes explanations of the various types of vessels and nautical terms readers will encounter. Entries are chronological and divided into specific time periods.
1649-1660: The Interregnum: Dutch Wars and Expansion
1660-1688: The Restoration: Wars against the Dutch and Barbary Corsairs
1689-1714: Invasion, War and Union
1715-1739: The Long Peace
1739-1748: The War of the Austrian Succession (‘The War of Jenkins’s Ear’)
1749-1754: A Brief Peace
1755-1763: The Seven Years War
1764-1771: Growing Tension in North America
1772-1783: American Independence
1783-1793: A Period of Peace and Political Agitation
1793-1802: Revolution and War
1803-1815: World War
1816-1859: Empire and Expansion
A bibliography and an index of lost ships are also provided.

Each chapter begins with a brief recap of the period as it pertains to history and the navy. Each entry provides the vessel’s name, as well as that of her commanding officer at the time of the disaster. Other pertinent details – ship classification, tonnage, launch place and date, origins, dimensions, and guns carried – are included prior to a summary of what happens to her. When the number of casualties is known, this is also given. The presence of women aboard is noted. If the commanding officer doesn’t survive, that is recorded, as is the main source of the information given in the entry.

All the information has been culled from years of sifting through primary documents, such as courts-martial records in The National Archives. Other material comes from contemporary sources, such as newspapers, Parliamentary journals, Steel’s Navy List, and notable histories such as Schomberg’s Naval Chronology, James’s Naval History, and Gold’s Naval Chronicle.

Entries include such notable losses as the grounding and burning of Gaspée in 1773 (a prelude to the American Revolution); the battle between HMS Serapis and USS Bonhomme Richard in which fifty-four men lose their lives and one captain is knighted for his bravery; HMS Guerrière’s duel with USS Constitution in 1812, and Boxer’s encounter with Enterprise the following year; and the mid-century losses of the ships participating in and searching for Sir John Franklin’s Arctic expedition.

Few readers will have heard of most disasters within these pages. For example, in 1695, the fourth-rate Nonsuch is escorting a convoy of merchant ships home to England when a French privateer attacks. The men on Nonsuch make repairs from the running battle during the night, but the fighting recommences the next day. After losing two masts and her captain, and unable to use her lower tier of guns, Nonsuch lowers her flag in surrender. At the ensuing court-martial, the deceased captain is partially blamed as is the lieutenant who fails to take command upon the death of Nonsuch’s captain. He is dismissed from the navy and serves six months in prison. Three others are cashiered for “ignorance and ill conduct” in surrendering the ship instead of continuing to fight.

With her hull leaking like a sieve and most of her crew dead from scurvy, HMS Gloucester is set afire in 1742. Her loss leaves one surviving ship from Commodore Anson’s squadron, which had set sail two years earlier. The dispatch cutter Cassandra encounters a squall in 1807. She rolls over but soon rights herself, only to heel over a second time. Thirteen drown, including a woman and a child. Eighteen years later, the remains of Lady Nelson are discovered on Babar Island, where Malay pirates attacked the brig tender and killed her crew. The losses even include HMS Diamond Rock, an island near Martinique and one of the navy’s first stone frigates used to harass the enemy.

Similar in scope and format to Jean Boudriet’s earlier book, which appeared in print three decades ago, Hepper retains that framework but has greatly revised, corrected, and added to it, making this volume more complete. Some entries are short paragraphs; others are considerably longer. The print is small, by necessity, to keep the book’s length manageable. Hepper also includes two sections of color and black-&-white plates. The artwork depicts damaged ships, shipwrecks, sinkings, and battles.

This book isn’t meant to be read cover to cover. It’s an invaluable and essentially new reference work that belongs in any collection on naval history. It can be used just for research purposes, or readers may enjoy random visits to learn about the hazards that men face daily during the Age of Sail.


(This review originally appeared at Pirates and Privateers: http://www.cindyvallar.com/Hepper.html)



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