March 2009 MAINE COASTAL NEWS Page 29.
Maritime History:
Tidbits from 1901 and 1902
ner at Belfast; Robert A. Coombs built at left the vessel and had been rescued in an told of being blown off course in a sinking they were married.
steamer at Islesboro; and Carleton, Norwood open boat. The reason for this is that a liner condition, the distress flag flying, and the The German steamer FRANKFORT res-
& Company of Rockport built one schooner. of this type would not take 12 days to go from crew working as hard as they could to save cued the captain and crew from their water-
There was hope that shipbuilding would be the mid-Atlantic to Germany. their lives. During the first four days, they logged schooner on 23 November and landed
revived at Bangor-Brewer despite the fact * * * * * were passed within sight by six vessels and them at Bremen on 5 December.
that no vessels had been built there this Captain Colby of the tug SEGUIN headed none offered any assistance. As a last resort Captain Lowell stated, “We sailed from
season. E. & I. K. Stetson was planning to to Waldoboro from Bath to lend assistance to the captain ordered a raft built as a last resort. Bangor, Maine November 7 and on the fol-
build a four master; T. F. Cassidy & Sons a the schooner NORMANDY. She had been As they were doing this a steamer came down lowing day the wind came out from the north-
two master, and there was a steamer under- loaded with 410,000 feet of pine lumber for the on them and passed so close that they could northwest and blew hard increasing at night
way at the Barbour yard. five masted schooner under construction at see the faces of the passengers, and did not to a gale. That night we lost our mainsail, and
At the Castine district the McKay & Dix the Welt yard at Waldoboro. She left and was offer assistance. The captain said that as she the heavy seas kept thrashing the rudder,
yard in Bucksport launched a five-masted only able to get within a mile of the town passed he broke down like a baby, for he felt which was a drift owing to loss of the steering
schooner, the JOHN W. PAUL JR. She was before she was stopped by the ice. The deck that this had been their last chance. However, gear. The vessel sprung a leak on the morning
the smallest five master afloat and the reason load was thrown overboard and lashed to- then came the sound of the engines in reverse of the ninth and the seas which had been
for the number of masts on a small vessel was gether into rafts. The SEGUIN will break up as the steamer slowed and then came back for washing over our decks from 3 o’clock in the
to make sail handling easier. She also sported the ice and take her into the dock. She will them. A boat was swung out and an officer morning washed our deck load away until it
a spike bowsprit. Over on Deer Isle J. J. remain there until the schooner has discharged and a crew of sailors rowed over and took the was level with the rails. The pumps were kept
Billings built the 7-ton sloop EVANELIA. her cargo and then immediately tow her out. captain and crew off the sinking schooner. going continuously without gaining on the
In the Frenchman’s Bay district, Harvey As the captain made his way up the side of the leak. The wind had increased to hurricane
Hodkins and O. D. Wentworth built an 11-ton 12 December: Discussions were still ship, the steamer captain said, “Look, captain force and the sea became so violent that we
sloop at Marlboro. There was also a fishing ongoing regarding the abandonment of the if you want to see your ship.” He turned just were obliged to abandon the pumps at 3
schooner launched at Hancock. A number of W. H. CARD and whether they were rescued as his vessel went under for the last time. He o’clock.
vessels were rebuilt at the yards of A. E. from the schooner or from an open boat. The added that once you were landed in a foreign “The afternoon of the 9
th
, there was three
Farnsworth, Southwest Harbor; and Charles schooner was located in the mid-Atlantic at port the Consul would pay for the mate, clerk, feet of water in the hold,” add Captain Lowell.
H. Curtis and James Lord, Ellsworth. Latitude 40, Longitude 65. The steamer steward and crew to be sent home. However “The schooner was running off southeast by
The Sawyer Brothers of Milbridge FRANKFORT, which cruises at 14 knots, left the captain was on his own and that law was south under a reefed jib at a rate of nine knots
launched three schooners in the Machias Baltimore on 22 November and doing the to be changed shortly. when she continued for 24 hours. During this
district. math this does not seem probable. The next run we lost the foregaff and foresail and had
There has only been small vessels built question is the date the crew abandoned the 20 December: The particulars on the two men sick and worn out by their labor at the
in the Passamaquoddy district. Lyman Pushee schooner correct? loss of the two-masted schooner WILLIAM pumps.
of Lubec built two steamers; H. W. Spear, a * * * * * H. CARD was finally learned from Captain “The water cask containing all our drink-
sloop, William Kierstead, a sloop and Samuel The fishing schooner VERA, Captain Lowell. The crew of the schooner had finally ing water was lost, the seas flooded the cabin
Vanner a steamer, all from Eastport; and Frank Olsen, recently arrived at T-Wharf in Boston made their way from Bremen to New York via and spoiled our provisions, wetting the bed-
Hallett a sloop at Lubec. with 15,000 pounds of fish. While on his way the steamer BARBAROSSA. The crew con- ding and smashing the work stove,” contin-
to port he passed the wreckage, of what he sisted of: Captain Frank H. Lowell; Mary E. ued Captain Lowell. “We had very little left to
11 December: The North German Lloyd believed, was a small coasting schooner. Lowell, his wife; their young daughter; Sadie supply our necessities. The jib stays had
liner FRANKFORT rescued the crew of the McLaughlin, her sister; Chester A. Varnham, parted and the starboard lumber port had
W. H. CARD in the Atlantic and landed them 14 December: With the abandonment of mate, Olaf Rasmussen and Theodore H. Ellis. come out leaving the schooner a total wreck
at Bremen. The crew stated that they had the W. H. CARD the major topic of discussion The cook remained in a hospital at Bremen. It with the crew exhausted.”
abandoned the vessel on 23 November and in Bangor, an old sea captain told of his fate is interesting to note that the captain’s wife
Continued on Page 30.
this led some to feel that the crew must have once on a waterlogged lumber schooner. He had been shipwrecked three times before
Film Showing at the Grand in Ellsworth 8 April!
Gary Jobson, ESPN commentator, former America's Cup tactician on
board COURAGEOUS with Ted Turner in 1977, lecturer and writer has
stepped behind the camera to make a documentary about Maine
boatbuilding. "MAINE BUILT BOATS: ART & SOUL examines and celebrates
Maine's 400 year old boatbuilding industry, visiting builders all over Maine.
The builders talk about what makes Maine boats so special: the way they
have fused new technology into their age old craft, the incredibly high skill
level, work ethic and the personal pride of each and every builder. A
reception to follow. For more information please contact Jane Wellehan
at (207) 899-7570.
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