Page 24. MAINE COASTAL NEWS February 2011 Maritime History Continued From Page 23. 7 August SLOOP IS BEACHED


Ill-fated yacht RUTH E. CUMNOCK towed ashore


BY THE CUTTER WOODBURY Revenue Cutter’s Men Worked Hard to Get Her Landed – Trawlers Have a Clear Field Now.


The sloop RUTH E. CUMNOCK was lifted from her resting place on the bottom of Penobscot Bay and towed ashore Tuesday afternoon by the Revenue Cutter WOODBERRY, just for weeks from the date the sloop went down in a squall and sent six young men to their deaths. The ill-fated sloop was located more than a week ago and the discovery of her location was the first straight lead the searchers had in their work. Following the location of the sloop the trawls


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HISTORY FROM THE PAST - Belfast Republican Journal 1907 be seen as she lays on shore.


were used through every hour of daylight win-win and tied would allow the work to be done and results were soon obtained in the finding of the bodies of four of the victims of the accident.


When further trawling brought no re- sults a deep-sea diver from Portland was employed and though he made several dis- sents, staying down from six to 14 minutes each time, and made a complete search of the sunken yacht, and the bottom of the bay for 50 feet on all sides of it, they found no trace of any of the two remaining victims which have not as yet been recovered. Window revenue Cutter WOODBERRY came over from Portland on orders from the treasury department upon the request of the committee of citizens sent through collector day of the Bangor custom district, it was hoped that the remaining victims of the acci- dent would soon be recovered. The crew of the Cutter have done everything they could to assist the searchers. On account of the storm Sunday nothing could be done on the bay. Monday the Cutter was out with the searchers and Tuesday it was decided to raise the yacht and give a clear field for the use of the trawls.


The cutter’s diver went down Tuesday and fixed tackle on the sunken sloop. No attempt was made to bring the sloop to the surface as that was not necessary. With a tackle made fast the cutter steamed up for sure about five o’clock in the afternoon, towing the sloop underwater, while a man in the cutters bow through the lead I had to get soundings so that the sloop might not ground again and break the tackle. The sloop sank in about 40 feet of water. On nearing shore the sloop was towed in as far as pos- sible and left. It was about half tied when the sloop was beached and at low water she can


insured.


The removal of the sloop will give a better chance to use the trawls. While the sloop has been in the way it has been neces- sary to sink the trawls near the sloop and work away from it. In this manner considerable of the bottom has not been covered. Now with the sloop out of the way the searches can covered every foot of the bottom with their trawls and it is hoped the remaining bodies will be brought to the surface very soon. If the bodies by any chance were covered by the mud on the bottom possibly the removal of the sloop has disturbed them so that they may be more easily caught by the trawls. Every foot of the bottom for a long distance about the spot where the sloop sunk will be covered by the trawls now and it seems certain that the remaining bodies will be found.


9 August


STEAMER WRECKED OFF VINALHAVEN


The FREYSDEL of Norway Hard and Fast on the Malcolm Ledges


LEFT STOCKTON SPRINGS LATE THURSDAY NIGHT


Is Partly Loaded with Spool Bars and Was Bound to Halifax – May Be Salved Rockland, August 9.


The Norwegian steamer FREYSDEL, Capt. X. P. Frantzen, was wrecked early Fri- day on Western Malcolm ledges, about 20 miles from here and is expected to be a total loss.


She left Stockton Springs at seven o’clock Thursday night with two thirds of a cargo of spool wood, valued at $35,000 for Glasgow and was bound for Halifax, Nova Scotia, to complete her cargo with lumber. The steamer is valued at $100,000 and is


Capt. Frantzen, who was brought here in a lobster smack by Capt. H. J. Ames of Matinicus, who cited the stranded steamer and put off to her in his lobster smack said that when he reached the vicinity about midnight he saw seal and wooden ball islands, one on each side of him and believed he had a Clear Channel. He passed wooden ball island on the starboard bow and supposed he was clear of the rocks and at sea but first they knew of trouble was when he felt the ship strike the submerged ledges known as Western Malcolm ledges.


An examination was made and a hole was found in the forward ballast tank, but no other damage was visible. When Capt. Frantzen left the vessel Friday forenoon, one sixth of her length was clear of water and the forefoot was smashed and possibly some of the keel. Captain Ames, who well knows the char- acter of the ledges, is of the opinion that there is no possible show of clearing the steamer. Capt. Frantzen hopes to save her if the weather holds good and has wired the insur- ance agents in New York to send aid at once from the nearest port which probably will be Bangor. The steamer W. G. BUTMAN, with a scowl, was preparing to go out for the purpose of saving a portion of the cargo which consist of 637 standards of spool wood, each standard representing 2,000 feet. The 18 men in the crew remained a board the steamer with their boat in readiness to leave at any moment. They were in no danger. After filing his dispatches to the insurance people and the owners, who are J. Johanson & Co., Christiana, Capt. Frantzen, returned to his ship. The ship is fully insured but Capt. Frantzen did not know about the cargo. The steamer FREYSDEL is 2609 gross tonnage and 300 feet long.


I n t e r n a t i o n a l M a r i t i m e L i b r a r y Help Save All Facets of Maritime History


The International Maritime Library (IML) is a non-profit tax-deductible organization dedicated to the collection and preservation of all maritime information, such as books, periodicals, documents, personal papers and photographs and then computerizing it for ease of reference. Those interested will have access to the reference materials and the databases created from them, either on-site at IML or via the website. Presently, there is no facility dedicated to collecting and researching all the written maritime works, past and present, published around the globe. IML will fill this immense void by collecting published and personal works, and computerizing it. IML’s collections and computerized works will assist maritime academic institutions, businesses and the public allowing them quick access to information with the touch of a button. With the technological advances in today’s world, the maritime industry is well behind in what is available via computers. There have been thousands of maritime books and periodicals published throughout history, which presently cannot be referenced. Those looking for current or historical information spend hundreds hours, and may never locate that obscure piece of information. IML will change this by creating a single source for all maritime information.


ON-GOING PROJECTS INCLUDE:


Transcribing maritime articles from: Maine Industrial Journal (1880 to 1918); Bangor Whig & Courier (1836-1899); Republican Journal (1829 to present); and various others including Eastern Argus (Portland), Bath Daily Times, Eastport Sentiniel, Ellsworth American, New Bedford Mercury, Salem Gazette and Boston Evening Transcript.


Databasing - List of Merchant Vessels, 1867 to 1990s. Sail completed, Steamers (1867 to 1903) will be finished end of 2009


Transcribing Appleby's Ship Records for Maine and the WPA Ship Documents, especially ones not published. Passamaquoddy Complete and presently working on Bath.


Also, there are over 800 periodicals published in the maritime world and not one library holds a quarter of them. IML will bridge this problem by collecting and comput- erizing them for future use by researchers and the general public. There is a massive amount of work to be done to accomplish these goals, which should have been started 150 years ago!


To make this happen we need financial support, please help us do more! For more information please call (207) 223-8846.


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