Maine Memory Network

Fog, haze, rain, and snow can cause considerable problems for a ship. Adverse conditions make it difficult, if not impossible, for a captain to locate landmarks, escape dangerous waters, or determine his own location.

Cape Elizabeth's rocky coastline, combined with storms, has a history of shipwrecks, dating from earliest navigation of the coast to the present.

The ships that have gone down have been large sailing vessels and smaller fishing or pleasure boats.

In one of the earliest documented wrecks, the schooner Charles was sailing in a thick fog on July 12, 1807, when the ship hit Watt's Ledge, knocking a large hole in the bottom of the vessel.

The captain, Jacob Adams, had been confused in the fog and thought he was farther from shore.

Any time a captain was disoriented, disaster might quickly follow.

On the night of February 22, 1864, the steamer Bohemian was heading to Portland.

The first officer had just taken the wheel when a buoy was spotted directly ahead. The engines were shut off in an attempt to slow the vessel, but it was too late.

The Bohemian struck Alden's Rock, damaging the hull and ripping a gash in the engine room.

Captain Richard Borland headed the vessel toward shore, eventually reaching Broad Cove, where the disabled steamer could proceed no further due to the amount of water she had taken on.

Anchors were dropped to keep the Bohemian from drifting seaward, and the captain ordered the lifeboats deployed.

While most lifeboats were able to safely launch, a support pin in lifeboat number two gave way, spilling passengers into the ocean.

Other lifeboats sailed without a full capacity, leaving about 70 passengers stranded on deck.

Though Captain Borland managed to get 50 into the rigging, others were washed overboard as the ship settled into the water.

Two crew members and 40 passengers, all from steerage class, perished.

In his deposition, Captain Borland testified, "When we struck I was not certain where we were."

The ship's officers, crew and some of the passengers were asked for their recollections of the night, and were questioned regarding the captains sobriety.

Errors in judgment sometimes seemed unavoidable. Lack of visibility on a rough sea, coupled with the guiding beacon of a lighthouse being shrouded in spray, made successful navigation of the coastline very difficult.

During turbulent storms, waves have been known to break over Portland Head Light, almost obscuring the lighthouse from view.

It is not always clear why a ship wrecks.

On the night of December 24, 1886, Weather Bureau journals show there was a 20 mph wind and a light rain.

Though the crew of the Annie C. Maguire had seen the Portland Head Light through the rain, the schooner struck the rocks less than 100 feet from the lighthouse.
Captain Thomas O'Neil stated that he had lost his bearings and did not realize they were so near shore.

He, his family and the crew made it to safety with the help of the lighthouse keeper and his son.

Though weather was the cause of many tragedies, it could not be blamed for all of them.

In September 1916, the Portland Lightship went in for repairs. Usually it was replaced with a similar looking vessel, but this time a buoy was used instead.

On September 23, a thick fog contributed to Captain Foren mistaking the temporary buoy for the Old Anthony bell buoy that is located four miles further out to sea.

This error caused him to alter the ships course, and consequently the steamer Bay State ran aground on Holycomb Reef.

The ship could not be floated off the rocks, and though the water in the area was rough, all aboard were safely evacuated.

At the subsequent trial, the verdict stated that while the replacement buoy had contributed to the wreck, Captain Foren's mistake could not be excused.

One of the more incredible tales of shipwreck is the story of the Oakey L. Alexander.

On March 3, 1947, the vessel was transporting a cargo of coal when it was caught in an 80 mph gale. The 5,284-ton collier found itself at the mercy of the huge swells.

At 4:46 a.m., a gigantic wave lifted the ship, and it seemed to all aboard as if the vessel hung in midair.

While the ship sat motionless on the wave, a second wave crashed against it, breaking off a 130-foot section of the bow, one third of the ship, which immediately sank, taking more than 4,500 tons of coal with it.

Checking for damage, Captain Raymond W. Lewis found that the ship had broken at the point of a new cross-bulkhead, which was keeping water from entering the damaged ship.

As the crews quarters were only a few feet from the break, there was fear that some men may have disappeared with the bow.

A count of the crew showed that no one had been in the bow when it sank. As the remaining portion of the ship was still afloat, the captain decided to try to head toward shore, hoping to run the ship aground.

The crew gathered on deck and the engineers stayed below to keep the motors running.

The captain proceeded slowly as he was afraid that the already compromised vessel would buckle due to the force of the waves.

At 6 a.m., over an hour since they had lost the bow, the ship ran aground near High Head.

Rescuers on the shore 600 feet away shot a line to the ship that was then secured to the bridge. As breakers pounded against the stranded vessel, the crew crossed above the swirling whitewater on a system of lines and pulleys.

Over a tense two-hour period, all 31 men aboard were safely evacuated.

Though storms still wreak havoc on the coast, advances in technology and in navigational equipment have contributed to a decrease in the tragedies associated with shipwrecks along Maine's rocky shorelines.

Bibliography

Bohemian Depositions and Papers, 1864 (MHS coll 949, series 3, box 1/1)

William B. Jordan Jr., History of Cape Elizabeth, Maine (1965)

Peter Bachelder, Shipwrecks and Maritime Disasters of the Maine Coast (1997)

Herbert G. Jones, Old Portland Town (1938)

Edward Snow, New England Storms and Shipwrecks (1984)

William Gould, Portland in the Past (1886)

Edward Clarence Plummer, True Tales of the Sea (1930)