Sailing Ships (4/5)

packet ship Orpheus

A packet ship of the early 1800s. Of note is the way the sails on the mainmast are set backward, against the sails on the fore- and mizzen- masts. Known as "backing", this was how a square-rigged ship "put on the brakes" to slow or stop without actually furling the sails.

Wind power has been used by mankind for millennia. Almost every human culture has constructed sailing vessels of some kind, from crude log or reed rafts to the highly developed wind-jammers of the early twentieth century. Many of these vessels were the most complex and technologically advanced machines of their time - equivalent to our jet airliners.

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Type:
shipwreck, sailing ships
Sunk:
Sunday April 16, 1854
foundered in storm
Depth:
35 ft

The packet ship Manhattan sank with eight of her nine crew. In the same storm, the 200 ft schooner Powhattan was also lost nearby, with over 350 immigrants on board and no survivors. Neither wreck has been positively identified, although there are several candidates, including one old wooden hull buried up to the gunwales in the sand.


Shipwreck Meta
Type:
shipwreck, sailing ship, Germany
Built:
1855, Damariscotta ME USA
Specs:
( 204 x 42 ft ) 1812 tons
24 crew
Sunk:
Sunday October 14, 1883
ran aground in fog - no casualties
Depth:
20 ft

wood wreck



Type:
shipwreck, three-masted schooner, USA
Specs:
( 118 ft )
Sunk:
Monday August 12, 1907
collision with steamer Tennessee- 4 casualties
Depth:
60 ft

wooden ribs and timbers


Shipwreck Northeast Sailor
Type:
shipwreck, sailing ship
Depth:
75 ft

The "Northeast Sailor" is the remains of a large sailing ship. The absence of towing bits is an indicator that this was probably not a schooner barge, while the presence of a boiler and steam machinery place the vessel in the mid to late nineteenth century.


Remedios Pascual
Type:
shipwreck, sailing ship, Spain
Built:
1885, Canada, as Stalwart
Specs:
( 216 x 40 ft ) 1605 gross tons, 21 crew
Sunk:
Saturday January 3, 1903
ran aground in bad weather - no casualties
Depth:
25 ft

Type:
shipwreck, sailing ship, Norway
Specs:
( 160 ft ) 960 tons, 20 crew
Sunk:
Tuesday December 26, 1876
ran aground in bad weather - no casualties
Depth:
25 ft

low scattered wooden debris, 200 yards offshore


Type:
shipwreck, schooner, USA
Built:
1886, Rockland ME USA
Specs:
( 225 x 37 ft ) 1556 tons
Sunk:
February 8, 1899; unknown
Depth:
23 ft

aka "Derrick Barge"


Type:
shipwreck, sailing ship
Depth:
85 ft

A large wooden sailing ship, more intact than most. The hull is almost complete, 8-10 feet high, with a Navy-style stockless anchor in one side of the bow, and bowsprit lying in the sand below. The bowsprit indicates that this was a true sailing ship and not a schooner barge. I saw no sign of towing bits, bow, or stern. The stern is broken down.


Type:
shipwreck, sailing ship
Specs:
1000 tons, 20 crew
Sunk:
Saturday January 6, 1877
foundered in storm - no casualties

wooden, alternately buried and exposed


Sailing Ships

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Shipwreck Volund
Type:
shipwreck, steamer, Norway
Built:
1889, Norway
Specs:
( 239 ft )
Sunk:
Sept 26, 1908; collision with liner Commonwealth
Depth:
105 ft

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