Shipwrecks of Massachusetts: South

About This Book

As suggested by the title and series name, this volume covers the most well-known wrecks sunk off the geographical coast of Massachusetts, south of Cape Cod.

For each of the wrecks covered, a statistical sidebar provides basic information such as the dates of construction and loss, previous names (if any), tonnage and dimensions, builder and owner (at time of loss), port of registry, type of vessel and how propelled, cause of sinking, location (loran coordinates if known), and depth. In most cases, an historical photograph or illustration of the ship leads the text. Throughout the book is scattered a selection of color underwater photographs, some of the wrecks, more often of typical marine life found in the area.

Each volume is full of fascinating narratives of triumph and tragedy, of heroism and disgrace, of human nature at its best and its basest. These books are not about wood and steel, but about flesh and blood, for every shipwreck saga is a human story. Ships may founder, run aground, burn, collide with other vessels, or be torpedoed by a German U-boat. In every case, however, what is emphatically important is what happened to the people who became victims of casualty: how they survived, how they died.

Also included are descriptions of the wrecks as they appear on the bottom.

At the end of this volume is a bibliography of suggested reading, and a list of more than 400 GPS and loran numbers of wrecks in and adjacent to the area covered.

Wrecks covered in Shipwrecks of Massachusetts: South are:

BUZZARDS BAY: Angela, Colonel William B. Cowin, Hilda Garston, St. Francis, Wanderer, Yankee.

VINEYARD SOUND: Ardandhu, City of Columbus, Fairfax, Herman Winter, John Dwight, John Paul, Ruth E. Merrill, Sagamore, Seaconnet, Triana, Trojan, Vineyard Sound, YSD-56.

NANTUCKET SOUND: Alice M. Lawrence, Alva, Aransas, Dixie Sword, Edward E. Briry, Horatio Hall, Kershaw, Lackawanna, Pendleton, Perkiomen, Port Hunter, West Virginia, Weybosset, Wyoming.

OFFSHORE: Fort Mercer, Nantucket, North American, Oregon, Pan-Pennsylvania, Regal Sword, Relief, Republic, Sebastian, U-550 (U-boat).

SPECIAL REPORT: October 8, 1916, Depredations of the U-53 (U-boat): Blommersdijk, Chr. Knudsen, Stephano, Strathdene, West Point.