Shipwreck | Images of Old Hawaiʻi

February 10, 2019 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Lighting Strikes Twice

Hawai‘i’s whaling era began in 1819 when two New England ships became the first whaling ships to arrive in the Hawaiian Islands.

At that time, whale products were in high demand; whale oil was used for heating, lamps and in industrial machinery; whale bone was used in corsets, skirt hoops, umbrellas and buggy whips.

In the early 19th century, whaling voyages often took two years or more.

George Pollard was captain of the Essex, a Nantucket whaling vessel that sank in 1821 after being rammed by a sperm whale in the South Pacific.

The Essex’s epic tale inspired Herman Melville’s classic novel “Moby-Dick;” however, the author isn’t believed to have used Pollard as the basis for the book’s notorious Captain Ahab.

After the tragedy of the Essex, Captain George Pollard and other survivors endured a 95-day journey in small boats that resulted in sickness, starvation, and, ultimately, cannibalism. However, this dramatic experience was not the final chapter in Pollard’s career as a whaling captain.

Despite the Essex tragedy, Pollard was offered another captaincy soon after, this time of the Two Brothers; before departing, Pollard had said he believed “lightning never strikes in the same place twice.”

Such was not the case.

The Two Brothers set sail for the Pacific, leaving Nantucket on November 26, 1821. By winter 1822, the ship had rounded the tip of South America. The crew was on its way to newly discovered whaling grounds near Japan; she made her way around Cape Horn, then up the west coast of South America.

On the night of February 11, 1823, the Two Brothers hit a shallow reef at French Frigate Shoals (nearly six hundred miles northwest of Honolulu in what is now the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands.)

The ship broke apart in the heavy surf. Stunned by the disaster and by his horrible misfortune, Captain Pollard was reluctant to abandon the ship. The crew pleaded with their captain to get into the small boats, to which they clung for survival throughout the night.

The entire crew of Two Brothers was rescued by an accompanying ship, the Martha, and they headed back to Oʻahu.

In 2008, a team of NOAA maritime archaeologists made an exciting discovery at French Frigate Shoals. Following over three weeks of successful survey in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, the team began to explore for new shipwreck sites at French Frigate Shoals using tow board surveys in an area near a historic anchorage.

Within minutes of the first tow, the divers spotted a large anchor in approximately 15-feet of water. The age and size of this anchor gave the impression that it was not simply left as a mooring in an anchorage.

After snorkeling around in the area, the team came across the first clue that this site was more than a lone anchor: a blubber pot set into a hole in the reef top. This discovery initiated a larger survey of the area, and soon two more was found.

At the time, researchers did not know the identity of the find. Three whaling ships, all American vessels, have been reported lost at French Frigate Shoals: the South Seaman, wrecked in 1859; the Daniel Wood, wrecked in 1867; and the Two Brothers.

It wasn’t until May of 2010 when a small team was able to return to the site that maritime archaeologists began to believe they were indeed looking at the scattered remains of the Two Brothers.

During the 2010 inspection, the team uncovered more tools of whaling on the seafloor, including four more whaling harpoon tips (for a total of five), four whaling lances, ceramics, glass, and a sounding lead (among dozens of other artifacts) all dating to an 1820s time period.

The preponderance of evidence suggested to the team that they were looking at the Two Brothers, the only American whaler lost at French Frigate Shoals in the 1820s.

Pollard gave up whaling, though he was just in his mid-30s, and returned to Nantucket, Mass., where he became a night watchman – a position of considerably lower status in the whaling town than captain.

This and other American whaling ships lost in Papahānaumokuākea are the material remains of a time when America possessed over 700 whaling vessels and over one fifth of the United States whaling fleet may have been composed of Pacific Islanders.

The whaling shipwreck sites in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands help tell this part of Hawaiian and Pacific history, and remind us about the way that this remote part of the United States is connected with small communities in New England half way around the world.

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A sketch by Thomas Nickerson depicting the attack and sinking of the ship Essex-(NOAA)

Two-Brothers-Ginger-Jar-(NationalGeographic)

Two-Brothers-Cooking-Pot-(NationalGeographic)

Two-Brothers-Blubber-Hook-(NationalGeographic)

Two-Brothers-Anchor-(NationalGeographic)

The sinking of the Essex was the inspiration for Melville’s Moby-Dick

Two_Brothers-(sott-net)

French_Frigate_Shoals-(NOAA)

Site plan of the southern section of the Two Brothers shipwreck site completed 2010-(NOAA)

May 5, 2016 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Libelle

Oral traditions claim that the Marshallese knew of Wake Atoll prior to contact with European navigators. The Marshallese name for the atoll was Eneen-Kio or Ane-en Kio, “Island of the kio flower.”

The atoll was a source of feathers and plumes of seabirds. Prized were the wing bones of albatross, from which tattooing chisels could be made. In addition, the rare kio flower grew on the atoll.

Bringing these items to the home atolls implied that the navigators had been able to complete the feat of finding the atoll using traditional navigation skills of stars, wave patterns and other ocean markers. (Spennemann)

Today, it is more commonly referred to as ‘Wake Island’ or ‘Wake Atoll’ (rediscovery of Wake and its naming is usually credited to Captain William Wake of the British trading schooner Prince William Henry, enroute from Port Jackson, Australia to Canton in China in 1792.) (NPS)

Wake Island, to the west of Honolulu, Hawaii, is the northernmost atoll in the Marshall Islands geological ridge and perhaps the oldest living atoll in the world.

Though it was substantially modified by the United States to create a military base before and after World War II, its major habitats are the three low coral islands consisting of shells, coral skeletons, and sand, supporting atoll vegetation adapted to arid climate. (FWS)

On the evening of March 5, 1866 under the leadership of captain Anton Tobias, Bremer Bark Libelle (Dragonfly,) bound for Hong Kong from San Francisco having last stopped in Honolulu, shipwrecked on Wake Island, one of the most remote, uninhabited atolls of the Central Pacific.

On board 16 passengers, men, women and children; also on board was a cargo valued at $300,000, including silver coins and quicksilver. (Quicksilver is otherwise known as mercury, the only metallic element that is liquid at standard conditions for temperature and pressure.)

Passengers included some famous people: Anna Bishop, one of the most famous singers and adventurous women of the time; Eugene Van Reed Miller, an American diplomat and pioneering the development of the Asian markets; Yabe Kisaboro, a Japanese officer. (Drechsler)

They were stranded on the atoll for approximately three weeks. On the futile search for drinking water, the fear of the impending end comes on. Should we really trust a tiny lifeboat and the attempt to reach the 1,300-nautical miles distant Marianas Islands? (Drechsler)

On March 27, twenty-two people crammed themselves about Libelle’s twenty-two foot longboat, piloted by Tobias’ first mate. The captain took four sailors and three Chinese on a twenty-foot gig. (Urwin)

The first mate and passengers travelled 1,300-miles and made it to Guam in 18-days. The Captains boat was never hear from again.

Salvage crews faced a similar fate as the Libelle.

“The wrecking party of the second expedition to Wake’s Island, returned by the British brig Clio last month. They sailed from Honolulu last September, in the schooner Moi Wahine, and landed on Wake’s Island, after a pleasant passage down of a month.”

“Capt English, Mr Thos Foster and nine Hawaiian divers’ were landed, with a part of their stores, and apparatus for distilling water.”

“The next day, towards night, the wind shifting, the schooner took her anchor and put out to sea, to avoid a lee shore. The vessel was never seen again afterwards.”

“The wind on the third day veered suddenly to the westward, and blew a living gale. On the Island its force was terrific, trees on ihe windward side were torn up, and carried quite across the lagoon and branches strewed the whole island. Captain Zenas Bent, the mate Mr. White, and seven Hawaiian seamen perished with the schooner.”

“The weather at Wake’s Island during the five months that the party were there, with the exception of the typhoon Thursday was pleasant and fair.”

“The lagoon abounds with fish, and from the middle of February, the birds made their appearance, and there was plenty of eggs. On these natural resources of the Island the wreckers managed to live without serious Inconvenience, while by distillation they procured as much water as they required.”

“Though it lies in the track of the China bound vessels, it is incorrectly laid down, and therefore they give it a wide berth, especially when passed on the windward side.”

“During the four months, only one vessel was communicated with – a brig that touched within two weeks after the party landed, and before they had given up hope for the return of their schooner. Several sail were seen at intervals, but they passed on without noticing the island, or the signals on the shore.”

“At length the Clio appeared, bound thither for wrecking purposes, not being aware that the Honolulu party were there. Near the Island the Clio spoke a bark, which was probably the vessel which had agreed, when leaving Honolulu for China, to touch at the Island and report upon the fate of the party, for whose safety, on account of long absence, serious fears were entertained here.”

“The Clio was chartered for Honolulu, and taking on board the party, the quicksilver and other material of the wrecked Libelle, arrived after a pleasant run of thirty days.” (Hawaiian Gazette, May 27, 1868)

“Two hundred and forty-six flasks of quicksilver, a quantity of copper, chains, anchors, &e, have been secured, which will repay the adventurers well for their enterprise.”

“The brig went there for the same purpose as the schooner, and was chartered by Mr Foster to bring the wrecked goods to this port.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, May 2, 1868)

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Similar Ship to the Libelle

October 25, 2015 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Churchill

“Among the many tales of shipwreck on the Pacific few are more thrilling than that of the rescue of the captain and crew of the schooner Churchill on French Frigate shoals”. (Star-bulletin, October 31, 1917)

Whoa … let’s look back.

In 1850, Captain Asa Meade Simpson, a Maine shipbuilder, came west, drawn by the California Gold Rush. In 1855, he arrived at the “north bend” of the Coos Bay estuary, Oregon. Recognizing the value of the region’s coal and timber, he set up a sawmill; the businesses expanded and turned out a variety of wood products, from fruit boxes to fancy doors.

He also established a shipyard (the first in Oregon) and hired master craftsmen to build ships that would carry lumber products worldwide. Simpson’s son, Louis Jerome (LJ) Simpson, arrived in North Bend in 1899. He purchased the adjacent undeveloped town site of Yarrow, which he merged with his father’s land in 1903 to create the City of North Bend.

From 1859 to 1903, at this location he would have 56 ‘world class’ tall ships built for the growing lumber empire. (Tall Ships SFO) Large wooden schooners were the economic mainstay of American shipping between the Civil War period and World War I. They were the sailing workhorses of the Pacific. (NOAA)

One of them was the Churchill.

Launched on March 4, 1900, the 178-foot, 600-ton four-masted schooner Churchill was built by the Simpson Lumber Co for their own account. Later, the Churchill was owned by Charles Nelson & Co of San Francisco.

Then, the fateful voyage.

“The Churchill left Port Angeles on May 27 with a cargo of lumber for Sydney. After discharging at Sydney the vessel proceeded to Tongata, where a cargo of about 800 tons of copra was placed aboard. Her destination from there was Seattle.”

(Copra is the dried meat of the coconut. Coconut oil is extracted from it and has made copra an important agricultural commodity. Also coconut cake is extracted mainly used as feed for livestock.)

On board the Churchill were Captain Charles Granzow, his two sons Carl (age 7) and Loftus (age 14,) and nine other crew members (Chief Officer: Henry Anderson, Second Officer: Fred Wilson, Carpenter John Wessick, Seamen: A. Anderson, William Miller, Daniel Pinzoin, Pedro Romos, Sterling Jones and Hugo Munch.)

“Capt. Granzow has been master of the schooner Churchill for the past three or four years. She has called at Honolulu on infrequent voyages, but been chiefly in the lumber trade between the Northwest and Australia.”

“The Churchill was 27 days out from Nukualofa, Tongata, when she drifted upon a reef of the French Frigate shoals. This was after winds had carried her westward from her course and following a calm of several days. ‘Currents after that was the only reason for the wreck,’ declared Mate Anderson”.

Fortunately for them, some folks from the Islands were nearby fishing from the Makaiwa.

“The power sampan Makaiwa left Honolulu on Monday, October 22. In the party were Harold W Rice; Lieutenant KE Ferris, USN, formerly captain of the Kestrel; Arthur Rice, HL Tucker and the captain and crew of the sampan, as follows: William Feuerpeil, crew captain; Johnny Vasconcellos, chief engineer; Manuel Deponte, second engineer; Levi Faunfata, a Samoan seaman.”

“Arthur Rice, who had intended only to fish as far as Kauai and leave the party there, carried out his plan, so he was not with the sampan when it turned westward from the Hawaiian group. The party had fished on the way to Kauai and also after starting for Bird Island.”

Rice and the rest of the party “were bound for the Western Islands on a fishing trip when they sighted the Churchill … slowly pounding to pieces.”

“Captain Granzow told the Honolulans that the night before, that is the night of October 25, the schooner had struck the big reef about 9 o’clock. The vessel seemed to come off after striking, but then went on again and pounded heavily all night.”

“The Churchill was sighted in acute distress on the morning of Friday, October 26, by the fishermen and the sampan immediately went to her rescue. … Had it not been for the timely arrival of the sampan at French Frigate shoals, Captain Granzow and his men believe they would surely have perished by fire, water or sharks.” (Star Bulletin, October 30, 1917)

“That he was true to all the traditions of the sea is the tale told of Capt Charles Granzow, master of the wrecked schooner Churchill, by the members of his crew.”

“Unable or unwilling to relate their own experiences these sailors of the destroyed schooner tell how Capt. Granzow elected to remain aboard the doomed vessel while the only remaining hope of surviving the wreck was made by five others in a small lifeboat.”

“But while Capt. Granzow with other volunteers remained aboard the vessel as the water rose about her hulk he ordered his two sons into the lifeboat which he placed in command of his first mate, Henry Anderson, while they attempted a landing on the only promontory not washed by the ocean’s waves.” (All were saved)

In October of 2005, the Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center’s Coral Reef Ecosystem Division reported a potential shipwreck site to NOAA’s Maritime Heritage Program after spotting anchors and scattered rigging at French Frigate Shoals.

In 2007, a team of NOAA maritime archaeologists were able to begin to investigate the site. The 2007 survey uncovered clues that may help solve the mystery of the unidentified shipwreck. Diagnostic artifacts at the site, anchors, rigging, pumps and deck equipment, all correspond to the Churchill’s size and construction.

In August of 2008, a team of NOAA maritime archaeologists returned to the site to complete documentation and interpretation of the shipwreck site. (Lots of information here is from NOAA, Oregon Historical Society and Star Bulletin, October 30 and 31, 1917)

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Churchill-NOAA

North_Bend_Docks

North_Bend_Mill

Simpson-Loco-North-Bend

Tug_Tows_Churchill_Loaded_with_Lumber for Australia-NorthBend

Ship-wrecked_crew-Churchill-SB-Oct_31,_1917

Churchill_02_noaa_casserley

Churchill_05_noaa_casserley

Churchill_06_noaa

September 19, 2015 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Wreck of the George N Wilcox

She was built in Scotland for H Hackfeld Co of Honolulu in 1892; she was named “George N Wilcox,” for the Grove Farm Plantation owner.

“George N Wilcox” had already completed one successful voyage when it sailed from Middleborough, England on May 10, 1894, bound for Honolulu around Cape Horn. (Soboleski)

Let’s look back …

On September 26, 1849, sea captain Heinrich (Henry) Hackfeld arrived in Honolulu with his wife, Marie, her 16-year-old brother Johann Carl Pflueger and a nephew BF Ehlers.

Having purchased an assorted cargo at Hamburg, Germany, Hackfeld opened a general merchandise business (dry goods, crockery, hardware and stationery,) wholesale, as well as retail store on Queen Street.

As business grew its shipping interest, manufacturing and jobbing lines developed a web of commercial relationships with Europe, England and the eastern seaboard. Hackfeld outfitted several whalers and engaged in the trans-shipment trade.

George Norton Wilcox (known as GN,) the second son of eight boys, born in Hilo August 15, 1839 to missionary parents, Abner and Lucy Wilcox, took over the lease for Grove Farm sugar operation on Kaua‘i and quickly became its sole owner.

GN Wilcox was not only a plantation owner; he was also an engineer, statesman, businessman and a world traveler. More importantly, he was also a philanthropist and humanist, who left an extensive legacy of endowments and public donations.

Back to the boat …

The bark George N Wilcox “left Middleborough on the 10th of last May for Honolulu, laden with 1000 tons of coal and about 1200 tons of general merchandise. In the latter portion of the cargo were tons of Christmas goods”. (Morning Call, September 30, 1894)

“The NW point of Molokai, within forty miles of Honolulu, is proving to be a place to be avoided. A heavy sea lolls in there from the northeast, and a strong current draws around the point.”

“On the afternoon of the 18th (September, 1894,) Captain Wolters of the line new iron bark GN Wilcox, 130 days out from Middleborough hove to in that part of Oahu Channel to wait for morning before rounding Dimond Head.” (The Friend, October 1, 1894)

“The vessel was off the coast of Molokai and going along under close sails. Captain Wolters was on deck and ordered the sails reefed, as he did not care to reach port until the following morning.” (Morning Call, September 30, 1894)

“In going about, the current set him ashore, and the valuable ship and cargo were suddenly wrecked at five o’clock beneath the precipice of that coast. The crew were compelled to take to the boats in haste, before the breakers swept over them.” (The Friend, October 1, 1894)

“Ten miles south-southeast from Molokai light house, firmly imbedded on the sharp high jutting rocks of Lae o ka Ilio Point, one of the most dangerous portions of the Hawaiian coast …

“… behind the tall sheltering lava cliffs on the windward side of the Island of Molokai and directly at the entrance of Kaiwi channel lies the wreck of the fine, new, steel German bark George N Wilcox.”

“Heavily listed to port, and with her snowy sails lashed into hundreds of strips, flying and flashing in every direction, and heavy angry seas washing her decks from stem to stern …”

“… the wrecked vessel a pitiable sight indeed, at once a menacing, though expensive monument to gross carelessness on the part of some or else the victim of a luckless fate. (Hawaiian Star, September 20, 1894)

“Considerable quantities of wreckage from the GN Wilcox are reported to have stranded along the windward shores of Oahu. Many valuable cases have been saved which floated out of the wreck. Parties who bought the wreck and cargo for $1,200 are making a good profit out of it. The vessel is fast breaking up.” (The Friend, October 1894)

“Captain Wolters has been sailing to the islands since 1871 and this is the first ship he has ever lost. He is considered the commodore of Hackfeld & Co’s fleet and is a man in whom the company has every confidence.”

“The first ship he ever brought out was the Elsie Wylie. Since that time he has had command of the old CR Bishop and the H Hackfeld. A few years ago he gave up going to sea for some time and superintended the building of the company’s ships.”

“When the Wilcox was completed, a little over two years ago, he was given the command of her and took her to the islands on her maiden voyage.”

The crew “corroborated the details of the wreck as given, and say that Captain Wolters did all that man could do to save the fine vessel of which he was commander.” (Morning Call, September 30, 1894)

The machinery and railroad material were salvaged, but, according to Rex Hitchcock who was deputy-sheriff of the island at that time, the Hawaiians disposed of most of the Rhine wine. (Cooke)

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George N Wilcox-Morning Call-Sept 30 1894

March 16, 2015 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Concrete No. 5

“Ship traps” describes a phenomenon where northern and southern swells, strong channel currents, strong consistent trade winds and fringing reefs force unsuspecting vessels into areas of harm – resulting in concentrated shipwrecks.

The north shore of the Island of Lānaʻi, locally referred to as “Shipwreck Beach,” is the best example of this phenomenon. Here, the channel acts as a funnel, depositing material directly onto Shipwreck Beach.

Any vessel that broke its moorings at Lāhainā would end up there; sometimes ship owners intentionally abandoned worn-out vessels there by simply casting them adrift upwind from the treacherous shore. (Naval Historical Center)

The first reported wreck occurred in 1824 when a British vessel named the Alderman Wood ran into the reef there. Two years later, an American ship, the London, sunk there with its cargo of gold and silver bullion. No one knows how much – if any – of the gold and silver was recovered. (Brost)

Known wrecks include: British ship Alderman Wood (lost 1824); American ship London (lost 1826;) Hawaiian schooner Onward (lost 1875;) Hawaiian schooner Mary Alice (lost 1884;) Hawaiian schooner Malolo (lost 1887;) Hawaiian schooner Golden Gate (lost 1901;) Hawaiian steamship Hornet (disposed 1927.)

In addition, other victims include, Hawaiian schooner Helene (disposed 1929;) Hawaiian vessel Manukiiwai (abandoned 1929;) private yawl Charlotte C (lost 1931;) private auxiliary Tradewind (lost 1934;) three US Navy steel LCM landing craft (lost 1940s;) Hawaiian barge Oregon Reefer (disposed 1954; US Navy oiler YO-21 (disposed 1957?) and US Navy barge YOGN-42 (disposed 1950s?.) (NOAA)

A constant reminder of Shipwreck Beach is the last one – from the US Navy, YOGN-42 – a number, not otherwise named. It is 375-feet long, with a beam of 56-feet and draft of 26-and-a-half feet.

Contrary to some of the reports on this vessel, it is neither a WWII Liberty ship nor was it even a motorized vessel. The ship sitting on the reef at Shipwreck Beach is actually a non-self-propelled Navy gasoline barge.

On September 28, 1942, Commander Service Force, Pacific Fleet requested that fuel carrying barges be acquired without delay to meet the serious fuel storage problem of the naval forces in the South Pacific.

The construction of these barges was such that they could be towed to the required locations and used for fuel storage, thus providing the needed fuel storage and expediting the turnaround of tankers serving those areas. (Roberts)

On October 24, 1942, the Auxiliary Vessels Board estimated that a minimum of six barges were needed and recommended that the Navy acquire the first six to be completed.

“Concrete No. 5” was put into service in June 1943 as “YOGN-42.”

On November 11, 1942 they asked for six more of these barges to meet the expanding fuel storage requirements in the South Pacific.

Most the vessels built by the Concrete Ship Constructors at National City, California eventually ended up as floating oil barges; two were sunk as blockships during the Allied invasion of Normandy (scuttled to create sheltered water at the landing beaches.) (Naval Historical Center)

Some saw life following the war; one became a restaurant and later a fishing pier. One became a ten-room hotel. Nine were sunk as breakwaters for a ferry landing at Kiptopeke, Virginia. Two more are made into wharves in Yaquina Bay, Newport Oregon. Seven are part of a giant floating breakwater on the Powell River, Canada.

During the war, YOGN-42 was sent to Espiritu Santo, as part of a forward staging area for US forces in Vanuatu in Oceania. While there, its tug, Tug USS Navajo (AT-64,) was sunk by Japanese submarine I-39, 150-miles east of Espiritu Santo.

YOGN-42 survived the war, but was stricken from the active register in 1949 and abandoned on Shipwreck Beach sometime after that. (Maly)

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