Rhode Island’s Perilous Coast Southeast Light, Block Island (Continued)

Reprinted from “The Lighthouse Log” Spring 2018.

This article was contributed by Jim Jenney, BLMA Maritime Historian

Although fog is the most common culprit for totally wrecked vessels that have ended their days off Block Island’s Southeast Light, the ESSEX is an exception to this. Measuring 259 feet in length and displacing just over 3,000 tons, the iron hulled freighter ESSEX, bound from Lisbon, Portugal to New York with a general cargo which included 600 tons of cork and 300 tons of sand ballast to counterbalance the empty cargo space, simply foundered off Block Island with no other reason given.

The freighter was more than fifty years old and likely succumbed to her age. Although her home port was Baltimore, the ship had crossed the Atlantic and stopped at Halifax, Nova Scotia to procure additional coal for her engines. As she headed ashore in her distressed state, she was said to be found aground with 30 feet of water in her engine room. A salvage effort was planned, since the accident occurred before violent winter weather would arrive, but when the owners determined that the salvage expense would be more than the vessel was worth, they purchased the vessel from the insurance company and attempted salvage on their own. This proved unsuccessful and except for minor salvage of a portion of the cargo, the vessel was a total loss. The incident occurred on September 26, 1941 but there is no indication that there was any influence of war activities on this loss.

On a cold December night in 1945, the dragger A. PIATT ANDREWS, of New Bedford, with 10,000 pounds of yellowtails in her holds, found herself in trouble in a snowstorm and the master, Oscar Gallant, pointed his vessel in the direction of Old Harbor, on the east side of Block Island. In addition to the weather, which the crew reported as drowning out the sound of the foghorn at Southeast Light, the craft was having mechanical issues when she ran ashore. The 64- foot craft measured 42 tons and was twenty-three years old at the time of her loss. No lives were lost in this disaster.

Shortly after the stranding of the ANDREWS, another fishing vessel, this one named E-C (although some conflicting reports called her ED or EB) ran ashore 300 yards north from Southeast Light on January 26, 1946. The 46-foot long fishing vessel was manned by two men who were not found with the wreck. A search involving Coast Guard planes and surface vessels covered an area of more than 50 square miles, but no sign of the men was ever found. The E-C had sailed from New Bedford for a single day of trawling and was carrying only bait when lost.

Fifty years after the loss of the fishing boat E-C, another fishing vessel ended her days on the south shore of Block Island, near Southeast Light. This one was the steel hulled, diesel screw fishing boat GREEN ARROW. The 75-foot long craft had sailed from Point Judith on a fishing trip and is reported to have run aground due to pilot error. No mention of the crew appears in the newspaper accounts which put emphasis of the incident on the potential threat of pollution. Heavy seas and the shallow water prevented vessels that could offload her fuel from coming alongside. On December 23, 1996, one day after the stranding, it was reported that the port fuel tank was ruptured. On the 24th, the weather worsened but on the 25th the fishing boat was still intact, though badly damaged. On the 27th, efforts had apparently begun on removing what fuel oil they could, and reports indicated 3,100 gallons of fuel removed and a loss of 4,000 gallons into the sea. Favorable winds kept the oil from doing serious damage to the shoreline and wildlife.

In recent years, pilot error – specifically falling asleep at the wheel – has been an increasing issue for fishermen and has resulted in a number of losses to smaller craft. The 78-foot long MISS JUDITH was lost due to this type of error on November 22, 1999. The craft was inbound for Point Judith after a fishing trip and ran ashore somewhere along the southeast corner of Block Island. The news accounts of the incident spent more time discussing statistics of the problem than it did on details of the stranding. Three vessels ran ashore and were lost during the week in which the MISS JUDITH was lost. Additionally, it was reported that since 1998, eight vessels had run ashore in the waters off Rhode Island and Massachusetts “because someone was too tired”.

This brings to a close the discussion about vessels which have been totally lost on or near the Southeast Point of Block Island. Two sailing ships, two schooners, four steamships and four diesel screw powered fishing vessels have left their bones at this, one of the most dangerous and rocky coastlines in the entire state of Rhode Island.