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Ships & Shipwrecks

December 28, 1779

The Capture of the British Privateer Britannia by the Middletown Militia

By Maureen Foster Sandy Hook and the neighboring Highlands of the Navesink have always played an important role in the safety and defense of New York harbor. During the Revolutionary War (1776-1783), British troops and Loyalist refugees occupied Sandy Hook,...
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September 20, 1781

Battle of the Chesapeake

On September 20, 1781, Royal Navy Admiral Graves' fleet sailed back to Sandy Hook after sustaining sufficient damage and loss at the hands of the French navy at the Battle of the Chesapeake, such that the British chose not to...
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May 31, 1799

Early Legislative History of New Jersey State Laws Concerning Wrecks

Overview In 1799, the New Jersey House of Assembly passed a new law entitled “An act concerning wrecks,” which would be revised and amended a number of times over subsequent years.  The intent of the law was to establish that...
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January 6, 1832

Wreckers! The Land Pirates of Monmouth County

Either the Barnegat Pirates are the most infamous scoundrels upon the face of the earth, or they are a much injured set of men.   New Jersey State Senator Alexander Wurts of Hunterdon County, in a resolution adopted by the...
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October 7, 1841

Monmouth County’s First Steamboat Enters Service

On October 7, 1841, the steamboat Rainbow departed from New York City headed for Albany, "and the intermediate places." The Rainbow was the first steamship to be built in Monmouth County; she was said to have been built in the...
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February 15, 1846

The Wreck of the John Minturn: A Horrible Tragedy Implicates, but then Vindicates the Wreckers of Monmouth County and Inspires the First Federal Funding for Life-Saving Services

On February 15, 1846, a severe storm caused a number of horrifying shipwrecks along the northeast coast that were a shock even to a nation long accustomed to maritime disasters.  One of these was the John Minturn, a three-masted packet...
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January 1, 1850

Monmouth County’s Wreck-Master Comes to the Rescue of the Doomed Ayrshire

The early life-saving stations from Sandy Hook to Egg Harbor were for the use of paid officers called "commissioners of wrecks," or "wreck-master," who were responsible for leading and coordinating marine rescue and salvage efforts. These men received about $200...
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August 22, 1851

The Courage, Skill, and Sacrifice of the Sandy Hook Ship Pilots

Editor’s note: This article would not have happened were it not for the diligence and professionalism of a dedicated librarian, Caitlyn Cook, at the New Jersey State Library in Trenton. Ms. Cook was helping with my research on the wreckers...
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November 13, 1854

240 Drown as The New Era Sinks off Deal Beach

On November 13, 1854, the New Era, a three-masted square-rigged commercial ship, was blown onto the shoals of Deal Beach in heavy weather. Efforts from nearby boats as well as wreck-masters from life-saving stations proved futile, with crew members saving...
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March 31, 1864

SS River Queen, Revered Presidential Vessel of the Civil War

On March 31, 1864, the steamship SS River Queen, one of numerous side paddlewheel steam-powered vessels built in Monmouth County in the years prior to the Civil War, was launched by Benjamin C. Terry in Keyport.  When launched, the River...
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May 5, 1864

USS Ceres – The Little Tugboat That Became A War Hero

The Ceres was a 144-ton side-wheel steam-powered tugboat built at the Keyport shipyard of Benjamin C. Terry in 1856, one of nine vessels built by Terry that served in the Civil War.  Originally a commercial tugboat working New York Harbor, the...
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June 18, 1878

The Evolution of the U.S. Life-Saving Service

On June 18, 1878, Congress passed a new law that created the U.S. Life-Saving Service as a part of the Treasury Department.   Prior to then, it was included within a long-gone bureau of the federal government known as the...
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August 17, 1901

New Jersey Sandy Hook Ship’s Pilot Boat James Gordon Bennett Cut in Half and Sunk by SS Alene off Sandy Hook

On August 17, 1901, a clear day, the steamship SS Alene ran down and sank the New Jersey Sandy Hook Ship's Pilot boat James Gordon Bennett, No.7, and three pilots and the cook drowned.  Pilot Fred Hopkins and Alexander Dexter...
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November 27, 1908

Panamanian Steamer Finance is Rammed and Sunk off Sandy Hook

On November 27, 1908, in a thick fog off Sandy Hook, the lightly laden Panama line steamer Finance, outward bound with 85 passengers, was rammed by the stout steel freighter Georgic, of the White Star line, and went down within...
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January 28, 1915

The Legacy of the U.S. Life-Saving Service: The United States Coast Guard

Despite proving successful in being able to rescue people from wrecked ships, the U.S. Life-Saving Service struggled to fulfill its mandate, with inadequate manpower, equipment, and a lack of central management. These conditions continued until a major storm struck the...
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August 19, 1917

The Incredible Story of the USS Sachem, Thomas Edison’s Floating Laboratory, Later the Circle Line V, and Now a Ghost Ship in Ohio

Editor’s note: For a full and very detailed illustrated history of the Sachem, and to support its preservation and restoration, visit the-sachem-project.org.   By John R. Barrows The Sachem is a storied vessel.  Launched in 1901 as a luxury steam...
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August 13, 1918

Timeline Mystery: Did a World War I U-Boat Engage in an Artillery Battle with Fort Hancock?

The famous Prussian General Carl von Clausewitz is credited with first articulating the phrase, “the fog of war.” He had observed that during a clash of armies it is often impossible for leaders to know precisely what is going on...
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September 8, 1934

SS Morro Castle: An Inferno at Sea, a Burning Hulk on the Beach, and Many Unanswered Questions

On September 8, 1934, the luxury passenger liner SS Morro Castle caught fire and burned during a raging storm off the coast of New Jersey, killing 137 passengers and crew members.  The ship, en route from Havana to New York...
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September 8, 1934

The First Separate Battalion to the Rescue

Editor’s note: On September 8, 1934, one of the worst maritime disasters in Monmouth County history occurred when the S.S. Morro Castle, a luxury passenger liner, caught fire during a raging storm that turned the ship into an inferno.  Award-winning...
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September 11, 1934

Two Doofuses from Long Island Go Souvenir Hunting on the Wreck of the SS Morro Castle

Editor’s note: On September 11, 1934, the S.S. Morro Castle was a blackened hulk resting just off the beach at Asbury Park, three days after coming to a rest there after a horrific fire at sea. The site of numerous...
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January 24, 1935

45 Lives Lost after SS Mohawk Collision with SS Talisman off Sea Girt

On January 24, 1935, the SS Mohawk left New York City en route to Charlestown, S.C., and Jacksonville, Fla. The steel-hulled passenger ship, launched in October 1925, was 387' long, 54' in breadth, and listed at 5897 gross tons. About...
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February 27, 1942

The Oil Tanker R.P. Resor is Torpedoed and Sunk by U-578

Editor’s note: The following story is reprinted with the permission of the authors of A History of Submarine Warfare along the Jersey Shore (The History Press, ©2016, available from retail booksellers everywhere). By Joseph G. Bilby & Harry Ziegler It...
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June 9, 1944

The USS Monmouth County: “Ever Ready – War and Peace”

On June 9, 1944, the USS Monmouth County (LST-1032) was launched, the only U.S. Naval vessel ever to bear that name. She was an LST-542-class tank landing ship that measured 328 feet in length with a 50-foot beam and 1625-ton...
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February 11, 1945

The Tragic Mystery of U-869, a.k.a. “U-Who?”

Editor’s note: On February 11, 1945, two U.S. destroyer escorts, the USS Howard D. Crow and USS Koiner, attacked what they believed to be a German submarine off the coast of New Jersey.  The two ships were accompanying a convoy...
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April 30, 1946

Explosion Aboard the USS Solar Kills Seven Sailors, Injures 125 More

On April 30, 1946, the USS Solar, a U.S. Navy Buckley-class destroyer escort (DE 221), exploded at the Navy Pier in Leonardo, killing seven sailors and injuring 125 others. The Solar was refitted in 1946 to serve as a sonar...
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November 8, 1977

SS Alexander Hamilton – A National Historic Site You Can’t Visit

On November 8, 1977, during a storm, the Steamship Alexander Hamilton caught fire and sank next to the Navy Pier in Raritan Bay, where she remains to this day, off-limits to visitors. In her heyday, she carried 3,500 passengers on...
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