1813 – Jan 14, Spanish ship wrecks in snowstorm, Smuttynose Isl., Isles of Shoals, ME–>14

Compiled by Wayne Blanchard; last edit 9-1-2024 for upload to: http://www.usdeadlyevents.com/

—  14  Shults, Sylvia. “The Wreck of the Sagunto.” Webpage, 2020. Accessed 9-1-2024.

—>14  Snow. “The Isles of Shoals.” Great Storms and Shipwrecks of New England, 1943, p. 199.

Narrative Information

Shults, 2020: “….One of the evocative parts of New England coastline is the Isle of Shoals. This is a group of small islands about six miles off the coast, sitting on the borders of New Hampshire and Maine. The third largest of these islands goes by the delightfully odd name of Smuttynose…. Smuttynose Island has also been the site of a couple of tragedies.

“One of these was the wreck, in January 1813, of the Spanish ship Sagunto. (At least, this may have been the name of the Spanish ship. It could have been the Concepcion….Whatever the ill-fated ship’s name, wherever it’s original port of call, it wrecked – hard – on the rocky shore of Smuttynose Island late at night on January 14, 1813. Apparently, the ship was manned by a crew of fourteen sailors. When the Sagunto broke herself open on the rocks and surrendered herself and her cargo to the crashing waves, these men were tossed overboard at the mercy of the roiling water. They made their way to the beach through a blinding snowstorm, following the promise of safety – the yellow glowing light of a candle in the window of Sam Haley’s cottage.

“Haley, mindful of the ships that passed by the islands, kept a candle burning in his window for fifty years, until the White Island lighthouse was built. On that snowy night, the candle gave the sailors a direction to go, but sadly, not one of the men made it to the safety of Haley’s cottage. Although a few made it all the way to the stone wall that encircled the cottage, they all froze to death during that long, cold, blustery night. Haley, warm and safe, knew nothing of the drama playing out just yards from his front door.

“After the wreck, the men were buried right there on the beach where they had perished. Crates of cargo, raisins and almonds from Spain, washed up on the shore in the coming days. A watch, stopped at four o’clock, was found on the sand, fixing the time of the disaster….”

Snow, 1943: “Crashing against the ledges of Smuttynose Island,[1] one of the Isles of Shoals, in January, 1813, a Spanish ship went to her doom. At the height of a blinding snowstorm the richly laden craft struck, leaving no living soul to tell the story of the ship. She was believed by some to be named the Sagunto, while others claimed that her name was not known. Several sailors did reach shore, but were unable to get to the home of Captain Sam Haley, who always kept a light burning in his window during a storm. It seems even more tragic when it is realized that the men who had escaped from the wreck walked some of the distance toward the house when their strength gave out and they fell exhausted to the ground. Their bodies were found after the storm. Two of them actually reached the stone wall in front of Haley’s house but they could not climb over the wall.

“The surf brought ashore many boxes of raisons and almonds. A silver watch was later found, having stopped at four o’clock, possibly the time its owner was lost. On the back of the watch were the initials P. S.

“Fourteen bodies from the wreck were found and buried in a little plot of land on the island where the rude stones may still be seen….”

Sources

Shults, Sylvia. “The Wreck of the Sagunto.” Webpage, 2020. Accessed 9-1-2024 at: https://vocal.media/horror/the-wreck-of-the-sagunto

Snow, Edward Rowe. Great Storms and Shipwrecks of New England. Boston: Yankee Publishing Company, 1943.

[1] A 27-acre island seven miles off the coast of Maine. (Wikipedia)