1950 — Sep 12, Fairhaven, MA fishing boat Theresa A. sunk in hurricane, Georges Bank– 12

— 12 Grady Norton. “Hurricanes of the 1950 Season.” Monthly Weather Review, January 1951.
— 12 Lost Fishermen From the Port of New Bedford. “Theresaa A.” Accessed 8-21-2023.
— 11 Wikipedia. “Hurricane Dog (1950).” [No source citation and incorrect death toll.]

Narrative Information

Lost Fishermen From the Port of New Bedford (website). “Theresaa A.” –
“9-12-1950 The Theresa A., an aircraft rescue boat converted for use as a fishing vessel, left Fairhaven on September 9, 1950, and was last sighted fishing on Georges Bank. On September 12, the ship sent two radio messages: first a distress signal and then a message that the crew was abandoning ship. The weather was extremely bad, with heavy seas and winds of roughly 55 miles per hour. The Coast Guard launched a sea and air search, joined by several merchant vessels. The search continued until September 16, but no trace of the ship or its crew was found. The only body recovered was that of Ernest Rich, who was found in October floating off Seal Island in Penobscot Bay.
Name

Ernest Rich 35
Frank Berry 30
Francis Martens 32
Peter Kouscouros 63
Herbert Orpin 36
Lamond White 38
Frank Airhart 35
John Cole 46
John Hoaglund [Age not noted.]
Chester Szczepan 32
James Ledwell 20

Norton: “The hurricane season of 1950 was an active one in the Atlantic. It gave 12 storms, 11 of which developed full hurricane force…. Four of the storms entered the United States mainland and two others came close enough to give strong winds at Cape Hatteras or Cape Cod, but did not move inland….

Dog-August 31-September 14… proved to be the most severe hurricane of the 1950 season, with winds estimated by aircraft at over 160 knots (184+ miles per hour) and waves 100 feet high. It moved on a northwesterly course and passed close to Antigua, Barbuda, and other islands of the northeastern Leeward group on September 1.

“The hurricane continued to move slowly on a northwesterly course after leaving the Leeward Islands and curved northward toward Bermuda, but its progress was blocked about 200 miles southwest of Bermuda near 31′ N., 67.5′ W. on September 8. It drifted slowly westward for 2 days before resuming a north to northeast course, and finally turned eastward south of Nova Scotia and Newfoundland on the 13-14th. It gave strong winds on Cape Cod when it was passing some distance offshore on the 12th, and the station at Nantucket reported gusts of near hurricane force. Although winds along the New England coast were less than full hurricane force, damage amounted to $2,000,000 and 12 lives were lost, 11 in capsized boats. It was fortunate that this great Hurricane remained at sea and did not seriously affect other coastal areas for it was indeed a giant of potential destruction.” (Norton, Monthly Weather Review, January 1951, 11)

Wikipedia. “Hurricane Dog (1950).”: “….in the United States, the hurricane caused moderate coastal damage, including damage to several boats, and resulted in 11 offshore drownings. Strong winds caused widespread power outages across southeastern New England….”

Newspapers

Sep 12, AP: “Boston – (AP) – A powerful Atlantic hurricane whistled out to sea early today after brushing the New England coast with winds up to 70 miles an hour. The blow smashed small boats at moorings, endangered coastal shipping, snapper power lines and toppled trees before it turned seaward 80 miles east of Nantucket Island, off the Massachusetts coast. Mountainous seas battered beaches, smashing over seawalls in some sections. Property damage, however was not extensive.

“One fishing vessel was reported in trouble off the Massachusetts coast and another made port at Provincetown after sending out a distress call.

“The Boston weather bureau said the storm – still holding 100-mile winds in its center – would move no closer to land and probably would pass Canada’s maritime provinces. The district forecaster reported gales up to 70 miles an hour hit Nantucket at the height of the blow. The maritime provinces, he said, probably would get the same force winds….

“A number of Massachusetts communities were in darkness during the night due to power failures. Massachusetts and Rhode Island state troopers set up all-night hurricane patrols. They directed the evacuation of a few people from unprotected beach sections.” (Associated Press. “Hurricane Brushes New England Coast, Whistles Out to Sea.” Escanaba Daily Press, 9-12-1050, p. 1.)

Sep 13, UP: “Boston, Sept. 13 (UP) – Twelve castaways from a hurricane-sunk New Bedford fishing dragger today were given ‘one chance in a thousand’ of surviving in dories 100 miles at sea while the crew of another sinking vessel were cast ashore safely. ‘Their fate is in the hands of Providence,’ a Coast Guard spokesman said in reporting no trace had been found of the captain and crew of the Theresa A. which wend down yesterday about 100 miles east of Nantucket island.

“Searching the area over which a hurricane passed yesterday were the Coast Guard cutters Dexter of Boston, Coos Bay of Newport, R.I., three planes from Quonset, R.I., Westover field, Mass., and LaGuardia airport, New York; the British freighter City of Ely and the United States Line’s American Lawyer. One of the first to reach the area after the Theresa A.’s ‘SOS’ was the French luxury liner Ile De France which cruised slowly through the position given but was released by the Coast Guard and permitted to proceed to Europe.

“Waves had subsided in the area whipped by the hurricane but no wreckage had been found of the 106-foot dragger or its dories. The Coast Guard said the vessel carried two 10-foot dories and two life rafts.

“Meanwhile, the Muriel Russell of New Bedford, one of the 15 storm-wracked ships calling for aid, was beached by her crew on Chatham bar this morning. All aboard the vessel captained by Urbanus Strange of Brooklyn, N.Y., were rescued by a Coast Guard amphibious Duck….”

(United Press. “12 Fishermen in Dories Feared Victims of Hurricane. ‘One Chance in a Thousand’ That They Survived After They Quit Sinking Ship.” Lowell Sun, MA. 9-13-1950, pp. 1 and 21.)

Sources

Associated Press. “Hurricane Brushes New England Coast, Whistles Out to Sea.” Escanaba Daily Press, 9-12-1050, p. 1. Accessed 8-21-2023 at: Associated Press. “Hurricane Brushes New England Coast, Whistles Out to Sea.” Escanaba Daily Press, 9-12-1050, p. 1.

Lost Fishermen From the Port of New Bedford (website). “Theresaa A.” Accessed 8-21-2023 at: https://www.lostfishermen.com/vessel/119/Theresa%20A.

Norton, Grady. “Hurricanes of the 1950 Season.” Monthly Weather Review, January 1951. Accessed at: http://docs.lib.noaa.gov/rescue/mwr/079/mwr-079-01-0008.pdf

United Press. “12 Fishermen in Dories Feared Victims of Hurricane. ‘One Chance in a Thousand’ That They Survived After They Quit Sinking Ship.” Lowell Sun, MA. 9-13-1950, pp. 1 and 21. Accessed 8-21-2023 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/lowell-sun-sep-13-1950-p-1/

Wikipedia. “Hurricane Dog (1950).” Accessed 8-21-2023 at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Dog_(1950)