1951 — Sep 1, deep-sea fishing boat Pelican capsizes off Montauk Point, Long Isl., NY– 45

–46 Post-Standard, Syracuse, NY. “Boat Too Crowded Survivor Testifies.” 9-7-1951, p. 1.
–45 Daily Journal-Gazette, Mattoon, IL. “Captain Blamed in Boat Tragedy.” 10-19-1951, 12.
–45 Norwich Sun, NY. “Another Body From Pelican Discovered.” 9-18-1951, p. 1.
–45 Syracuse Herald Journal, NY. “Rescue Boat Delay Bared at Inquiry.” 9-8-1951, p. 22.
–45 Troy Record, NY. “Victim of Fishing Boat Disaster Found at Sea.” 9-12-1951, p. 16.
–45 USCG. Marine Board of Investigation; capsizing of MB Pelican…Montauk Point…1951.
–45 Wikipedia. “FV Pelican.” 6-17-2011 modification.

Narrative Information

United States Coast Guard Marine Board of Investigation Memorandum, 8 October 1951:

“….2. The motor vessel Pelican was built in 1940 at Brooklyn, New York for service as a passenger carrying vessel in the fishing and recreation business. She was fitted with two gasoline engines for propulsive purposes, and admeasured 14 gross and 9 net tons. Under the U.S. Marine Safety Statutes, a motor vessel above 15 gross tons is subject to annual inspection to determine that she may be used in her proposed service with safety, and she cannot be operated until an annual certificate of inspection to this effect is issued. The Pelican admeasuring less than 15 gross tons, was not subject to these federal inspection and certification statutes for seaworthy purposes and could legally operated in the passenger carrying business with no effective legal supervision with respect to any safety standard for the safety of the public patronizing such vessel.

“3. On the morning of 1 September, 1951, the Pelican was moored at the Fishangri-la Pier, Long Island, where in addition to the 2 crew members she embarked 62 passengers for a fishing excursion. At 0830, existing weather conditions were favorable, however, warnings had been issued indicating expected strong winds and stormy weather. The Pelican had on board 64 persons, although a boat of her dimensions and type could not ordinarily be expected to carry more than about 30 persons with safety on coastwise waters, in the service in which she was engaged. Despite the impending bad weath4r warnings and her overloaded condition, the Pelican at 0830 departed for a fishing excursion to the southward of eastern Long Island in the vicinity of Ditch Plain Coast Guard Station. The Pelican arrived at Frisbie Bank at about 10:00 while the wind had been gradually increasing in intensity and veering around to the east and northeast. After fishing for approximately one hour, the Pelican, due to the worsening weather conditions, decided to return to port. On the return trip propulsive machinery difficulties were experienced as only six miles were covered in 2½ hours. As the Pelican rounded Montauk Point she changed course bringing the wind and sea first on the starboard bow and later on the starboard beam and quarter, causing her to roll heavily to port, at times rolling her port gunwale under water. Two successive heavy seas hit the Pelican evidently on her starboard quarter which caused her to capsize at 14:10, one mile north of Montauk lighthouse. At this time there was a fresh to strong north-east breeze of about 25 to 30 miles with occasional stronger gusts, confused sea, and a 2 knot ebbing current. Visibility was good.

“4. Although life preservers were located in 2 lockers on deck abaft the pilot house, and were accessible, no life preservers with one exception were worn by any persons due to the suddenness of the capsizing and the lack of instructions by the operator of the Pelican to passengers to don life preservers in preparation for a possible emergency. Twelve persons were rescued by the MB Bingo II, 6 persons were rescued by the MB Betty Anne, which vessels were in close proximity to the Pelican at the time she capsized, and one persons was rescued by a Coast Guard picketboat. Due to the rough sea and the fact that no life preservers were worn, the remaining 45 persons perished, most, probably from exhaustion, within 30 minutes after the capsizing.

Findings of Fact

“1. The motor passenger boat Pelican with about 64 persons on board capsized at about 2:10 p.m., Eastern Daylight Time on 1 September, 1951, approximately one mile north of Montauk Lighthouse at the extreme eastern end of Long Isle…with resulting loss of about 45 lives….

“2. ….There were reported to be 86 life preservers on board. The lockers on deck containing the life preservers were not marked….The owner has been missing since the casualty and is presumed dead. His body has not been recovered. [pp. 1-3.]
….
“8. ….Witnesses testified that the boat was so crowded that there was insufficient space for all fishermen at the rail at any one time. Some were told not to worry, that others would get seasick which would make sufficient fishing space for them….” [p. 6.]

“9. From the time the Pelican arrived at the fishing bank at about 10:00 a.m. the wind had been gradually increasing in intensity and veering around to the east and northeast. While the only surviving crew member…[name blacked out] could not state with any degree of accuracy whether or not the skipper…[name blacked out] had received storm warnings over the radio, at about 10:45 a.m. he was told by [mane blacked out] that he…thought they should head for port and if necessary return part of the fares to the passengers. Between 9:45 a.m. and 10:30 a.m., some of the fishing boat skippers…who were fishing off Block Island, stated they had heard of northeast small craft warnings over their radios from a fishing trawler several miles off Block Island, and the worsening weather situation being discussed by other fishing vessels. These fishing boat skippers stated that after hearing of these small craft warnings, they decided to head for shelter….

“[name blacked out] who was off Block Island, stated he spoke to his brother [skipper of the Pelican] via the radio telephone during the period the Pelican was still fishing and told him the Jigger II was heading in because of the worsening weather conditions, to which his brother [name blacked out] replied, ‘We’re getting a few fish. It’s pretty good down here.’

“10. At about 11:00 a.m. [name blacked out] decided to return. Difficulty was experienced starting the port engine causing some 10 or 15 minutes delay. ….” [p.6.]
….
“13. ….The Betty Anne recovered 6 persons from the water and the Bingo II recovered 12 persons from the water. When the rescue vessels arrived on the scene they immediately began throwing over life preservers and other buoyant equipment with lines attached. Most of the survivors were in no condition to help themselves. Many were wasting their strength in calling for help and were unable to reach the life preservers or the lines in the water. The maneuvering of the rescuing craft to reach the survivors was difficult because of the lines which fouled the screws and rudders of the rescuing vessels, and also by the difficulty in maneuvering in the rough seas with people swimming in the area in which the boat was maneuvering. Mr. [name blacked out] of the Betty Anne stated that his rescue operations were slowed down and made difficult because the only persons aboard were his elderly father and mother-in-law, his frail wife who weighed only about 100 pounds, and a [age blocked out] year old boy. Both craft were handicapped in their rescue efforts by the inability of the persons in the water to assist themselves in coming aboard, so that it was necessary to lift the dead weights of the rescued persons by sheer manpower without the assistance of any tackle or devices….It appears that the rescue efforts by these two craft terminated withing 20 to 25 minutes after they first arrived on the scene, no other persons being seen alive by them after that time. By this time the Betty Anne and Bingo II were some distance from the Pelican hulk. The CG 38523, the picketboat from Ditch Plain Coast Guard Station, arrived in the vicinity about 3:15 p.m. and was coached by the Coast Guard lookout at Montauk Point to the Pelican hulk via radio telephone. Upon arrival close to the hulk the picket boat crew found one man still clinging to the capsized hull and succeeded in rescuing him. The picket boat also recovered one body.” [pp. 7-8.]
….
“20. The board upon inspecting the Pelican on 7 September, took measurements of the deck space available for passengers, and determined that had the Pelican been subject to Coast Guard inspection she probably would have been permitted to carry not more than 20 passengers.” [p.9.]

“The Board expressed the following Opinions:

“21. That by any standard the Pelican was overloaded. This opinion is based primarily on the fact that, without any previous structural damage to her hull, the craft actually did capsize and that the capsizing can be attributed to no other cause than the presence on board of a human and consequently a shifting cargo above the waterline of approximately four tons under sea and weather conditions which probably caused the vessel to list and roll to port until her stability was completely lost. The decisive cause of this condition was the overloading; other contributing causes — wind and sea conditions, failure to distribute passenger weight to the best advantage, and uncertain engine operation – were purely accessory and would have had no serious effect if t he primary, governing cause – overloading – had not existed.
….
“25. From the facts adduced it would appear that the owner and operator of the Pelican, if alive and able to defend himself, would be subject to serious charges of gross and criminal negligence. Placing the most charitable construction of the events because of his inability to appear to justify and explain his action or lack of action, there appears to be no possible evidence to refute the following charges of imprudent and unskillful operation of his vessel:

(a) Imprudent, because he permitted the vessel to be grossly overloaded.

(b) Imprudent, because either he failed to keep himself adequately informed about the weather, or, if so informed, to take foresighted and prudent action.

(c) Unskillful, because he did not take effective action to properly distribute the dangerously excessive load of passengers.

(d) Unskillful, because he navigated close to shore where tide rips and sea conditions were, at the very least, more uncertain if not definitely more dangerous under the existing weather conditions.

(e) Unskillful, because, as an experienced seaman familiar with his vessel and presumably aware of its probable action under sea condition and loading, he appears to have brought the vessel safely through head winds and seas only to have her capsize as he brought the wind and sea on the beam and quarter. He might well have continued to windward further into Block Island Sound before attempting the dangerous change of course, and thus have minimized the period when the Pelican would have wind and sea on the bear and quarters.

“26. …. The board considers it remarkable that so many lives were saved after sixty-four persons of both sexes and various ages, swimmers alike, fully clothed, were thrown into rough water without life preservers. There was little or no floating wreckage to grasp, and the hulk was exceedingly slippery and without hand-holes, so that actually only two survivors, so far as is known, can attribute assistance in their rescue to the hulk. Only the fortunate presence nearby of other vessels prevented the loss of almost every person on board.” [pp. 10-11.]
….
“46. The board is of the opinion that the most important single provision of the law which permitted the overloading of the Pelican is the exemption of vessels under 15 tons from the provisions of the inspection laws which would have limited the passenger carrying capacity of the Pelican on the basis of the deck space available, with due consideration for the vessel’s stability. Further, the inspection law would have required the stowage of the life preservers to be marked and to come under specific requirements as to the accessibility of life preservers, rather than the more general and less effective provisions of the motor boat laws under whose provisions the Pelican operated.”
[p. 14]
[A listing of 26 named deceased can be found at pages 20-21. The listing of 19 missing persons is on p. 19, but all names are blacked out in the copy I see at the URL noted below.]
(USCG Maritime Board of Investigation Memorandum on the Pelican capsizing)

Wikipedia: “The FV Pelican was a party boat, or head boat, operating out of Montauk, New York, which capsized on September 1, 1951, killing 45 passengers, including the captain Eddie Carroll.

“The Pelican was originally constructed as a passenger fishing vessel in 1940 in Brooklyn, NY and known as the Belboy II. The vessel was constructed with an enclosed cabin. At 14 gross tons, she was not subject to Coast Guard regulations and annual inspection, which were required only of vessels more than 15 gross tons….

“At the time of the accident, the Pelican was owned by Eddie Carroll, who held a Coast Guard captain’s license. It was operated as a party boat operating out of the Fishangrila Dock at Fort Pond Bay in Montauk, taking customers fishing for the day in the waters around Montauk. The Fishangrila Dock was within walking distance of the Montauk Long Island Railroad station. On weekends, the railroad ran “Fisherman’s Special” trains from New York City to Montauk. Passengers would exit the train and climb aboard one of the waiting party boats and pay their fare for a day of fishing.

“On September 1, 1951, as the Fisherman’s Special emptied its passengers, 62 fares climbed aboard the Pelican, plus its Captain, Eddie Carroll and mate. The 42 foot Pelican left Fishangrila at 7:30 AM, carrying 64 passengers and crew, which was grossly in excess of its safe carrying capacity. Weather forecasts posted at Fishangrila called for a line of approaching storms and changing winds. After rounding Montauk Point and fishing on the south side of Montauk in the Atlantic Ocean for several hours, the Pelican began to return to Fishangrila, due to rough seas, at approximately 11:30 AM.

“Encountering engine trouble on the way, which lengthened the trip, Pelican began to have difficulty making time against the conditions, with only one working engine. The weather changed suddenly as the squall line approached, with a strong northeast wind developing against an outgoing tide. The wind has been estimated at 25 to 35 mph and the waves as high as 15 feet in the rips near Montauk Point. While rounding Montauk Point at approximately 2:00 PM, the Pelican was hit by two successive waves on the starboard quarter and capsized to port, spilling most of its passengers and crew in the water, while trapping others inside the cabin. The vessel then foundered. [The Pelican did not sink, but was later located and towed to shore (USCG report.)] The accident occurred within sight of Montauk Lighthouse, approximately one mile north off the point in the area known as Endeavor Shoals.

“Two private fishing boats, the Betty Ann and Bingo II, were the first to respond and rescue passengers. The Coast Guard picket-boat that responded approximately one hour later was only able to rescue one passenger found clinging to the hull. In all, 45 passengers and crew, including Capt. Eddie Carroll were killed.

“The hull, foundering beneath the waves, was first secured near Montauk Point by… and was later transferred to the Coast Guard picket-boat, which towed it into Lake Montauk. As a result, several additional bodies were recovered which otherwise might have been lost if the vessel were allowed to sink.

“Following the disaster, a Coast Guard investigation was conducted. The investigating board estimated that Pelican could not have safely carried more than 30 passengers and that its overloaded conditions contributed to the capsize and loss of life [USCG report states that overloading was the cause, as opposed to contributing to the capsizing], by causing the vessel to ride low in the water and exaggerating the rolling motion caused by the waves. The failure of Carroll to keep himself aware of the weather conditions and to properly distribute his passengers on the vessel were also cited as reasons for the capsize. The investigation concluded that more stringent safety regulations were necessary for the regulation of such boats. The “T-boat” regulations, 46 CFR, subchapter T, which included routine inspections of all vessels for hire carrying six or more people and strict regulation of passenger capacity went into effect in 1957.” (Wikipedia. “FV Pelican.” 6-17-2011 modification.)

Newspapers

Sep 2: “Montauk (UP) – A gale-whipped riptide caught a boat jammed with holiday fishermen yesterday and flipped it upside down in the churning water, where 36 persons were feared to have drowned.

“Nine were known dead and 27 persons were missing hours after the treacherous seas at the eastern tip of Long Island turned the gay fishing party into the greatest tragedy of the Labor Day weekend. The boat, loaded with 51 persons, was returning to port at Montauk, 120 miles east of New York, when it was keeled over by the riptide…Only 18 of those thrown clear of the capsized boat, named the Pelican, could stay afloat long enough to be reached by the rescue craft which were at the scene within minutes. The Pelican overturned a quarter of a mile off shore within sight of hundreds of persons. One witness, Louis Kocks, Laurelton, L.I., described it this way: ‘At 2:15 P.M. the craft was hit broadside by a wave. The boat slid down the wave. Then a second wave hit it broadside. The boat capsized’.

“One of the survivors of the Pelican had a more dramatic story. John Griffin of Brooklyn told it this way:

The boat kept pitching and bucking. I strapped on a life belt. Everyone else in the cabin laughed at me. Suddenly, I felt the boat heave. All I could see was water. We were trapped in the cabin. I started toward the door. It seemed like 15 minutes before I found the door. I looked up and could see light through the water. I gave one almighty heave, and I shot right out of that boat. But I believe everybody else in that cabin was lost.

“Six hours after the accident rescue craft still were trying to pull the Pelican ashore. It was bow down in the water with only the keel showing above the water line….”(Syracuse Herald American, NY. “36 Feared Dead as Fishing Boat Upsets in Gale.” 9-2-1951, 1)

Sep 3: “Montauk, N. Y. (AP) — Air and sea searchers scanned choppy Atlantic waters Sunday in a hunt for 18 persons, still missing and presumed dead after their crippled fishing boat capsized with a loss of 37 lives. Many of the bodies of the missing were believed to have been washed out to sea. Caught in a boiling riptide, with one of its engines dead, the fishing craft keeled over in the stormy Atlantic Saturday off the eastern tip of Long Island.

“Nineteen bodies were recovered, 10 of them by divers from the water-logged hull of the 48-foot boat, Pelican 2. Three remained unidentified.

“Nineteen of the 66 amateur fishermen and crew aboard the vessel, which had put out gaily for a
day of deep-sea fishing, were rescued. Working under the glare of powerful searchlights, all available coast guard surface craft trolled the area throughout the night but picked up no other survivors. Planes resumed the hunt at dawn.

“Fishermen said it was likely many of the bodies had been carried out to sea with the tide which was running out when the boat capsized. Rip tides are caused by powerful tides, flooding or ebbing, over shallow, rocky bottomed areas. The thrust of the tide creates great pressure in such areas, causing great turbulence. “I don’t believe there’s any hope they are still alive,” said commander Joseph de Carlo, in charge of coast guard search operations.

“De Carlo blamed panic for most of the fatalities. Cold and seasick, many of the holiday fishermen had taken refuge in the cabin after the Pelican, with one of its’ two engines dead, ran into a northeast squall.

“Divers who brought up the bodies from below deck said that the trapped fishermen “looked like they had been tearing each other to pieces” in frenzied attempts to get out of the cabin after the vessel capsized. One diver, state police Sgt. Thomas Innis, said he found most of the bodies piled up in the exit and the narrow passageway leading from the cabin. “It was just like a bunch of wrestlers locked together,” he said. “I had to pry them apart to get in there.”‘

“The Pelican was towed into Montauk harbor early Sunday. Her master, Capt. Edward Carrol,
was among the missing. The other crew member was saved.

“Those saved owed their lives to the prompt action of other fishing craft in the area. One of them, the Bingo 2, picked up 12 survivors. The Bingo’s skipper, Capt. Lester Behan, said he was a mile from the Pelican when it overturned. Behan said that when he reached the scene he saw heads popping up out of the angry seas “everywhere I looked.” He threw over every available line and life preserver “but they were going down faster than we could get near them.”

“Another fishing boat, the Betty Anne, picked up five men and one woman. It’s skipper, H. Rogers Bishop, told this grim story of the disaster “The seas were pitching. There was a heavy following sea. We were about 200 feet of the Pelican coming in. When she was about a half mile from shore, one wave raised her stern so high that she nose dipped deep into the next swell. “She turned over. I saw at least 25 persons in the water and another 25 clinging to the keel of the capsized boat.”

“Horror-struck survivors said the crippled Pelican was drifting broadside to the storm when the huge waves struck her. “We were caught in the riptide,” said one of the survivors, John Griffin of Brooklyn. “A large wave came from the east, hit us and we tipped to 45 degrees. Another wave came and we went over.” Griffin said that unlike most of the fishing party he donned a life
preserver a few minutes before the tragedy. He said he didn’t know how he got out of the cabin but that when found himself in the water he saw a fishing boat standing by. “I held up my arms and waved to it. It came up nearby. A wave pushed me against the boat. They pulled me aboard.”

“The coast guard and Suffolk county district attorney’s office began independent investigations of the disaster.

“The Pelican was one of more than a score of fishing boats operating for hire out of Montauk, a
mecca for tuna fishermen who pay $4 a day for the off-shore angling….” (Hutchinson News-Herald, KS. “Grim Search…for 18 Missing in Sea Tragedy.” 9-3-1951, 1.)

Sep 5: “New York (AP) – Three more persons yesterday were unofficially listed as victims of Saturday’s fishing boat disaster off Montauk Point — bringing the probable death toll to 40. Isaac Boja of the Bronx, John Stein of Brooklyn, and Stein’s father-in-law, Andrew Kolsar of New Jersey, were reported missing by relatives who appeared at a coast guard inquiry into the tragedy. Their names were not previously listed among the dead of missing. Only 19 bodies have been recovered.

“The 23-year-old mate of the ill-fated vessel “Pelican” told the coast guard inquiry he did not count the passengers aboard Saturday when she keeled over in a rip tide off the eastern tip of Long Island. There were 19 survivors. The mate, Robert Scanlan, set the number of passengers at 54 and the crew at two, explaining that “the captain told me.” The master of the Pelican, Edward Carroll, is among the missing.

“Scanlan told of the Pelican’s ill-fated -voyage Saturday morning with a gay fishing party aboard. “The sea threw us up and everyone to one side,” Scanlon testified. “It got us at an angle. The engine conked out just seconds before the boat capsized.” He said there were 86 life jackets aboard the ship. But few passengers bothered to don them.” (Norwich Sun, NY. “Fishing Boat Disaster Toll Reaches 40.” 9-5-1951, p. 1.)

Sep 6: “New York (AP) – A regular passenger aboard the ill-fated fishing boat Pelican said yesterday the vessel was more crowded Saturday than he had ever seen her before….

“Forty-one persons are dead or missing…

“Like other witnesses, Olzewski [a survivor] told of the Pelican’s difficulty when one of her two engines gave out at sea during the fishing trip. ‘I heard the captain say ‘there is no sense in staying out here,’ Olszewski testified ‘that the weather was getting rough and that we would have trouble enough with one engine.’….

“Another survivor, Rudolph Stein…spoke of the crowded condition of the 48-foot Pelican. ‘I don’t know what overloading is,’ he testified, ‘but there wasn’t enough room for everyone.’ Stein said Capt. Carroll made ‘a big mistake’ by not ordering the passengers into life jackets…” (Norwich Sun, NY. “Overload Blamed in Sinking of Fishing Boat.” 9-6-1951, p. 1.)

Sep 6, AP: “New York, Sept 6 (AP) – One of the survivors of the fishing boat disaster last Saturday off Montauk Point today told coast guard investigators he made 15 previous trips in the boat without knowing where the life preservers were. Antonio Borruso, one of 19 saved, said he had complained to the captain of the ‘Pelican’ because it was too crowded for him to get to the rail to fish. ‘I asked him, ‘why are you taking so many people?’ Borruso testified. The captain replied, according to Borruso, ‘next week you will see everything all right. You take the place of the next person who gets seasick. I’m good-natured, I can’t refuse anybody.’…

“Bodies of 22 victims have been recovered, with an estimated 24 persons missing, the captain among them.” (AP. “Boat Too Crowded Survivor Testifies.” Post-Standard, Syracuse, NY. 9-7-1951, p.1.)

Sep 7: “Montauk (AP) –Two more bodies from the capsized fishing boat Pelican were found yesterday in the sea off Montauk Point….Forty-one persons are dead or missing in the tragedy, which occurred Saturday in a rip tide. Nineteen passengers were saved.” (Troy Record, NY. “2 More Bodies Found From Capsized Pelican.” 9-7-1951, p. 1.)

Sep 8: “Montauk (AP) – A rescue boat was delayed an hour in reaching the capsized fishing boat Pelican, a Coast Guardsman says, because it was out on a ‘false alarm’ search for another vessel. Chief Boatswain’s Mate Purnell Curles testified yesterday before a Coast Guard inquiry board looking into last Saturday’s disaster off Montauk in which an estimated 45 lives were lost.

“The boat he was searching for, Curles said, had returned to its dock safely but did not inform the Coast Guard. Therefore, Curles said, his efforts and time were wasted and he was carried about 12 miles away from the scene of the Pelican disaster.” (Syracuse Herald Journal, NY. “Rescue Boat Delay Bared at Inquiry.” 9-8-1951, p. 22.)

Sep 9: “The United States Coast Guard board of inquiry held a formal hearing on the cause and possible negligence involved in the death of 37 persons last weekend in the fishing boat “Pelican” off Montauk Point at the eastern tip of Long Island. Out of 56 occupants of a 45-foot fishing vessel, 19 bodies had been recovered, 18 were still missing and presumed to have drowned, and 19 came out of it alive. As survivors began to testify, these facts came out:

“The “Pelican” started out in good fishing weather a week ago Saturday, made a run over the fishing grounds and decided to return home about 11:30 a. m. when a storm came up.

“On the way home the storm became worse and one of the engines failed. The first mate knew nothing about marine engines and had to take the bridge while the captain went below to fix it.

“The “Pelican” began limping home in heavy seas as its 54 fishing passengers all moved over to the port side to escape the breaking waves. They were told to distribute the weight but wouldn’t obey.

“Altho there were 86 life belts aboard, only one donned a life belt to the hoots of fellow passengers.

“As the engine conked out again, the boat suddenly turned completely over a half mile from shore, and that was that. It had heeled over to port.

“If this craft appeared to be overloaded (passengers claimed it was and it seemed to be) there was no law for loading craft which were under 65 feet in length.

“No one seemed to believe that the storm alone was responsible for the disaster.” (Post-Standard, Syracuse, NY. “Disaster.” 9-9-1951, p. 5.)

Sep 12: “New York (AP) – The Coast Guard reported the recovery yesterday of the 26th body of a victim of the Pelican fishing boat disaster off Montauk Point which claimed an estimated toll of 45 lives. The body of Raymond Nathaniel Lewis of Brooklyn was retrieved from the Atlantic Ocean about 30 miles off Montauk Point…” (Troy Record, NY. “Victim of Fishing Boat Disaster Found at Sea.” 9-12-1951, p. 16.)

Sep 17: “Bridgehampton (AP) – The headless, armless torso of a man recovered Saturday from the Atlantic ocean about three miles offshore was identified yesterday as one of the missing victims of the fishing boat Pelican disaster two weeks ago. The body was identified by his wife, Helen, as that of Aarnas Dolk, 47, a owner-taxi operator of Manhattan. Mrs. Dolk, who had been contacted by the state police, arrived here early yesterday and established identification of the body as that of her husband by a five-inch scar on the left knee.

“The fishing boat Pelican capsized off Montauk Point, about 25 miles east of here, with an estimated loss of 45 lives. Of the 64 believed to have been aboard, 19 were saved. Dolk’s body was the 27th to be recovered, leaving a total of 18 still missing.” (Norwich Sun, NY. “Another Body From Pelican Discovered.” 9-18-1951, p. 1.)

Oct 19, AP: “Washington – (AP) A Coast Guard Marine Board of Investigation today blamed the captain and owner of a Long Island Sound fishing boat for the Sept. 1 capsizing in which 45 persons lost their lives. The boat, the “Pelican,” was commanded by Capt. Edward Carroll, one of the victims of the tragedy.

“The board, making public the results of its investigations, said there appeared to be no “possible
evidence” to refute charges that Carroll had been “Imprudent and unskillful” in the operation of his vessel. The board also said he permitted the boat, which should have carried no more than 20 persons, to be grossly overloaded. It carried 64 at the time.

“The ship capsized in heavy seas one mile north of Montauk lighthouse at the extreme eastern end of Long Island. Nineteen of the passengers were rescued by three ships in the vicinity. …” (Daily Journal-Gazette, Mattoon, IL. “Captain Blamed in Boat Tragedy.” 10-19-1951, p. 12.)

Oct 19: “….The board also said… “It would appear that the owner and operator of the Pelican, if alive and able to defend himself, would be subject to serious charges of gross and criminal negligence.”” (Walla Walla Union-Bulletin, WA. “Boat Captain Draws Blame in Drownings.” 10-19-1951, 14)

Nov 29: “Riverhead, N.Y., Nov 29 – (INS) – The Suffolk County coroner today listed as ‘accidental’ the death of 26 persons who lost their lives last Sept. 1 when the fishing boat Pelican capsized off Montauk Point [26 recovered and identified victims]. Dr. John J. Nugent, in a formal report following an inquest, declared the deaths were ‘due to submersion, accidental’.” (Charleston Gazette, WV. “Death of 26 in Ship Listed as Accidental.” 11-30-1951, 34.)

Mundus: “I am one of the last surviving witnesses of the aftermath of the Pelican disaster of 1951, when the party boat Pelican capsized off Montauk Lighthouse with the loss of over 40 people, including her captain Eddie Carroll. My boat the Cricket II was docked directly alongside the Pelican that morning at Fishangrila on Fort Pond Bay.

“Everybody’s boat was overloaded from commuters off the “Fisherman Special,” a Long Island Railroad train. And the Pelican was the last boat to leave the dock. As my boat was leaving the dock, I looked back and could see the people throwing their fishing tackle down into my cockpit and jumping the five feet from the dock to the cockpit deck. I heard Captain Eddie hollering to the people, “No more! No More!” But they kept coming. One after another, the boats left the dock at around 7:30 to 8:00 a.m. Eddie left within minutes of me….” (Mundus, Frank. “Pelican Disaster, Sept. 1, 1951.”)
Sources

Associated Press. “Boat Too Crowded Survivor Testifies.” Post-Standard, Syracuse, NY. 9-7-1951, p1. Accessed 6-22-2023 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/syracuse-post-standard-sep-07-1951-p-1/

Charleston Gazette, WV. “Death of 26 in Ship Listed as Accidental.” 11-30-1951, p. 34. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=40095907

Daily Journal-Gazette, Mattoon, IL. “Captain Blamed in Boat Tragedy.” 10-19-1951, p. 12. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=114700713

Hutchinson News-Herald, KS. “Grim Search in Choppy Water for 18 Missing in Sea Tragedy.” 9-3-1951, 1. At: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=137512950

Mundus, Frank. “Pelican Disaster, Sept. 1, 1951.” At: http://www.fmundus.com/ThePelican.html

Norwich Sun, NY. “Another Body From Pelican Discovered.” 9-18-1951, p. 1. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=53913223

Norwich Sun, NY. “Fishing Boat Disaster Toll Reaches 40.” 9-5-1951, p. 1. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=53913164

Norwich Sun, NY. “Overload Blamed in Sinking of Fishing Boat.” 9-6-1951, p. 1. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=53913169

Post-Standard, Syracuse, NY. “Disaster.” 9-9-1951, p. 5. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=45293956

Syracuse Herald American, NY. “36 Feared Dead as Fishing Boat Upsets in Gale.” 9-2-1951, p. 1. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=26731091

Syracuse Herald-Journal, NY. “Rescue Boat Delay Bared at Inquiry.” 9-8-1951, p. 22. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=22556953

Times Record, Troy, NY. “Nation Rolls Up Tragic Toll for Labor Holiday.” 9-4-1951, p. 1. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=90341108

Troy Record, NY. “2 More Bodies Found From Capsized Pelican.” 9-7-1951, p. 1. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=90340014

Troy Record, NY. “Victim of Fishing Boat Disaster Found at Sea.” 9-12-1951, p. 16. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=79821668

United States Coast Guard. Memorandum from Merchant Vessel Inspection Division to Commandant U.S. Coast Guard. Subject: Marine Board of Investigation; capsizing of MB Pelican in vicinity Montauk Point, Long Island, on 1 September, 1951, with loss of life. Washington, DC: USCG Headquarters, 8 October 1951, 21 pages. Accessed 6-22-2023 at: https://www.dco.uscg.mil/Portals/9/DCO%20Documents/5p/CG-5PC/INV/docs/boards/pelican.pdf

Walla Walla Union-Bulletin, WA. “Boat Captain Draws Blame in Drownings.” 10-19-1951, p. 14. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=19311938

Wikipedia. “FV Pelican.” 6-17-2011 modification. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FV_Pelican