1927 — Oct 29, fishing sch. Avalon hit by steamer in fog, sinks off Highland Light, Cape Cod MA-11

Compiled by Wayne Blanchard; last edit 9-16-2024 for upload to: http://www.usdeadlyevents.com/

–13  Small, Isaac M. “A Terrible Disaster,” pp. 78-79 in Shipwrecks on Cape Cod.[1]

–11  AP. “Blame Crew of Schooner for Collision.” Syracuse Herald, NY. 10-301927, p. 1.

–11  AP. “Stories of Rescue Told By Survivors.” North Adams Transcript, MA. 10-31-1927, p.1.

–11  Sheedy, R. “The Avalon,” Out of Gloucester 9(website). Accessed 9-16-2024.

Narrative Information

Sheedy, R. “The Avalon,” Out of Gloucester 9(website):

“Smashing her way through a blinding fog, the Boston bound liner Presidente Wilson, early this morning rammed and sank the local fishing schooner Avalon owned by the William H. Jordan Vessels Company, taking a toll of 11 lives.  The captain, Edmund Vogler, his father Jabez Vogler and his cousin Clifford Vogler, were among the crew who perished.

“A definite crew list is not available at the present time, but it is believed that the craft carried 14 men, being five short on her regular complement.   Three of the crew were saved and two of the bodies of the crew were recovered and taken on board of the liner, and transferred to the destroyer Burroughs which at 11 o’clock this morning, was still standing by the scene of the wreck searching for other bodies.

“Only meager information could be obtained up to noon, but from dispatches and radio sent to news services it was stated that the accident occurred this morning at 4 o’clock in latitude 42.09 North longitude 70.02 West.  This would place the sinking approximately off of Peaked Hill bar.

“From the information received, it would lead one to believe that the men were trapped below deck, and never had a fighting chance for their lives. this being borne out by the finding of the two bodies, the men having undoubtedly been killed to float on the surface.

“The Avalon, after having discharged 9000 pounds of fresh mackerel at the Pier in Boston yesterday afternoon, left early in the evening for fishing.  Most of the seiners have been taking their fish off of Provincetown of late and it is supposed she was bound there to try her luck.

“A murky fog over-hung the lowlands of the Cape this morning, and visibility was poor.  On this account, fishermen say that the crew, all except the watch and wheelsman, would have been below decks.  Whether they heard the warning whistles of the giant liner as she hove down toward the and tried to avoid the fatality, or whether it all happened in an instant, cannot be told until the three survivors reach home.

“The three men reported safe on the destroyer are Nicholas Walsh, 55, Alvin Fleet, a cousin of Capt. Ambrose Fleet, both of Gloucester, and Frank (Frenchy) Hemeon, 44, of Shelburne, N. S.  The known members of the crew up to noon were:

Capt. Edmund F. Vogler, of Port Joli, N. S., married, one daughter in Gloucester
Jabez Vogler, his father, of Port Joli, N. S., also resided in Gloucester
Clifford Vogler, engineer, of Port Joli, N. S.
Harry Anderson, the cook, native of Liverpool, N. S.
Charles White, believed to be from Sandy Point, N. S.
Frank Calder, native of Yarmouth, N. S.
Russell Dahl, believed to be from Sandy Point, N. S.
Manley Peterson, resident of Jordan, Shelburne County, N. S.
William Hemeon of Sandy Point, N. S., leaves a widow and five children
Everett Horton, resident of Gloucester, leaves widow and two children
one man not yet unidentified (tentatively identified as James Jamieson of Truro, N.S. )
(Original article listed only the first seven names.  Other names and personal information were added from an article published on Oct. 31, 1927.)

“Following the accident, the Presidente Wilson radioed to the Coast Guard and the Destroyer Burroughs and 125 foot patrol boat Alert, hustled under full steam to the scene of the disaster.  At great risk they plunged through heavy banks of fog, and arrived in a very short time by the liner’s sides.  The three men saved were transferred to the Boroughs and will remain with her until she gives up her search for the bodies.  Cruising around, the Alert found the seiners seine boat and has started to Boston with the boat in tow.

“Information from the destroyer gave the location of the accident as a “few miles south east of the Highlands” and that the craft sank immediately after getting rammed.  No wreckage floated on the surface.

“The Avalon was built in Essex in 1902 and was 124 tons gross, 100 feet long, and equipped with gasoline engines.  She was valued at $20,000 and was covered by insurance.  Because of a heavy fog which still hangs over the Cape, the Burroughs was unable to do anything more than hang around, hoping that the fog will lift and give an opportunity to search.”

Small, Isaac M. “A Terrible Disaster,” pp. 78-79 in Shipwrecks on Cape Cod:

“For several years the Pacific Mail Steamship Company has been operating a fleet of several large ocean liners, each bearing the name of a President of the United States. These ships had been making around the world trips, and in 1927 one of these ships, the Presidente Wilson, was under charter to the Cosulich Line, an Italian company. In the autumn of 1927, the Presidente Wilson was returning from an all around the world trip, with a large passenger list and tons of freight from Europe and the Far East, to Boston. She had left Seattle quite a number of days before, passed through the Panama Canal, touched at New York and on to Boston, which would end the trip….

“She left New York on the morning of October 28th, and on the morning of the 29th, at four o’clock in the morning, she had reached a point four miles directly east of Highland Light. Out of the thick mist not a hundred yards away, directly in the ship’s path, loomed the masts and faint outlines of a fishing schooner, which later proved to be the Avalon, a vessel of about a hundred tons, with home port at Gloucester, bound on a fishing trip to the banks. She had left Boston the afternoon before and was jogging along under short sail waiting for the fog to lift. She was under such small amount of sail that she could not have moved had she made the attempt.

“The oncoming great ship, towering many feet above her, had no chance to swing clear of the fishing craft and amid the clanging of bells, the blast of steam whistles, and the shouts and screams

of those both on the big ship and on the fishing boat, they came together with a crash. The momentum of the huge craft carried her right on over the Avalon and sent her, broken and wrecked,

to the bottom of the sea, carrying with her nearly all of her crew, who were imprisoned in her cabin.

From the time of the crash until she had disappeared beneath the sea, there had been no time for the crew to escape.

“The Avalon had a crew of sixteen men and only three of them escaped with their lives, these three being the deck watch at the time. The other thirteen were in their bunks and had no chance to get to the surface before death overtook them.

“Boats from the ship were promptly put over and with those of other vessels which happened to be nearby cruised about the waters for several hours, but no other man of the fishing boat crew was recovered.

“An hour after the disaster, the fog which had been responsible for this tragedy cleared all away, the sun shone brightly and the blue waters of the sea rolled smoothly on. The big liner steamed away on her course and thirteen unfortunate sailors lay dead on the bottom of the sea….”

Newspaper

Oct 30, AP: “Boston, Oct. 29 (AP) – Blame for the collision in which 11 members of the crew of the Gloucester fishing schooner Avalon were lost when the schooner was rammed by the steamship Presidente Wilson off Cape Cod early today was placed upon the schooner’s crew in a statement issued this afternoon by Harold J. Pelstel, agent for the steamship line….’At 4:15 this morning the Presidente Wilson was in collision with the Gloucester fishing schooner Avalon four miles south of Highland Light which at that time was invisible,’ the statement said….” (AP. “Blame Crew of Schooner for Collision.” Syracuse Herald, NY. 10-301927, p. 1.)

Oct 31, AP: “….From Boston came details of the rescue of three of the crew of fourteen that had set out from Gloucester for the fishing grounds in the schooner Avalon, which was rammed and sunk by the Italian liner Presidente Wilson. The men on the schooner sighted the liner half mile astern about 15 minutes before the collision, said Eldin Fleet, helmsman of Gloucester, one of the three saved. ‘Captain Vogler, who went down with his vessel, had just hone below and I called him back,’ Fleet said. ‘When he saw the ship over-hauling us and knew a collision was  imminent he ordered the auxiliary engine started and hauled off to port. A few minutes later it seemed to us that the Wilson also followed that direction. We kept our fog horn going and Captain Vogler continually flashed a torch to attract the ships attention. When the liner kept on the same course the Avalon went about to starboard tack and the Presidente Wilson seemed to alter her course. The vessels kept zig zagging. The schooner was overtaken on the starboard tack, the liner striking her on the port bow. The big ship cut deep into the Avalon and pushed her down. Most of the dories were filled with water. Only one boat was lowered with three men in it and it capsized.’ Fleet said he floated about a few minutes and then found an upturned dory to which he clung. Nicholas Walsh, who was also saved, held to the same boat.” (Associated Press. “Stories of Rescue Told By Survivors.” North Adams Transcript, MA. 10-31-1927, p.1.)

Sources

Associated Press. “Blame Crew of Schooner for Collision…11 Perish in Sea.” Syracuse Herald, NY. 10-301927, p. 1. Accessed 9-16-2024 at:

https://newspaperarchive.com/syracuse-herald-oct-30-1927-p-142/

Associated Press. “Stories of Rescue Told By Survivors.” North Adams Transcript, MA. 10-31-1927, p.1. Accessed 9-16-2024 at:

https://newspaperarchive.com/north-adams-transcript-oct-31-1927-p-1/

Sheedy, R. “The Avalon,” Out of Gloucester 9(website). Accessed 9-16-2024 at: https://www.downtosea.com/1926-1950/avalon.htm

Small, Isaac M. Shipwrecks on Cape Cod. Accessed 9-16-2024 at:

https://baalroom-static.s3.amazonaws.com/media/files/books/2024/03/Shipwrecks_on_Cape_Cod.pdf

[1] Given that newspaper reporting at the time put the loss of life at eleven and that Sheedy names the eleven victims, we do not use thirteen as the number of fatalities.