1934 — Nov 9, Schooner John R. Manta lost after sailing from Providence, RI     –31-32

Compiled by Wayne Blanchard; last edit 12-12-2024 for upload to: http://www.usdeadlyevents.com/

Blanchard note: We choose to show a range of 31-32 deaths based on the Sunday Standard Times and Berman sources below, though we speculate that 32 is the actual loss, based on the provision of a breakout of crew and passenger deaths, amounting to 32. We also speculate that the 42 deaths noted by Hanks in a 1960 Sunday Standard-Times article is an error, since his source must have been the earlier Sunday Standard-Times article.

–42  Hanks. “No More Packets to the Cape Verdes.” Sunday Standard-Times, New Bedford MA, 8-21-1960.

–32  Sunday Standard-Times, New Bedford, MA. “Famous Shipwrecks of New England.” 6-3-1945.

            –19  Crew

            –13  Passengers

–31  Berman, Bruce D.  Encyclopedia of American Shipwrecks. 1972, p. 50.

Narrative Information

Hanks: “When the one-time whaling schooner John R. Manta sailed from Providence in 1934 to carry her forty-two passengers and crew into oblivion, there came to an end the packet service that had operated between Providence, R. I., and the Cape Verde Islands for forty-three years….

Sunday Standard-Times, New Bedford, MA. “Famous Shipwrecks of New England.” 6-3-1945:

“In the history of shipwrecks there must be included a chapter in which Cape Verde packets have contributed a considerable share. In the long history of the packet trade carried on between New Bedford, Providence and the Cape Verde Islands, there are numerous instances of vessels leaving port to be lost completely to sight. The packets, usually schooners refitted after they had been retired from whaling and the coasting trade, were manned by men who knew the sea. They were expert navigators, but when the comparatively small schooners ran into storms, it was by chance that some reached their destination, while others went down and were never heard of again.

“Two packets that went down at sea were the converted whaling schooner John R. Manta, which sailed from Providence Nov. 9, 1934, carrying a crew of 19 and 13 passengers, and the schooner Winnepesaukee, which cleared from New Bedford a few days later carrying a crew of 13, but no passengers.

“Captain Albertino Senna, commanding the Manta, and Captain Francisco Fernandez, master of the Winnepesaukee, were both experienced mariners and well known in New Bedford. As time went on and no word came from either vessel, hope was given up. Somewhere in a storm at sea the schooners went to the bottom, whether in the darkness of night or otherwise was never known….

“After a summer spent in refitting and rigging the old ship the Manta sailed from Providence for Brava on November 8^th, 1934, with a crew of nineteen and a passenger list of thirteen, including three women and six children….it was believed a storm overtook the ship only three or four days out and that she went down during a wild night….

“The last hope for the Manta and her people was abandoned February 24^th, 1935, when the vessel had been missing 107 days. No survivors or wreckage has ever been seen to this day.”

Sources

Berman, Bruce D. Encyclopedia of American Shipwrecks. Boston: Mariners Press Inc., 1972.

Hanks, Carlos C. “No More Packets to the Cape Verdes.” Sunday Standard-Times, New Bedford MA, 8-21-1960, pp. 47-48. Accessed 12-12-2024 at: https://ia802901.us.archive.org/35/items/williamhenrytri00tripb/williamhenrytri00tripb.pdf

Sunday Standard-Times, New Bedford, MA. “Famous Shipwrecks of New England.” 6-3-1945. Accessed 12-12-2024 at: https://ia802901.us.archive.org/35/items/williamhenrytri00tripb/williamhenrytri00tripb.pdf