1905 — Aug 28, Steamer Peconic founders in gale, Atlantic Ocean, off Fernandina, FL– 20

— 20 Berman, Bruce D. Encyclopedia of American Shipwrecks. 1972, p. 139.
— 20 NYT. “Twenty of Crew Lost With Steamer Peconic…During a Gale…” 8-29-1905, p. 1.
— 20 Singer, S. D. Shipwrecks of Florida: A Comprehensive Listing (2nd Ed.), 1998, p. 182.
— 20 U.S. Bureau of Navigation. Merchant Vessels of the United States…1906, p. 386.
— 20 U.S. Steamboat Inspection Service. Annual Report 1906, p. 13.

Narrative Information

Berman: “Peconic…St.s. …1,855 [tons]…1881[ built]…Aug 28 1905…Foundered…Off Fernandina, Fla., iron vessel, 20 lives lost.” (Encyclopedia of American Shipwrecks. 1972, p.139.)

Singer: “Peconic – Steamer (iron), 1,855 tons, built in 1881. Foundered off Fernandina, Aug. 28, 1905. Twenty lives lost.” (Singer 1998, 182; citing: Congressional Information Service. United States Serial Set Index, Part 1-11, and Records of the National Archives. Wash., D.C.)

U.S. Bureau of Navigation: Two survivors. (Bureau of Navigation. Merchant Vessels of the United States…1906, p. 386.)

U.S. Steamboat Inspection Service: “…the steamship Peconic [foundered] on August 28, 1905, at a point off the northeast coast of Florida not actually determined, by which 20 souls perished…” (US SIS. Annual Report. 1906, 13.)

Newspaper

Apr. 29, NYT: “Twenty of Crew Lost With Steamer Peconic”
“Go Down During a Gale Off the Florida Coast.”
“Only Two Sailors Escape.”
“Great Wave Struck the Vessel as She Was Turning and Caused the Cargo to Shift.”

“Fernandina, Fla., Aug. 28. – Twenty men, constituting all but two of the officers and crew of the American steamship Peconic, bound from Philadelphia to New Orleans with coal, were drowned by the sinking of that vessel off the coast of Florida today. The disaster was the result of a fierce gale, which raged along the coast during the night and early morning.

“An immense wave struck the vessel with terrific force about 12:30 o’clock this morning. The impact, coming just as the vessel was making a turn, caused a shift of the cargo, and the vessel went over and sank immediately. The accident occurred so quickly that only two of those aboard her – an Italian and a Spaniard – were able to save themselves. They succeeded in getting into a lifeboat, reached Amelia Beach, and on landing told the story of the disaster.

“About midnight of Sunday, during the heaviest part of the storm which had raged all day, the office of the deck gave the order to put further out to sea, fearing they were approaching the coast too nearly. In the endeavor to turn, the ship was struck by a heavy sea, the cargo shifted, and she began sinking rapidly. In less than ten minutes after the alarm was sounded she had gone down.

“The escape of the two men out of all the ship’s crew was remarkable. One of these men was at the wheel at the time the order to go about was given; the other was on watch. As soon as the ship began to careen these two men rushed for one of the small boats, into which they jumped. With their knives they severed the ropes as the water’s level was reached and the small boat was thrown far out on the waves.

“Through the blackness and storm they saw a number of the awakened crew, some of whom had managed to crowd into another of the ship’s boats. This was, however, caught in the trough of the sea, thrown violently against the ventilators, and then wedged fast. The men’s pitiful cries for help could be heard as the ship went down.

“Alone through the remainder of the night in the awful wash of waters, with the storm raging and threatening each moment to swamp their small boat, the two survivors were gradually borne toward Amelia Island, where they landed at 11 o’clock this morning. Their condition was pitiable.

“The men, whose names are Bagellini Humberti and Antonio Clark, were unable to make themselves understood, and it was some time before the facts were ascertained.

“At the time of the disaster the ship was about twenty miles northeast of here, headed south and in the teeth of the gale.

“The only names that either of the survivors could give were Capt. Jones, Mate James, and Seamen Dominica Calaleno and Pasquale Indecicato. One says there were five Spanish firemen, one French sailor, one Spanish seaman besides himself, and the remainder were Italians.

“The vessel had been engaged in the fruit trade from Central America to New Orleans, but on account of the quarantine regulations prohibiting the import of bananas she had been engaged for two voyages to carry coal from Philadelphia to New Orleans.

“The Peconic was built at Liverpool, England, in 1881. She was 270 feet long, 34 feet 6 inches beam, and 22 feet 8 inches deep. She formerly sailed under the British flag and ran on the Phelps Brothers & Co.’s line between New York and Mediterranean ports. D. H. E. Jones, of the firm of J. W. Elwell & Co. of New York, is her present owner.” (NYT. “Twenty of Crew Lost With Steamer Peconic…During a Gale…” 8-29-1905, p. 1.)

Sources

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

New York Times. “Twenty of Crew Lost With Steamer Peconic. Go Down During a Gale Off the Florida Coast.” 8-29-1905, p. 1. Accessed 2-21-2021 at: https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1905/08/29/100492897.html?pageNumber=1

Singer, Steven D. Shipwrecks of Florida: A Comprehensive Listing (2nd Ed.). Sarasota, FL: Pineapple Press, Inc., 1998. Partially digitized by Google. Accessed 2-16-2021 at: http://books.google.com/books?id=6j6kjZQReqkC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_navlinks_s#v=onepage&q=&f=false

United States Bureau of Navigation, Department of Commerce and Labor. Thirty-Eighth Annual List of Merchant Vessels of the United States…For the Year Ended June 30, 1906. Wash.: GPO, 1906. Digitized by Google. Accessed 2-21-2021 at: http://books.google.com/books?id=ROEYAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=editions:LCCNsn88028129&lr=#v=onepage&q=&f=false

United States Steamboat-Inspection Service. Annual Report of the Supervising Inspector General, Steamboat-Inspection Service to the Secretary of Commerce and Labor for the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1906. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1906. 345 pages. Digitized by Google. Accessed 2-21-2021 at: https://books.google.com/books?id=ZVcpAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false