THE BEAUFORT NEWS BEAUFORT, N. C.
Thursday, Aug. 21, 1941
Bones 01 Many Proud Old Ships Lie Buried Beneath The Sands Of Ocracoke Island
PAGE SIX
Island Is Backwash Of
Graveyard Of Atlantic
Ocracoke Is A Very
Strange Land To
Visitors
To the visitor going to Oc
racoke for the first time, the
island is a very strange
place. It is a land of dead live
oaks, tame wild geese and
fresh salt mullet. It is also a
place where the finest peo
ple in the world make their
homes. On the beach are the
remnants of proud old ships
which were lost in the grave
yard of the Atlantic and
came ashore in the backwash
of tides swirling through Hatteras
Bight. Ocracoke, like Hatteras Is
land, the "Cape Stormy" of the
Atlantic Coast, is wind swept and
storm swept, but so far there is no
record of anyone ever losing their
lives there during a hurricane, and
no house has ever been blown
down by the winds.
It is true that a few houses have
been undermined and washed
down during severe gales which
brought sea tides across the vil
lage but these cases have been
very few indeed. The people of
Ocracoke are proud of their an
cestry. They know that they are
descendants, perhaps, of ship
wrecked mariners but they are
proud of this whether their ances
tor was of Anglo Saxon or Arab
ian stock. Ocracoke probably had
its founding as a result of a ship
wreck, and this is a story about
some of the ships.
A few days ago on Ocracoke Is
land I rode across the beach and
went crabbing in the surf. If you
have never tried crabbing in the
surf you have something to look
forward to, because you have to
match your wits against a crustac
ean which apparently has no sense
at all, but can run sideways fast
er than you can run forward un
less you are in the Olympic class.
Leaving the crabbing up to Brant
ley who can out-run his pappy, I
decided to go over and investigate
the ribbing of a huge piece of
wreckage recently exposed by a
sea tide that washed over the
beach.
My companion told me that this
was what was left of the old four
masted schooner Victoria S., which
foundered in the surf of the island
about 15 years ago while enroute
to some northern port from
Georgetown, laden with pine lum
ber. The lumber was sold at a
vendue and most of it was bought
by a firm in Morehead City and
transhipped, but some of the ship
wrecked timber was used in the
construction of new homes on Oc
racoke. Sand and time have greatly
splintered up the remainder of the
wreck. The decking, or part of it.
is still intact and so are many
pieces of the ribbing in the hull.
The old wreckage is interesting
thought and because it is near Oc
racoke community, within easy
walking distance for persons going
to the surf, this disfigured corpse
of a once proud sailing vessel is
perhaps the most photographed
ship wreck along the coast today.
Unless you allow plenty for the ex
treme bright sunlight and the wat
er and sand reflections plus the
clear atmosphere existing on the
island perhaps the photo you made
was burned up (over exposed)
anyway that is what happened to
mine and I was using a k-2 filter
at the time.
The old piece of wreckage is only
one of many old ships whose bones
now lay on Ocracoke Beach. To
wards the inlet there are other
wrecks but most of them are Down
Below in the Hammock and Great
Swash region. There are more
wrecks on Ocracoke beach than at
Hatteras and the stranger won
ders why. The answer is that Oc
racoke beach is a sort of backwash
for ships getting in troubble off
Diamond Shoals, that section of the
ocean which has long been known
by mariners as "the Graveyard of
the Atlantic."
Coming northward the sailing is
clear as long as the mariner keeps
in the current of the Gulf Stream
which moves up the coast at the
rate of about six miles an hour un
til it reaches Hatteras and then
curves to the northeastward. Ships
in sailing days would leave the
stream off Diamond Shoals and if
conditions were favorably they
continued northward in the wat
ers of the North Atlantic which
meet the warmer waters of the
oSuth Atlantic at Hatteras. If the
weather was stormy and that is
not unusual because the region is
the "Cape Stormy" of the Atlan
tic Coast vessels leaving the
stream would get in the currents
swirling through Hatteras Bight
eventually if unlucky, would
boomerang back onto the beach at
Ocracoke.
THE CHOSTSHIP
There are the bones of many fa
mous old shipwrecks on Ocracoke
Beach today. Sometimes they are
covered with sand but when ex
posed, many of the most famous
can be identified by the islander
who may be accompanying you
along the beach. One of the most
famous is the old "ghost ship."
And that is a story for you!
The lookout on duty at the Hat
teras Inlet Coast Guard station at
dawn on January 21, 1921, saw a
5-masted schooner under full sail
aground on the Outer Diamond of
Diamond Shoals. No distress sig
nals were flying. When the station
surfboat reached the schooner, the
crew found it utterly deserted
except for a cat. It was the Car
roll A. Deering, home port Bath,
Maine, in ballast from Barbados to
Portland. She had lost both an
chors, and both lifeboats were
missing; otherwise all was well. If
the crew had abandoned ship they
must have left in a hurry, for
there was food standing in the pots
on the galley range and on the
plates laid on the. mess table.
Only the previous afternoon the
Deering had hailed the Lookout
Lighthouse 60 miles southwest
ward, reporting she had lost her
anchors in a two-day storm asking
that Norfolk be wirelessed to send
a tug to tow her in. The lightship's
wireless was out of order, but a
steamer appearing southbound
soon after, the lightship hailed her
to stand by for a message.
Ghost Ship Of The Graveyard Of The Atlantic
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Instead the steamer altered its
course, heading off shore and the
deck of the crew unfurl'd a tar
paulin and lowered it over the
counter, hiding the steamer's
name. The daughter of the Deer
ing's master demanded that an in
vestigation be made, which devel
oped that the Deering master had
spoken to the Cape Fear Lightship
five days earlier. The storm ap
peared to account for the delay.
Nothing more was learned, al
though just about every investigat
ing division of the Government
worked on the case for many
months trying to solve the mys
tery. Nothing more was learned
of the Deering's crew and after 20
years the crew is still missing and
the possible connection of the
steamer with the mystery is only
surmise.
In the same period the steamer
Hewitt, Texas to Boston, vanished
without trace off Hatteras.
FLYING DUTCHMAN
Few ships have ever grounded on
Diamond Shoals and come off
that is, nothing came off except
the wreckage which usually fetches
up on Ocracoke Beach. The Mau
rice R. Thurlow was a notable ex
ception. She struck in a storm or.
October 13, 1927. The lookout at
Cape Hatteras Station, 10 miles
northeast of Ocracoke Island,
sighted her distress signal and mo
tor lifeboats put out and saved the
crew of nine.
When the morning of the four
teenth dawned, the Thurlow had
vanished. It could not have brok
en up in that time although
strange things happen in the
Graveyard of the Atlantic so the
Coast Guard Cutter Mascoutin
was dispatched from Norfolk to
search for her. The cutter found
no trace, but 13 days later a
Dutch oil tanker sighted the vessel
in the North Atlantic. More Coast
Guard vessels put out to run down
the Flying Dutchman, but she wa?
never sighted again a phantom
ship.
OTHER WRECKS
Lafct vessel lost in Ocracoke wat
ers was the Albatross, world's larg
est beam trawler. She put in to
Morehead City during a storm on
her first fishing voyage out of
Hampton, Va., after veing trans
formed into a trawler, sailed on
one celar morning, went to Ocra
coke $ Inlet and promptly went
aground not so far from the
shoal in the inlet where the Portu
gese "Vera Cruz" foundered back
in 1904. That was in 1939 and
the vessel wa sa complete loss des
pite the fact that owners hwd div
ers trying to recover the engines
for several weeks.
This Vera Cruz which founder
ed in the Inlet was loaded to the
gunnels with three or four hun
dred Cape Verde Island Negro im
migrants, who were cast ashore on
Portsmouth beach, succored there
for a few days and subsequently
returned except those with the
proper entrance papers to the
Cape Verde Island. The "evil"
master of the vessel "Vera Cruz"
escaped before the Revenue Cut
ter arrived from New Bern, and
with him went the personal beolng-
mgs of many of his passengers. It
was later learned that he was try
ing to enter the immigrants into
America without proper papers
and that he finally left the coun
try without being caught in a
sperm oil barrel aboard a New
Bedford whaler.
The first six-masted schooner
ever built the George W. Wells.
and a British tramp, the Brewster, J
both foundered on the same day
on Ocracoke Beach. The Brewster
was finally able to be refloated,
SHE FINALLY FETCHED UP
ON THE BEACH AT OCRACOKE
Twenty years ago the 5-masted schoon
er Carroll A. Derring foundered on the
Outer Diamond of Diamond Shoals.
With all sails set, Coast Guard went to
her aid but found not a soul aboard. An
investigation was held by several gov
ernmental agencies, but what became of the
crew was not learned and the mystery is still
unsolved. Months after the vessel stranded and
broke to pieces her bow washed ashore on Oc
racoke Beach. Part of the old "ghostship" is
shown in photo at right. Persons in the picture
are Brantley Brown and Miss Ruth Lewis of
Beaufort and Miss Hattie Styron and David
Gaskill of Ocracoke. (Sketch of Deering by
Jesse A. Giles Photos by Aycock Brown).
but the Wells was a total loss. That
was back in 1913. A section of the
beach at Ocracoke until this day
is known by the natives as The
Wells.
The fabled wreck of all goes
back eighty-seven years when the
Flying Cloud wrecked. For years I
was under the impression that this
Flying Cloud was the famous clip
per. After Cape Stormy in the
Post, Wesley Stout, its editor, was
embarrassed because I had tied in
a Flying Cloud with my Ocracoke
story. The clipper, as you prob
ably do not know, did not end her
career until in the 1870's. I listed
a Flying Cloud wrecking on Ocra
coke Beach in 1854.
Jamie Styron, a commercial
fisherman and guide, had the fig
urehead, inherited from his father
which reputedly came from the old
Flying Cloud and Jamie's brother
Lige will still sing the chantey
which was composed by an islander
i about the ship that begins like this:
Oh! I looked to the east'ard,
And I looked to the west'ard
And I saw ole Flying Cloud
a-comin'
She was loaded with silks,
And the finest of satins,
But now she's gone across Jordan
After Cape Stormy, the Post
editor called this apparent error to
my attention. A few days later
from some small port on Lonw Is
land came a letter to thee Post
which was forwerded to me from
an old timer saying: "It could not
have been the famous clipper
"Flying Cloud" but perhaps it was
a Barkentine by the name of Fly
ing Cloud, built in 1853 and pre
sumably lost on a South Atlantitc
Beach the following year. Of this
I have no further information. The
"Flying Cloud Figurehead" which
Jamie Styron owned was eventual
ly sold to a summer resident at
Nags Head who uses it with other
souvenirs of the sea to decorate
the cottage.
Wrecks not only are fewer to
day but they are laden , with no
silks and satins. A vendue in the
Flying Cloud's time must have
been something to. remember.
Worst wreck in the number of
lives lost was that of the sidewheel
packet "Home" off Ocracoke in
1837, almost a hundred drowning.
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politano, commercial designer.
The Camp Davis soldier won the
Special Merit award in an interna
tional poster contest for the pre
vention of war. His was the best
poster in the state of New Jersey
in a contest designed to promote
preservation of wild life. His
painting, "Boone's First Sight of
Kentucky," won for him a schol
arship. At present oSik is assigned to
Training Battery No. 2 of the Bar
rage Balloon Training Center. In
his leisure time the soldier artist
keeps in painting trim. If authori
ties sanction the chapel mural i
plan, Soik probably will use "Re
ligion in American History" as his
theme.
Sgt. Wood V. F. W-
Not A Selectee
CAMP DAVIS, Aug. 21. Sgt.
.Albert E. Wood of Camp Davis , hi s military aptitudes
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-FOR-
MANY YEARS
The Favorite Bakery Product On
Ocracoke Island
Has Been
BETTS BREAD
And The Products Of
IB IE TITS
WAiKmmw
of
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Shipped Daily To The Following
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Art And The Army
Meet At Camp Davis
CAMP DAVIS, Aug. 21. Art
and the army may seem miles
apart, but Artist Paul Soik, Jr.,
New Jersey selectee, might receive
his most important assignment in
the military atmosphere of Camp
Davis. He is being considered to
paint murals for the eight regi
mental chapels now under con
struction at the trainine center.
Soik, 22 years old, already has
an illustrious background for an
artist so youthful. He first achiev
ed notice as a senior in Lyndhurst,
N. J. high school, where he was
are editor of the covered year
book. As a student, his class pro
grams were different, his posters
were meaningful.
From the beginning, Soik has
honesty recorded his impressions
of life, spurning surrealism. After
graduating from high school, he
attended the Arts Career school
in New York City, studying under
Lee Kimmel, nationally known il
lustrator; Penrhyn Stanlaws, por
trait artist; Miss Paula Hitchison,
fashion illustrator, and Justice Na-
finds himself in the unique posi
tion of being a member of the Vet
erans of Foreign Wars and a se
lectee at the same time, a coinci
dence which officers say might be
without parallel in the army.
The soldier qualified for mem
bership in the V. F. W. by serving
with the U. S. Marines during the
second Nicaraguan campaign. He
was with the Marines from 1928
until 1931, when he was discharg
ed. '
On that day in 1931 when he re
ceived his discharge papers, Pvt.
First Class Wood didn't have the
slightest idea he would be in the
army ten years later.
When he returned from service
to his home in Dearborn, Michi
gan, Wood became an active mem
ber of the Veterans of Foreign
Wars and of the Military Order of.
the Cottie. He even was a member
of the V. F. W. national champion
ship drum and bugle corps.
After entering the service for
the second time, the "Cottie" or
der saw fit to make Wood "Su
preme Aide-de-Camp," a national
officer.
Wood had a rather low number
in the national selective service
lottery and was called back to duty
last spring, being assigned to Bat
tery A of the 93rd Coast Artillery
regiment, one of the first units to
be activated at Camp Davis.
He started out as a buck private,
but officers were quick to notice
Promotions
first to corporal, then to serg
eant came quickly. Sgt. Wood is
finding the new army to his liking.
But he can't suppress a smile
as he looks back to 1931, when he
thought his military career had
ended.
Prices running into four figures
have been common at beef cattle
sales this year, as the industry has
enjoyed the most successful pure
bred season in 20 years.
Calf Stream Fishing
OFF CAPE HATTERAS
Do'phin, Amberjack, Blue Marlin
For Full Information Write or Wire:
Guide
Cap!. Vernon Willis
Cruiser "THE WILLIS"
Hatteras P. O.
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We Have Helped Make
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W. G. WILLIS
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OUR STORE CARRIES A COMPLETE LINE OF
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