Here is my excerpt from my travel memoir, Mystic Seafarer's Trail, on the Metis:
Although Perry was able to save his entire crew when the Revenge struck Watch Hill Reef, some captains traversing this heavily trafficked area have suffered enormous passenger losses. In August 1872, when the steamer Metis left New York toward Providence with 104 passengers, including children, plus 45 crew members, it experienced decreased visibility in a strengthening gale. At approximately 3:45 a.m. on August 30, when it was five miles south of Watch Hill Light, it collided with a schooner. The damage to the hull of the Metis appeared to be minor so it was decided to continue toward Providence. Within a mile, however, heavy seas further opened the hull and she began to sink fast. When the upper deck broke loose, 30 people managed to ride it toward shore and the rescue boats heading their way. Those below the steamer’s deck went down with the ship. Bodies washed ashore for several weeks on Block Island and the Rhode Island coast. A framed, spoon-like object made of wood from the Metis, which now lies 130 feet below the surface, can be seen hanging on the wall of the Watch Hill Lighthouse museum.
Captain Bill Palmer of Wallingford, Conn., owner operator of the charter vessel, Thunderfish, not only takes passengers sport fishing and shark cage diving, but also to explore shipwrecks such as the Metis. He said, “There’s not much left of the Metis except for the machinery because worms in the water eat the wood. But beneath the sand, lies her cargo. I’ve found china, and friends of mine have found luggage tags made with brass numbers on leather. One friend found a safe with steamship tickets inside.”
###
I am also looking for information on Mystic-built ships (or under the command of a Mystic captain) that wrecked anywhere in the world. For example, I was thrilled when the Mystic River Historical Society found this article for me on the City of Waco. I revised my Mystic Seafarer's Trail book to include an interview with the diver who explored the wreck.
Excerpt from Mystic Seafarer's Trail regarding the City of Waco:
More than 13,000
souls, many on Mystic’s “Who’s Who” list of 19th century ship
builders and sea captains, have been laid to rest at Elm Grove Cemetery. I became particularly interested in the tall obelisk depicting the
steamship, City of Waco, which tells how Captain Thomas E. Wolfe died piloting her when it caught
fire off the port of Galveston in 1875. He was 44 when his ship erupted into
flames and sank. His body was found two miles away. He literally died with his
boots on—a dramatic end to a man who led a dramatic life.
Born January 20,
1831, Wolfe’s life of adventure began at age 14 when he went out to sea as a
ship’s boy. A year later, he embarked on a whaling voyage to the Indian Ocean
for nearly two years. During the California Gold Rush, Wolfe caught gold fever
with two Mystic buddies and sailed around Cape Horn to California in 1850.
Probably realizing more died of scurvy than found gold, they headed back to
Mystic.
During the Civil
War, Captain Wolfe transported supplies from New York to New Orleans. When his
ship Texana was captured by Confederates
near the mouth of the Mississippi River, it was burned and Wolfe and his crew
were taken prisoners. Initially, Wolfe’s letters to his wife Frances from
Castle Thunder Prison in Richmond were upbeat because he assumed he
would be included in a prisoner exchange. He encouraged her not to worry
and to keep their three children comfortable. But as time slipped by, Wolfe
revealed his growing despair in this letter dated Dec. 23, 1863:
Dear Wife,
...The children must have grown very much
since I left home it is most nine months. It makes me homesick to look out of
my prison window and see little children the age of ourn a playing in the
street.
… the hours hang heavy. My former occupation
of a sailor may have fitted me somewhat to bare the disappointments and hardships
of prison life. it is worse than working to the westward off Cape Horn for one
will occasionally gain a little on their course their but here it is the same
thing every day…
In the following
month he wrote: “If I was home I think I should enjoy the skating…but I see
no prospect of getting there very soon…I expect little Emma has forgot her da
da.”
Later transferred
to North Carolina’s Salisbury Prison, Wolfe and his fellow prisoners were cold
and starving. On the rainy night of December 18, 1864, he made a daring escape
with four companions and headed north. During their grueling, 340-mile trek
through enemy territory that included the Blue Ridge Mountains, Wolfe faced
sleepless nights on the frozen ground, hours hidden under damp fodder, barking
dogs, and a companion’s snoring that put them at constant risk of discovery.
Although Wolfe could barely limp along as a result of his sprained ankle, he
provided some comic relief with stories of his past adventures.
One of the
escapees, New York Tribune reporter Albert Richardson, wrote about a 12-mile
section of road that crossed a frigid stream 29 times with only foot logs for
pedestrians. “Cold and stiff, we discovered that crossing the smooth, icy logs
in the darkness was a hazardous feat. Wolfe was particularly lame, and slipped
several times into the icy torrent, but managed to flounder out without much
delay.”
It was the food,
warmth and guidance offered by slaves and Union sympathizers with secret
handshakes, plus Wolfe’s knowledge of celestial navigation, that brought them
to safety. Richardson recalled, “We
walked about a mile through the dense woods, when Captain Wolfe, who had been
all the time declaring that the North Star was on the wrong side of us, convinced
our pilot [their temporary guide] that he had mistaken the road, and we
retraced our steps to the right thoroughfare.”[i]
Captain Wolfe
finally made it back to Mystic on his 34th birthday--January 20, 1865. He
recuperated and went back to sea. He lost another vessel, the steamer Loyalist, while on the way to New Orleans, but all hands were saved. However, when
the City of Waco caught fire on a stormy night in November 1875, all 56
passengers and crew perished. The New York Times reported the events
that began to unfold just after midnight on Nov. 9, 12:30 a.m. A mate from a
nearby steamer said the City of Waco “appeared to be one mass of
flames...he heard cries of distress from five or six persons in the water. One
was the voice of a woman or child clinging to what appeared to be a spar or
piece of one of the vessel's masts… but every soul had been washed off of it...
"
Only three
bodies were recovered—one of them Wolfe’s. It appeared to have burn marks and
looked as though he had been trying to cut off his boots. His body was shipped
back to Mystic for burial.
If you have any info on unclaimed bodies or Mystic related wrecks, that you are willing to share, please contact me at:
Lisa Saunders, LisaSaunders42@gmail.com, or visit: www.authorlisasaunders.com
If you would like to read my travel memoir, which includes more Mystic-related wrecks and sea captains, it's available in Mystic area shops or online: Mystic Seafarer's Trail: Secrets behind the 7 Wonders, Titanic's Shoes, Captain Sisson's Gold, and Amelia Earhart's Wedding
