AH-WR-1025

Isadore

Barque · United States · Lost 1842 · Cape Ann & the Gulf of Maine

A Kennebunk-built barque lost with all hands on her maiden voyage in a November 1842 gale, a wreck still remembered in the town's maritime lore.

Become Captain of Record

Artistic recreation based on recorded historical documents. See the documented evidence.

Interpretive Reconstruction, drawn to convey the vessel's era, type and general form. See the documented evidence.

The Vessel and Her Loss

Isadore was newly built at Kennebunk, Maine, when Captain Leander Foss sailed her on her maiden voyage on November 30, 1842, despite crew misgivings after a difficult launch and an ominous grazing of Perch Rock leaving the river. That night a severe gale wrecked the barque at Bald Head Cliff, and Foss and his entire crew of Kennebunk seamen were lost. The loss became one of the most enduring maritime legends of the Kennebunks.

Vessel

Built: 1842
Builder: Not established
Yard: Kennebunk, Maine
Material: Wood
Length: Not established
Beam: Not established
Tonnage: Not established
Propulsion: Sail
Owners: Not established

Loss

Date: November 30, 1842
Cause: Storm
Location: Bald Head Cliff, Kennebunkport (York), Maine
Water: Gulf of Maine
Voyage: Kennebunk, Maine
Cargo: Not established
Aboard: Not established
Lives lost: Captain Leander Foss and his entire crew, all seamen of the Kennebunks, were lost; the exact number aboard is not established in the sources reviewed.
Master: Leander Foss