Charles Dennis
Schooner · United States · Lost 1859 · Delaware Bay & the Approaches
A coal-laden schooner was cut through by drifting ice off Fourteen Foot Bank on New Year's Eve 1859, her crew saved by a tug sent from Lewes.
Become Captain of Record
The Vessel and Her Loss
The schooner Charles Dennis was carrying coal from Port Richmond on the Delaware River to New Bedford, Massachusetts, when she anchored off Fourteen Foot Bank in Delaware Bay amid heavy ice on 31 December 1859. Floating ice cut through her hull and she sank, drifting unmanageably with the floe while flying a distress signal. A lookout at the nearby U.S. Life-Saving station spotted her but could not reach her by lifeboat because of the ice, so a steam tug was called from Lewes, Delaware, and succeeded in rescuing all five of her crew.
Vessel
- Not established
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- Wood
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- Sail
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Loss
- December 31, 1859
- Ice
- At anchor off Fourteen Foot Bank, several miles above Cape May, Delaware Bay
- Delaware Bay
- Port Richmond, Delaware River → New Bedford, Massachusetts
- Coal
- 5
- 0
- Not established
The Wreck Today
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Position
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- Position not established
- Fourteen Foot Bank, Delaware Bay
Evidence
Overall confidence: Partially documented (55/100)
The schooner's dimensions, build year, and home port are not established in the sources reviewed.
Asbury Park Press / USA Today Network, "11 ships have wrecked on New Year's Eve"
Loss date, cause, cargo, route, and rescue narrative, quoting a period U.S. Life-Saving Service report.
