AH-WR-0005

Chester A. Poling

Coastal Tankship · United States · Lost 1977 · Cape Ann & the Gulf of Maine

Caught in a violent January storm off Cape Ann in 1977, this coastal tanker snapped in two and sank. Her bow and stern rest as separate wreck sites.

Become Captain of Record See Shipwreck on Map

Artistic recreation based on recorded historical documents.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

She was a small ship in a hard trade: coastal tankers worked the New England run year-round, including through winter. On the morning of 10 January 1977, six miles off Cape Ann in a severe storm, her hull failed aft of the pilothouse and she broke apart. Members of her crew were lost. The Coast Guard investigated the structural failure formally, and the case entered the literature of marine casualty engineering. Both halves of her went down and both are documented today off Gloucester, recognised by the Massachusetts Board of Underwater Archaeological Resources.

Timeline

10 January 1977
Hull fracture and breakup off Cape Ann
The vessel broke in two during a severe winter storm, with loss of life.
27 December 1979
Coast Guard marine casualty report issued

Vessel

Built: Not established
Builder: Not established
Yard: Not established
Material: Not established
Length: 281 ft
Beam: Not established
Tonnage: Not established
Propulsion: Not established
Owners: Not established

Loss

Date: January 10, 1977
Cause: Mechanical failure
Location: About six nautical miles east-southeast of Cape Ann, Massachusetts
Water: Gulf of Maine
Voyage: Everett, Massachusetts → Newington, New Hampshire
Cargo: Petroleum product
Aboard: Not established
Lives lost: Loss of life is confirmed by the United States Coast Guard casualty investigation title; the number of fatalities is not established in the sources reviewed and must be verified before publication.
Master: Not established

The Wreck Today

Depth: Not established
Condition: Broken in two; bow and stern sections are documented as separate wreck sites
Orientation: Not established
Discovered: Not established
Protection: Recognised by the Massachusetts Board of Underwater Archaeological Resources

Position

Coordinates: 42.57° N 70.67° W
Accuracy: Reported, unconfirmed
Nearest: Gloucester, Massachusetts
Region: Cape Ann & the Gulf of Maine

Stern section position reported by New England wreck-diving references as 42-34-25N/70-40-15W off Eastern Point, Gloucester; not a government survey position.