AH-WR-1849

Idle Hour

Fishing Gillnetter · Lost April 1943. Disappeared after departing Saturday, April 3; exact sinking date and time unwitnessed. · Cape Ann & the Gulf of Maine

Idle Hour vanished on an Ipswich Bay fishing trip in April 1943; one body was recovered and two other men were later presumed lost.

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Artistic recreation based on recorded historical documents.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

Idle Hour was built at Kennebunkport in 1933 for John D. Gillis. The 40-foot V-bottom auxiliary deck boat later passed through John Leveille's ownership to Everett W. Staten. She disappeared after leaving Gloucester April 3, 1943, to lift gill nets in Ipswich Bay. Famiglia recovered Herbert P. Wennerberg's body the next day; the account reported no trace of the boat. Staten and Manuel Viator were later given up as lost; the sinking mechanism remained unknown.

Vessel

Built: 1933
Builder: Not established
Yard: Kennebunkport, Maine
Material: Not established
Length: 40 ft
Beam: Not established
Tonnage: Not established
Propulsion: Chrysler automobile engine used for marine propulsion
Owners: Built for John D. Gillis; John Leveille; sold to Everett W. Staten in summer 1942

Loss

Date: April 1943. Disappeared after departing Saturday, April 3; exact sinking date and time unwitnessed.
Cause: Not established
Location: Presumed lost on an Ipswich Bay fishing trip from Annisquam, Massachusetts; actual sinking locality unknown
Water: Ipswich Bay and adjacent Gulf of Maine
Voyage: Jordan wharf, Gloucester, Massachusetts → Gill nets in Ipswich Bay, reported nine miles north-northeast of Annisquam Light
Cargo: Not established
Aboard: 3
Lives lost: 3
Master: Not established

The Wreck Today

Depth: Not established
Condition: Not established
Orientation: Not established
Discovered: Not established
Protection: Not established

Position

Coordinates: Not established
Accuracy: Position not established
Nearest: Annisquam and Ipswich Bay, Massachusetts
Region: Cape Ann & the Gulf of Maine

Documented fishing destination and presumed loss area fit existing Cape Ann bounds. Neither intended nets nor body-recovery locality converted to wreck coordinates.

Evidence

Overall confidence: Partially documented (74/100)

Exact sinking date, mechanism, location, depth and remains are unknown; loss documented through disappearance, body recovery and later presumption of death.

R. Sheedy, Down to Sea — The Idle Hour
Full April 5, 1943 transcription and editorial addition: Kennebunkport 1933 for Gillis; 40-foot V-bottom auxiliary deck boat, Chrysler automobile engine; Leveille-to-Staten transfer; Saturday Ipswich Bay departure; three aboard; Sunday Wennerberg body recovery and nearby net boxes by Famiglia; no vessel found; remaining two later presumed lost. Fire and pounding only former-owner hypotheses.