I'm Alone
Schooner · Canada · Lost 1929 · The Gulf of Mexico
A Canadian rum-running schooner shelled and sunk by a U.S. Coast Guard cutter in 1929, sparking a Prohibition-era international incident.
Become Captain of Record
The Vessel and Her Loss
I'm Alone was a Nova Scotia-built auxiliary schooner that spent six years running liquor from the Caribbean to U.S. waters during Prohibition. On 22 March 1929 the Coast Guard cutter Wolcott began a pursuit joined by the cutter Dexter, which fired on and sank the schooner in the Gulf of Mexico when she refused to stop. One crewman drowned. The sinking, of a foreign-flagged vessel far offshore, ignited a diplomatic dispute between the United States and Canada that was ultimately settled by international arbitration.
Vessel
- 1923
- Not established
- Lunenburg, Nova Scotia
- Wood
- 125 ft
- Not established
- 205
- Sail and auxiliary diesel engines
- Registered to Canadian interests; U.S. arbitration later found American beneficial ownership
Loss
- March 22, 1929
- Intentional sinking
- Gulf of Mexico, roughly 200 miles south of Louisiana
- Gulf of Mexico
- Belize → Rum Row, Gulf of Mexico
- Liquor
- 8
- 1
- John T. "Jack" Randell
The Wreck Today
- Not established
- Not established
- Not established
- Not established
- Not established
Position
- Not established
- Position not established
- About 200 miles south of the Louisiana coast
General area reported in accounts; no verified wreck position located
Evidence
Overall confidence: Documented (80/100)
The precise wreck position in the Gulf of Mexico has never been established or surveyed.
U.S. Coast Guard Historian's Office / Naval History Magazine
Circumstances of pursuit and sinking, vessels involved
University of New Orleans ScholarWorks thesis on the I'm Alone incident
Diplomatic and legal aftermath, casualty details
