AH-WR-0052

Levin J. Marvel

Ram Schooner · United States · Lost 1955 · Chesapeake Bay

A converted Chesapeake ram schooner on a week-long pleasure cruise that broke apart in Hurricane Connie, killing fourteen of those aboard near North Beach, Maryland.

Become Captain of Record See Shipwreck on Map

Artistic recreation based on recorded historical documents.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

Historically Reconstructed. Drawn from partial documentation of this vessel together with her known class and configuration. See the documented evidence.

The Vessel and Her Loss

Levin J. Marvel was a wooden ram schooner built in 1891 and later converted for passenger excursion cruising on the Chesapeake Bay. On 12 August 1955, while sheltering in Herring Bay from Hurricane Connie, the vessel broke apart at anchor near North Beach, Maryland, throwing her 27 passengers and crew into the storm. Local townspeople mounted a rescue effort under dangerous conditions, but fourteen people died. The disaster remains one of the deadliest in the bay's twentieth-century history.

Vessel

Built: 1891
Builder: Not established
Yard: Not established
Material: Wood
Length: Not established
Beam: Not established
Tonnage: Not established
Propulsion: Sail
Owners: Not established

Loss

Date: August 12, 1955
Cause: Storm
Location: Near North Beach, Maryland, in Herring Bay
Water: Chesapeake Bay
Voyage: Annapolis, Maryland
Cargo: Not established
Aboard: 27
Lives lost: 14
Master: Not established

The Wreck Today

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

Position

Coordinates: 38.71° N 76.53° W
Accuracy: General area only
Nearest: North Beach, Maryland
Region: Chesapeake Bay

General area only: coordinate of North Beach, Maryland from the USGS Geographic Names Information System, marking the named place of loss recorded for this vessel (lost in Herring Bay near North Beach), not a surveyed wreck position.