Pentagoet
Steamship · Lost 1898 · Boston Harbor & Massachusetts Bay
A Civil War patrol steamer and revenue cutter turned coastal freighter, Pentagoet vanished with all 18 crew in the Portland Gale.
Become Captain of Record
The Vessel and Her Loss
Built at Philadelphia in 1864 as the steamer Hero, she served the Navy as USS Moccasin and the Revenue Service as the cutter Moccasin and, after lengthening in 1881, the George M. Bibb on the Great Lakes. Sold in 1891 and renamed Pentagoet, she ran between New York and Maine. She left New York on November 24, 1898, under Captain Orris R. Ingraham, was last seen off Truro on November 26, and is believed to have foundered in the Portland Gale with all 18 crew.
Vessel
- 1864
- Not established
- Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Wood
- 128.8 ft
- 23 ft
- Not established
- Steam
- Not established
Loss
- November 26, 1898
- Storm
- Off Cape Cod, Massachusetts, after last sighting off Truro
- Atlantic Ocean (Massachusetts Bay)
- New York → Rockland and Bangor, Maine
- About 150 tons of general freight, including Christmas merchandise
- Not established
- 18
- Not established
The Wreck Today
- Not established
- Not established
- Not established
- Not established
- Not established
Position
- Not established
- Position not established
- Truro, Massachusetts
No pin: NOAA lists a sanctuary site only as a possible Pentagoet wreck, not confirmed.
Evidence
Overall confidence: Documented (75/100)
Her exact wreck site is not confirmed.
NOAA Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary — Pentagoet
Ship stats, career and final voyage read; Boston Daily Globe clipping not independently inspected.
