AH-WR-1828

Ralph Brown

Fishing Schooner · United States · Lost 1926 · Cape Ann & the Gulf of Maine

A Gloucester fishing schooner wrecked at Brier Neck in a February 1926 snowstorm; eighteen men survived and three died.

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Artistic recreation based on recorded historical documents.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

Ralph Brown was built by Arthur D. Story at Essex, Massachusetts, in 1914. The schooner fished from Gloucester under Captain Alvaro Quadros. After leaving Boston for the fishing grounds, she turned back as the weather worsened and struck Brier Neck before daylight on February 10, 1926. Men scrambled ashore using the gaff, and local residents sheltered survivors. Eighteen of the twenty-one men aboard survived; three died.

Vessel

Built: 1914
Registry: US registry no. 211910
Builder: Arthur D. Story
Yard: Essex, Massachusetts
Material: Not established
Length: Not established
Beam: Not established
Tonnage: 118 gross tons
Propulsion: Not established
Owners: Not established

Loss

Date: February 10, 1926
Cause: Grounding
Location: Extreme easterly end of Brier Neck, Gloucester, Massachusetts
Water: Atlantic Ocean
Voyage: Boston, Massachusetts → Gloucester, Massachusetts (return after turning back)
Cargo: Not established
Aboard: 21
Lives lost: 3
Master: Alvaro Quadros

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: Brier Neck, Gloucester, Massachusetts
Region: Cape Ann & the Gulf of Maine

Historical shoreline locality documented, but no surveyed wreck position established.

Evidence

Overall confidence: Documented (84/100)

Present remains, depth, verified position, hull material and machinery specifications are not established in the sources reviewed.

R. Sheedy — Down to Sea, The Ralph Brown
Full dated privately transcribed historical loss account: February 10, 1926, Brier Neck grounding, captain, 21 aboard, 18 survivors, three deaths, fore gaff/main boom, weather, turned-back fishing passage and rescue. Newspaper scan not independently inspected.
Shipbuilding History — Arthur D. Story, Essex MA
Full builder table: original Ralph Brown, official number 211910, Arthur D. Story at Essex, 1914, schooner, 118 gross tons, 1926 stranding off Gloucester. Unqualified Feet measurement not used as vessel length.
Cape Ann Museum Library & Archives — E.L. Rowe & Sons sail plans exhibit (indexed description)
Indexed exhibit text corroborates Gloucester home port, Captain Alvaro Quadros, 1926 Brier Neck wreck and three crew deaths; identifies an undated sail plan. Direct exhibit retrieval unavailable and actual plan not inspected.