AH-WR-1113

Lunet

Schooner · United States · Lost 1898 · Buzzards Bay & Vineyard Sound

A four-masted coal schooner lost with all seven hands when the great Portland Gale of 1898 tore her from her anchorage at Tarpaulin Cove.

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Artistic recreation based on recorded historical documents.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

The schooner Lunet was riding out the Portland Gale at Tarpaulin Cove on Naushon Island when a shift in wind direction and blinding snow put her in danger on November 28, 1898. Her anchor chain parted and she was flung onto a reef at the cove's southwestern entrance, her bottom torn out. She sank quickly in 60 feet of water with the loss of all seven crew. The wreck was located and partially explored by divers in the 1960s.

Vessel

Built: 1876
Registry: Official No. 15896
Builder: Not established
Yard: Calais, Maine
Material: Wood
Length: 103 ft
Beam: 28 ft
Tonnage: 172
Propulsion: Sail, four-masted schooner rig
Owners: Not established

Loss

Date: November 28, 1898
Cause: Storm
Location: Tarpaulin Cove, Naushon Island, Elizabeth Islands, Massachusetts
Water: Vineyard Sound
Voyage: Perth Amboy, New Jersey → Bangor, Maine
Cargo: Coal
Aboard: 7
Lives lost: 7
Master: Not established

The Wreck Today

Depth: 60 ft
Condition: Partially intact and largely buried in sand as of 1960s surveys; likely further stripped since.
Orientation: Not established
Discovered: 1960s
Protection: Massachusetts Board of Underwater Archaeological Resources exempted shipwreck site