AH-WR-1848

Virginia and Joan II

Fishing Gillnetter · Lost November 1936. Dedicated November 12 account repeatedly identifies Tuesday, November 10; a retrospective sentence in the 1943 Idle Hour account says Armistice day, November 11. Exact date left unset pending resolution. · Cape Ann & the Gulf of Maine

A Gloucester gillnetter disappeared during a November 1936 gale in Ipswich Bay; all six aboard were reported lost.

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Artistic recreation based on recorded historical documents.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

Virginia and Joan II was launched at Kennebunkport in June 1934 for Roland R. Wonson and named for his daughters. The 55-foot diesel auxiliary worked the pollock gill-net fishery under Austin E. Wonson. She disappeared during a November 1936 gale, apparently while returning through Ipswich Bay. Edna Fae recovered cook Harold W. Fairweather's body, but searches reported no trace of the vessel. All six aboard were reported lost; the sinking mechanism remained unknown.

Vessel

Built: 1934
Builder: Not established
Yard: Kennebunkport, Maine
Material: Not established
Length: 55 ft
Beam: 13.5 ft
Tonnage: Not established
Propulsion: Diesel auxiliary; original 80-horsepower Cooper-Bessemer engine subsequently replaced
Owners: Roland R. Wonson

Loss

Date: November 1936. Dedicated November 12 account repeatedly identifies Tuesday, November 10; a retrospective sentence in the 1943 Idle Hour account says Armistice day, November 11. Exact date left unset pending resolution.
Cause: Not established
Location: Believed lost in Ipswich Bay while returning from fishing near the Isles of Shoals toward the Annisquam River, Massachusetts
Water: Ipswich Bay
Voyage: Gloucester, Massachusetts, then fishing near the Isles of Shoals → Gloucester via the Annisquam River, according to the account's reconstruction
Cargo: Believed to be carrying pollock; quantity unknown
Aboard: 6
Lives lost: 6
Master: Austin E. Wonson

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: Ipswich Bay and Annisquam, Massachusetts
Region: Cape Ann & the Gulf of Maine

Source's presumed Ipswich Bay loss fits existing Cape Ann bounds. Body recovery northeast of Thacher's Island is not a wreck position; no distance-derived coordinates.

Evidence

Overall confidence: Documented (75/100)

Exact loss date, sinking mechanism, surveyed position, depth and present remains are unestablished; accounts differ by one day on the date.

R. Sheedy, Down to Sea — The Virginia and Joan II
Full November 12, 1936 historical transcription: June 3, 1934 Kennebunkport launch; owner Roland R. Wonson; 55 x 13.5 ft; diesel engines; pollock fishery; Tuesday departure and presumed Ipswich Bay loss; six aboard including passenger; Fairweather recovery, patrol/aircraft searches. Loading and swamping conjectural; no wreck position established.
R. Sheedy, Down to Sea — The Idle Hour
Full April 5, 1943 account retrospectively compares Virginia and Joan II loss and six deaths but calls loss Armistice day, conflicting with dedicated account's Tuesday references. Exact 1936 loss date omitted pending resolution.