AH-WR-0999

William T. Bell

Schooner · United States · Lost 1927 · Long Island & the New York Approaches

A Prohibition-era rum-running schooner, loaded with smuggled liquor, was driven ashore at Bayville in a violent February gale.

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Artistic recreation based on recorded historical documents.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

The two-masted schooner W. T. Bell, built in Pennsylvania in 1889 and renamed in 1923, was driven ashore at Oak Neck, Bayville, during a severe winter storm on the night of February 19-20, 1927. Publicly declared to be carrying lumber, she was in fact loaded with smuggled Scotch and whiskey during Prohibition. Bayville resident Russell McGrady spotted her distress signal and organized a rescue with the local fire department, and law enforcement later seized and catalogued the illicit cargo aboard.

Vessel

Built: 1889
Builder: Not established
Yard: Linwood, Pennsylvania
Material: Wood
Length: 119 ft
Beam: Not established
Tonnage: 180
Propulsion: Sail, two-masted schooner
Owners: Norfolk, Virginia businessman (renamed W. T. Bell in 1923)

Loss

Date: February 20, 1927
Cause: Storm
Location: Oak Neck, Bayville, Long Island
Water: Long Island Sound
Voyage: Halifax, Nova Scotia → New York (reportedly bound for Glen Cove)
Cargo: Reported cargo of smuggled Scotch and whiskey, publicly declared as lumber/plasterer's lath
Aboard: Not established
Lives lost: The crew was evacuated safely by local rescuers; no deaths are recorded in the sources reviewed.
Master: Not established

The Wreck Today

Depth: Not established
Condition: Skeletal remains reported visible near Oak Neck Point at low water in later years.
Orientation: Not established
Discovered: Not established
Protection: Not established

Position

Coordinates: Not established
Accuracy: Position not established
Nearest: Oak Neck, Bayville, New York
Region: Long Island & the New York Approaches

Evidence

Overall confidence: Partially documented (55/100)

The number of crew aboard and the value or full extent of the smuggled cargo are reported inconsistently across sources and are not firmly established.