The shipwreck
On January 17, 1884, the steamer City of Columbus left Boston with a crew of 45 under the command of Captain Schuler E. Wright. [1] Wright was very familiar with the area as he had made numerous trips through the reefs and sound of Martha's Vineyard. The captain left the City of Columbus's bridge in the hands of his Second Mate Edward Harding and went below to sleep. [1] While off Martha's Vineyard at 3:45 am on January 18, the lookout yelled to the second mate that the Devil’s Bridge buoy was off the port bow rather than where it should have appeared off the starboard bow just before the ship struck a double ledge of submerged rocks. [3] [Note 1] Harding ordered the Quartermaster, Roderick A. McDonald, to go port followed by Captain Wright's order to "hard port" and once again the City of Columbus smacked against the reef. Wright attempted in vain to free the ship. Attempts to use the sails only pushed the boat further into the reef. After these attempts he decided to go over the “obstruction”. This just made things worse. The captain gathered the 87 passengers from below and was in the midst of explaining their situation when a rush of water into the cabin forced all to the top deck, where a giant wave struck the boat and swept all women and children, and many of the men, into the frozen waters. [1]
Two lifeboats were launched from the City of Columbus only to have the ocean waves smash them against the iron sides of the ship. One actually made it to land with four survivors; the other was later found awash, with one survivor, a sea captain who was revived. Passengers and crew attempted to stay afloat in the rough seas by holding onto the rigging of the ship. Lighthouse keeper Horiatio N. Pease and a complement of Gay Head Wampanoag Native Americans braved the waves in two lifeboats to save passengers that had held on. The sea was so rough that the Wampanoag's feared approaching the steamer would cause their own boat to get smashed, so they called to the men to dive off the rigging and come to the lifeboats. Most of those who attempted this were saved by the Natives. [1]
The rescue effort was then continued when the revenue cutter Dexter , skippered by Captain Eric Gabrielson, came to their aid. The Dexter, being a smaller ship, was able to move about the wreckage and pull survivors off the rigging and masts. Two of the survivors were unconscious; Second Lieutenant John U. Rhodes saved them by tying himself to a rope and swimming to the wreck. Even after being hit with a piece of wreckage, he continued, climbing the rigging to bring the men back to safety. The City of Columbus had left Boston with 45 officers and crew and 87 passengers, only 17 crew members and 12 passengers survived the ordeal. [1] This incident was reported as one of the worst ocean disasters of its time. [5]
The shipwreck was later purchased by the Boston Towboat Company in 1886, and some parts were salvaged. [6]
Aquinnah is a town located on the western end of Martha's Vineyard island, Massachusetts. From 1870 to 1997, the town was incorporated as Gay Head. At the 2020 U.S. census, the population was 439. Aquinnah is known for its beautiful clay cliffs and natural serenity, as well as its historical importance to the native Wampanoag people. In 1965, Gay Head Cliffs were designated as a National Natural Landmark by the National Park Service.
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Stella was a passenger ferry in service with the London and South Western Railway (LSWR). She was built in Glasgow in 1890, and wrecked in 1899 off the Casquets during a crossing from Southampton to Guernsey.
SS Admella was an Australian passenger steamship that was shipwrecked on a submerged reef off the coast of Carpenter Rocks, south west of Mount Gambier South Australia, in the early hours of 6 August 1859. Survivors clung to the wreck for over a week and many people took days to die as they glimpsed the land from the sea and watched as one rescue attempt after another failed.
The A. T. Gifford was the last American schooner-rigged whaleship to cruise Hudson Bay. She caught fire and sank in late 1915. Although the captain and a few of his crew escaped the wreck, none survived the disaster.
SS Gothenburg was an iron-hulled sail- and steamship that was built in England in 1854 and sailed between England and Sweden until 1862. She then moved to Australia, where she operated across the Tasman Sea to and from New Zealand until 1873, when she was rebuilt. After her rebuild, she operated in the Australian coastal trade.
SS Tararua was a passenger steamer that struck the reef off Waipapa Point in the Catlins on 29 April 1881, and sank the next day, in the worst civilian shipping disaster in New Zealand's history. Of the 151 passengers and crew on board, only 20 survived the shipwreck.
The SSCity of Boston was a British iron-hulled single-screw passenger steamship of the Inman Line which disappeared in the North Atlantic Ocean en route from Halifax, Nova Scotia, to Liverpool in January 1870.
USRC Dexter was a Dexter-class cutter of the United States Revenue Cutter Service in commission from 1874 to 1908. She was the second ship of the Revenue Cutter Service to bear the name. The other Dexter-class cutters, all commissioned in 1874, were Dallas and Rush. Dexter was built by the Atlantic Works Company at Boston, Massachusetts. Captain John A. Henriques accepted her for service on 6 June 1874, and she was commissioned into the Revenue Cutter Service on 18 June 1874. Her role in the rescue of passengers from the sinking SS City of Columbus under winter gale winds brought her nationwide popular acclaim.
MV Monte Cervantes was a 500 ft (150 m) German passenger liner that cruised the South American route from Buenos Aires to Puerto Madryn (Chubut) to Punta Arenas to Ushuaia and return to Buenos Aires. The ship sailed under German registration and belonged to the South American Hamburg Company. After only two years of service she sank at the beginning of 1930 near Tierra del Fuego. The ship became known as "The Titanic of the South."
Gladys A. Widdiss was an American tribal elder, Wampanoag historian and potter. Widdis served as the President of the Aquinnah Wampanoag of Gay Head from 1978 until 1987. She then served as the vice chairman of the Aquinnah Wampanoag tribal council for many years.
Donald F. Malonson was Chief of the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) from 1951-2003. In 1951, his uncle Harrison Vanderhoop, also known as Chief No-Ho-No, nominated Donald as his successor. Malonson symbolically led his people for the next 52 years.
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