THE 1872 METIS – NETTIE CUSHING DISASTER – METISNEW4TNR12B Page 1 [NEW YORK HARBOR, AUG. 29, 1872 …. THE STEAMER METIS HAD BEEN HASTILY LOADED WITH A CARGO OF COTTON BALES ON BOARD, EVEN COVERING THE ACCESS TO SOME OF THE HOLDS WHICH WOULD LATER ON HAVE UNFORESEEN CONSEQUENCES FOR THE SAFETY OF THE VESSEL AND THE PASSENGERS. OTHER PARTS OF THE CARGO CONSISTED OF A LARGE CONSIGNMENT OF COP YARN, WHICH WAS YARN WOVEN ON FORMS READY FOR THE WEAVING MILLS STORED IN THE HOLDS AND ALSO ON THE HURRICANE DECK. THE CARGO WAS DESTINED FOR THE TEXTILE MILLS IN PROVIDENCE RHODE ISLAND AND IN FALL RIVER, MASSACHUSETTS. THE NUMBER OF PASSENGERS SEEKING PASSAGE WAS REPORTED TO BE 110. THE METIS ALSO CARRIED A CREW OF 45, MAKING AN ESTIMATED TOTAL OF 155 PERSONS ONBOARD WHEN DEPARTING THEIR DOCK AT APPROXIMATELY 5:15PM, UNDER COMMAND OF CAPT. CHARLES L. BURTON, FOR THE ANTICIPATED 12 TO 15 HOUR TRIP UP LONG ISLAND SOUND TO PROVIDENCE, R.I. THE METIS HAD BEEN BUILT IN 1864 AT NEW YORK CITY FOR FREIGHTING CARGO FOR THE UNION CIVIL WAR EFFORT. SHE WAS PROPELLOR DRIVEN AND WAS CONVERTED INTO A FREGHTER/PASSENGER STEAMER BY THE ADDITION OF A SO-CALLED ‘HURRICANE’ DECK IN 1871 TO ACCOMMODATE THE GROWING DEMAND FOR PASSENGER SERVICE. THIS DECK WAS TO PROVIDE SHELTER FOR MANY OF THE PASSENGERS LATER ON IN THE VOYAGE. THE METIS SAILED OUT OF NEW YORK UNDER COMMAND OF CAPT. BURTON UNDER OVERCAST SKIES AND WITH A BRISK BREEZE ACROSS HER BOW. THE INCLEMENT WEATHER CREATED ROUGH SEAS THAT CAUSED MANY OF THE PASSENGERS WHO HAD CABIN SPACE OR A COMFORTABLE PLACE ON THE
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THE 1872 METIS – NETTIE CUSHING DISASTER – METISNEW4TNR12B
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[NEW YORK HARBOR, AUG. 29, 1872 …. THE STEAMER METIS HAD BEEN HASTILY
LOADED WITH A CARGO OF COTTON BALES ON BOARD, EVEN COVERING THE
ACCESS TO SOME OF THE HOLDS WHICH WOULD LATER ON HAVE UNFORESEEN
CONSEQUENCES FOR THE SAFETY OF THE VESSEL AND THE PASSENGERS. OTHER
PARTS OF THE CARGO CONSISTED OF A LARGE CONSIGNMENT OF COP YARN,
WHICH WAS YARN WOVEN ON FORMS READY FOR THE WEAVING MILLS STORED
IN THE HOLDS AND ALSO ON THE HURRICANE DECK. THE CARGO WAS DESTINED
FOR THE TEXTILE MILLS IN PROVIDENCE RHODE ISLAND AND IN FALL RIVER,
MASSACHUSETTS. THE NUMBER OF PASSENGERS SEEKING PASSAGE WAS
REPORTED TO BE 110. THE METIS ALSO CARRIED A CREW OF 45, MAKING AN
ESTIMATED TOTAL OF 155 PERSONS ONBOARD WHEN DEPARTING THEIR DOCK
AT APPROXIMATELY 5:15PM, UNDER COMMAND OF CAPT. CHARLES L. BURTON,
FOR THE ANTICIPATED 12 TO 15 HOUR TRIP UP LONG ISLAND SOUND TO
PROVIDENCE, R.I.
THE METIS HAD BEEN BUILT IN 1864 AT NEW YORK CITY FOR FREIGHTING
CARGO FOR THE UNION CIVIL WAR EFFORT. SHE WAS PROPELLOR DRIVEN AND
WAS CONVERTED INTO A FREGHTER/PASSENGER STEAMER BY THE ADDITION OF
A SO-CALLED ‘HURRICANE’ DECK IN 1871 TO ACCOMMODATE THE GROWING
DEMAND FOR PASSENGER SERVICE. THIS DECK WAS TO PROVIDE SHELTER FOR
MANY OF THE PASSENGERS LATER ON IN THE VOYAGE.
THE METIS SAILED OUT OF NEW YORK UNDER COMMAND OF CAPT. BURTON
UNDER OVERCAST SKIES AND WITH A BRISK BREEZE ACROSS HER BOW. THE
INCLEMENT WEATHER CREATED ROUGH SEAS THAT CAUSED MANY OF THE
PASSENGERS WHO HAD CABIN SPACE OR A COMFORTABLE PLACE ON THE
THE 1872 METIS – NETTIE CUSHING DISASTER – METISNEW4TNR12B
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HURRICANE DECK TO RETIRE EARLY. EARLY IN THE A.M. THE BREEZE
DEVELOPED INTO RAIN SQUALLS AND STRONG GALES..
ON THE OTHER END OF THIS HISTORICAL EPISODE, IN THE PORT OF THOMASTON,
MAINE, THE SCHOONER NETTIE CUSHING, UNDER COMMAND OF CAPT. EMORY
JAMESON, SET SAIL FOR NEW YORK CITY ON AUG. 27, WITH A CARGO OF LIME
AND LUMBER.
ON THE EVENING OF AUG. 29, THE NETTIE CUSHING WAS OFF THE COAST OF
RHODE ISLAND PROCEEDING WEST BY SOUTH – EARLY IN THE MORNING OF
AUG. 30, SHE WAS HEADING FOR A SIGHTING OF THE WATCH HILL LIGHT ON HER
STARBOARD SIDE. JUST PAST 3:00 A.M. SHE WAS IN THE WATCH HILL RACE,
HAVING SIGHTED THE WATCH HILL LIGHT AND WAS LOOKING FOR LITTLE GULL
ISLAND LIGHT AS HER NEXT REFERENCE, HEADING WEST BY SOUTH.
AT 3:40 A. M., SHE SIGHTED A STEAMER’S (THE METIS’) GREEN AND WHITE
RUNNING LIGHTS TO HER STARBOARD, HERE THE STORIES WERE IN CONFLICT
WITH EACH OTHER AS TO WHO DID WHAT… MY INTERPRETATION OF WHAT
HAPPENED NEXT FOLLOWS: THE METIS PORTED HER WHEEL (IE, THE POSITION
OF THE TILLER CAUSED THE METIS TO TURN TO THE STARBOARD), WHICH PUT
THE METIS ACROSS THE BOW OF THE NETTIE CUSHING. THE NETTIE CUSHING
COULD NOT CHANGE THE SETTING OF HER SAILS OR COURSE IN TIME TO AVOID
A COLLISION. THE NETTIE CUSHING STRUCK THE METIS ALMOST OPPOSITE THE
THE 1872 METIS – NETTIE CUSHING DISASTER – METISNEW4TNR12B
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PILOT HOUSE, PUTTING A HOLE IN THE SIDE OF THE METIS UNDER HER GUARDS;
AT THE SAME TIME THE CUSHING LOST SOME OF HER HEAD GEAR. THE
COLLISION CAUSED THE NETTIE CUSHING TO BE DRAGGED ALONG SIDE OF THE
METIS FOR A SHORT TIME, THE SETTING OF RIGGING ON THE CUSHING ENABLED
HER TO BREAK AWAY AND THE DECISION MADE TO HEAD FOR NEW LONDON,
THE NEAREST REPAIR PORT. IN THE INTERVAL, THE METIS’ CAPTAIN ORDERED
THE ENGINE STOPPED AND ASSIGNED TWO OF THE OFF DUTY MATES TO
INVESTIGATE THE DAMAGE; AT THIS TIME THE STEAMER NEREUS CAME ALONG
SIDE OF THE METIS, AND ASKED IF ANY ASSISTANCE WAS REQUIRED, UNKNOWN
TO THE METIS’ CAPTAIN AT THAT TIME THAT HIS VESSEL WAS BEING FLOODED,
HE INDICATED THAT NO ASSISTANCE WAS NEEDED.
THEY REPORTED BACK TO THE CAPTAIN THAT NO VISIBLE DAMAGE COULD BE
VERIFIED AS ACCESS TO THE HOLD WAS BLOCKED BY COTTON BALES. THE TWO
MATES HAD LEANED OUT OVER THE SHIPS SIDE WITH A LANTERN TO EXAMINE
THE PORT SIDE OF THE STEAMER, AND FROM THIS VANTAGE POINT NO VISIBLE
DAMAGE WAS OBSERVED. THEY ALSO NOTED THAT VISIBILITY DURING THIS
OBSERVATION WAS VERY LIMITED.
WHAT THEY WERE NOT AWARE OF WAS THAT THE VESSEL WAS ALREADY
COMPRISED, AS WATER WAS POURING INTO THE HOLD OF THE VESSEL, AND
ALSO THAT THE SO-CALLED WATERTIGHT BULKHEADS HAD BEEN DEFEATED BY
HOLES THAT HAD BEEN PREVIOUSLY CUT INTO THEM. THIS WEAKENED
CONDITION CAUSED THE BULKHEADS TO COLLAPSE, AND NOW MORE THAN ONE
SO-CALLED WATERTIGHT HOLD WAS RAPIDLY BEING FLOODED.
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IT SOON BECAME OBVIOUS TO THE CREW AND CAPTAIN, HOWEVER, THAT
SOMETHING WAS TERRIBLY WRONG WHEN THE ENGINE ROOM CREW NOTIFIED
HIM THAT THEIR ENGINES WERE IN DANGER OF BEING FLOODED, MEANING
THAT THEY WOULD HAVE TO SHUT DOWN POWER SOON.
THE CAPTAIN IMMEDIATELY
ACKNOWLEDGING THIS
HEADED THE METIS FOR
WATCH HILL, THE NEAREST
SHORE. IN A VERY SHORT
PERIOD OF TIME, THE
ENGINES BECAME SILENT
AND WITH NO PUMPS OR
FORWARD MOTION THE
METIS WAS SPEEDILY
SINKING. THE METIS SANK
AROUND 5:00 A.M. IN 130
FEET OF WATER, ABOUT 3 1/2
NAUTICAL MILES OFF
WATCH HILL.
LIFEBOATS WERE LOWERED, SOME OF THE PASSENGERS WHO COULD NOT GET
INTO THE LIFEBOATS JUMPED OVERBOARD WITH THEIR LIFEJACKETS ON,
DESPERATELY LOOKING FOR ANYTHING FLOATING TO HOLD ONTO.
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THE HURRICANE DECK BROKE AWAY FROM THE HULL WITH THE SMOKE STACK
STILL ENCASED IN THE DECK. THERE WERE REPORTED TO BE A GREAT NUMBER
OF PASSENGERS STILL ON THIS DECK AND THIS DECK NOW BECAME AN
OVERSIZED RAFT AND WITH THE WIND AND WAVES WAS BEING DRIVEN
TOWARD WATCH HILL.
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THERE HAD BEEN NO FEDERAL LIFE SAVING SERVICE ESTABLISHED, THERE WAS
SOME INDIVIDUAL OPERATIONS ALONG THE COAST. ONE OF THEM, THE
HUMANE SOCIETY OF MASSACHUSETTS HAD KEPT A METAL LIFEBOAT AT
WATCH HILL SINCE 1849. THIS WAS LAUNCHED WITH RETIRED LIGHTHOUSE
KEEPER DANIEL F. LARKIN, WHO ALSO OWNED THE LARKIN HOUSE AT THE HILL
IN COMMAND. ABOUT 7:30 A.M., HE HAD GATHERED FOUR OTHER VOLUNTEERS
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(CAPT. JARED CRANDALL, ALBERT CRANDALL, BYRON GREEN AND FRANK
LARKIN) TO LAUNCH THIS VESSEL. THEY SUCCEEDED IN RESCUEING
SEVENTEEN (17) OF THE VICTIMS OF THE DISASTER, WHICH WAS ALL THAT THE
LIFEBOAT COULD HANDLE WITHOUT SINKING. AN HOUR LATER, A RELIABLE
FISHING BOAT WAS LAUNCHED FOR THE RESCUE ATTEMPT WITH CAPT. JOHN D.
HARVEY, COURTLAND GAVITT, EDWIN M NASH, WILLIAM H. NASH AND EUGENE
NASH ON BOARD. THIS RESCUE CREW PICKED UP FIFTEEN (15) LIVE PERSONS
AND SIX (6) BODIES – ALL THOSE RETRIEVED FROM THE DISASTER WERE PUT ON
BOAT THE U. S. S. MOSCASSIN WHICH HAD SAILED OUT OF STONINGTON TO
ASSIST IN THE RESCUE.
OF THESE RESCUERS, ONE STOOD OUT AS AN ADVENTURER AND HE WAS…
COURTLAND GAVITT, WHO AT THE TIME WAS
EMPLOYED AT THE LARKIN HOUSE AS A PORTER,
AND NOT CONSIDERED AN ADVENTURER. IN 1874 HE
BECAME A MEMBER OF THE FIRST WESTERLY
POLICE FORCE. HIS QUEST FOR OTHER THINGS IN
LIFE NEXT TOOK HIM TO SEEK OTHER EMPLOYMENT.
HE RESIGNED HIS POSITION WITH THE WESTERLY
POLICE FORCE IN 1875 TO SEEK EMPLOYMENT AS A
CONDUCTOR WITH THE PROVIDENCE AND
PAWTUCKET HORSE RAILROAD. EARLY IN 1877 HE
RETURNED TO WESTERLY AFTER THIS BRIEF STINT,
AND WAS AGAIN EMPLOYED WITH THE WESTERLY
POLICE FORCE. BUT THIS WAS SHORTLIVED
EMPLOYMENT AS IN SEPT. 1877 HE SIGNED ON, WITH
EDWIN D. SCHOLFIELD OF WESTERLY, FOR A
WHALING VOYAGE ON BOARD THE WHALESHIP
MABEL, SAILING OUT OF NEW BEDFORD. HE DID NOT RETURN WITH THE MABEL,
HAVING ‘JUMPED’ SHIP IN TASMANIA. THERE HE JOINED THEIR POLICE FORCE
AND WAS ADVANCED TO A DETECTIVES RANK, HAVING MARRIED, IT IS SAID,
THE POLICE CHIEF’S DAUGHTER. HE HAD AN EXTENDED FAMILY, BUT TWO OF
HIS SONS DIED IN ACCIDENTS. ‘CORT’ GAVITT WROTE TO HIS NIECE IN
WESTERLY, R.I. IN 1932 INDICATING HIS WISH THAT HE HAD NOT HAD HIS MEDAL
LOST THROUGH HIS OWN MISTAKE IN LETTING IT OUT TO A DISHONEST
JEWELER TO BE MADE OVER INTO A WATCH CASE. MR. GAVITT DIED IN
TASMANIA.
IT WAS ESTIMATED THAT 48 PERSONS WERE NOT
RESCUED AND PERISHED OFF WATCH HILL.
CAPT. BURTON’S LICENSE WAS REVOKED, HOWEVER,
HE WAS REINSTATED IN 6 MONTHS ON THE SAME
ROUTE AS HIS FORMER DISASTROUS COMMAND MUCH
TO THE DISMAY OF THE METIS’ DISASTER SURVIVORS.
CAPT. DANIEL LARKIN AND THE OTHER RESCUERS, TEN
IN ALL, RECEIVED GOLD MEDALS FROM THE PRESIDENT
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OF THE UNITED STATES AND ALSO CERTIFICATES OF HEROISM FROM THE
HUMANE SOCIETY OF MASSACHUSETTS, THE SAME ORGANIZATION WHO
PROVIDED THE LIFEBOAT USED TO RESCUE SEVENTEEN (17) PERSONS OFF
WATCH HILL FROM THIS DISASTER.
…. INFORMATION FROM DIVERS WHO HAVE DESCENDED UPON THE WRECK
OVER THE YEARS IS THAT IT LIES IN 130 FEET OF WATER; THE ENGINE STANDS 20
TO 25 FEET OFF THE BOTTOM AND THE DRIVE SHAFT EXTENDS 75 FEET TO THE
PROPELLER, WHICH ALSO STANDS OFF THE BOTTOM. THE BOILER IS REPORTED
AS BEING IN AN UPRIGHT POSITION WITH A FEW PIECES OF WOOD REMAINING
THAT WERE PART OF THE BULKHEAD THAT WAS IN FRONT OF THE BOILER
THE WRECKAGE LIES ABOUT 3 ½ NAUTICAL MILES FROM EAST BEACH WATCH
HILL
.
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IF THE ESTIMATE OF FORTY-EIGHT (48) PERSONS BEING THE FIGURE OF THE
PERSONS LOST IN THE DISASTER, THEN ONE (1) MORE COULD BE ADDED TO THIS
FIGURE OF THOSE LOST DUE TO THIS WRECK. IN 2002, 220 YEARS AFTER THE
DISASTER, A MASSACHUSETTS DIVING ORGANIZATION LOST ONE OF ITS
MEMBERS, JOSEPH PASQUALE, DURING A DIVE ON THIS WRECK IN 2002. HE IS
HONORED BY A MEMORIUM PLACQUE PLACED ON A LARGE BOULDER OFF
SPRAY ROCK ROAD, WEEKAPAUG, R.I. IN 2006 FACING THE OCEAN TOWARDS THE
WRECK SITE. A YEAR LATER WHEN THIS PLACQUE WAS REPHOTOGRAPHED IT
WAS FOUND THAT THE BOULDER HAD BEEN ROTATED 180 DEGREES SO THAT
THE PLACQUE WAS THEN FACING SPRAY ROCK ROAD. THE PLACQUE AS IT
READS DOES NOT PROVIDE ANY HISTORICAL INFORMATION ABOUT WHY THIS
MEMORIUM PLACQUE WAS INITIATED BESIDES THE LISTING OF JOSEPH
PASQUALE’S LIFE, HIS FAMILY AND HIS FRIENDS WITH THE DIVING CLUB.
MANY PEOPLE ENJOYING THE PRIVILEGE OF BEING ABLE TO VIEW THE SCENIC
VIEWS AVAILABLE OF THE ATLANTIC OCEAN AND SOME OF THE OUTLYING
ISLANDS ALSO SEEM TO BE AT LOSS AS TO WHY THE MEMORIUM PLACQUE HAS
BEEN PLACED IN THIS AREA. --
THE 1872 METIS – NETTIE CUSHING DISASTER – METISNEW4TNR12B
