{"id":4745,"date":"2024-12-01T01:12:58","date_gmt":"2024-12-01T06:12:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nelights.com\/blog\/?p=4745"},"modified":"2025-07-04T12:08:13","modified_gmt":"2025-07-04T16:08:13","slug":"final-voyages-of-the-queen-of-all-wooden-sailing-ships","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nelights.com\/blog\/final-voyages-of-the-queen-of-all-wooden-sailing-ships\/","title":{"rendered":"Final Voyages of the \u201cQueen\u201d of All Wooden Sailing Ships"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Digital Illustrative painting of Schooner Eleanor A. Percy<\/em> in the harbor. Reproduction of original photo by Nathaniel Stebbins, circa 1903.<\/p><\/div>\n

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The Final Voyages of the \u201cQueen\u201d of All Wooden Sailing Ships, the Six-Masted Schooner Eleanor A. Perc<\/em>y<\/strong><\/span>.<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The Eleanor A. Percy<\/i> was launched on October 10, 1900, at the Percy & Small Shipyard on the Kennebec River in Bath, Maine. The shipyard lies in the Boothbay region<\/a>, <\/strong>where many lighthouses were also constructed to guide vessels along the river, among the islands, and along the rocky coastline. This six-master boasted a 323-foot-long hull with an overall length of 347 feet over the deck from stem to stern. She was the largest of all wooden schooners built at the turn of the century, referred to as the \u201c<\/span>queen\u201d of all sailing ships. Over the years of service, she proved to be highly profitable, capable of hauling over 5,500 tons of cargo. She had survived some dangerous collisions and accidents, a fire from a coal tower above her, and nasty gale storms, blizzards, and near-hurricanes along the East Coast and across the seas.<\/p>\n

Changing Ownership and Making Money During the Great War<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

As the Great War continued, freight rates for steamers and schooners reached all-time highs, forcing them to undertake perilous voyages across the Atlantic, and owners were selling their vessels at unrealistic prices. Such was the case for the giant Eleanor A. Percy<\/i>, which was sold in early December 1915 to a New York firm named Kinn Limited for $125,000.With freight rates at all-time highs during World War I (WWI), she made numerous transatlantic trips. The giant six-master also underwent an overhaul involving additional renovations, allowing her to carry either coal or petroleum oil. In February of 1916, she was chartered to pick up 120,000 cases of oil and take the cargo for delivery to Montevideo, Uruguay. The great schooner was paid an astonishing $84,000 for that one delivery. However, she also chartered a return cargo, delivering 5,000 tons of linseed from Montevideo to New York, making $91,000. The combined $175,000 (equivalent to 35 times that amount today) earned on the round trip was the most considerable amount of freight money ever earned by an American sailing vessel, quickly paying for her initial purchase by her new owners.<\/p>\n

In November 1916, after making considerable profits for her owners, she was sold, along with three other smaller schooners, for a high price of $800,000 (equivalent to approximately $ 28 million today). The new owners were a Norwegian company, Theo B. Hiesten & Sonner of Christiansen, and the schooner was renamed the Dusle<\/em>. Problems arose when she made her first voyage for them, as the six-master sprang a severe leak en route from South America to France and had to return to port on the Madeira Islands, off the coast of Portugal. Her cargo had to be unloaded and stored in a warehouse while she underwent extensive repairs.<\/p>\n

\"Eleanor<\/a>

The Eleanor A. Percy<\/em> at Norfolk Coal Pier in Virginia – Image Library of Congress<\/p><\/div>\n

Unhappy with their purchase, the Norwegian company sold the Dusle <\/em>afterward to the France and Canada Steamship Company in the spring of 1917. This group of investors also purchased most of the fleet of four, five, and six-masters built at the Percy & Small Shipyard for the war effort, as freight charges were still extremely high for increased profits. The new owners also returned the schooner\u2019s original name, Eleanor A. Percy<\/em>. During the summer and autumn of 1918, with peace rumored on the horizon, freight rates plummeted to normal, acceptable levels. The war ended on November 11, 1918.<\/p>\n

With the Great War nearing its end, the Eleanor A. Percy<\/em> was showing her age, requiring necessary repairs on her aging wooden hull. Sailing to Argentina in South America or across the Atlantic takes a couple of months for those ships that would make this challenging journey. The collier left New York with her cargo bound for Buenos Aires on October 11, 1918, and arrived there around January 3, 1919. She waited for another charter before returning to New York and had some necessary repairs made before making the journey. Some months later, on July 4, 1919, the Eleanor A. Percy<\/em> left Buenos Aires for New York and developed a severe leak in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean in early August. The schooner had to turn back and safely reach the dry dock in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.<\/p>\n

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The Final Voyage Ends On Christmas Day<\/span><\/h2>\n

With repairs completed, the schooner was chartered to carry 4,000 tons of wheat for delivery to Copenhagen, Denmark. On November 11, 1919, she departed from Rio de Janeiro for Copenhagen under the command of Captain Mitchell. First Officer John Michael Natvig sent a postcard to his son, Harold, just before leaving Rio de Janeiro. The Eleanor A. Percy<\/em> was carrying a crew of fifteen men. A German stowaway had also gotten aboard the ship to sail to freedom in Copenhagen.<\/p>\n

\"Digital<\/a>

Digital illustrative painting of the six-masted schooner Eleanor A. Percy<\/em>.<\/p><\/div>\n

On December 24, 1919, the schooner was 350 miles off the Irish coast and started taking water from another severe leak in her aging wooden hull. A dangerous storm raged in the western Atlantic, as giant waves crashed onto the ship and huge swells tossed it around in the open seas. The crew tried their best to use the pumps to empty the flooding waters, but on Christmas Day, too much water had come in, and the crew realized they would need to abandon the ship or perish.<\/p>\n

Second Mate N. P. Austin and four Scandinavian seamen got into a motorboat, and the remaining crew members, with the stowaway, tried to get into two other boats. Captain Mitchell was the last to leave the ship in one of the other boats. The seas were still creating huge waves as the three lifeboats became separated from one another. After searching for about an hour, Austin and his crew found no sign of the other two boats as they tried to see evidence that their comrades had survived the storm. The five men presumed the other boats had overturned while the ship started to sink, dragging the other ten crew members and the stowaway to their watery graves.<\/p>\n

The lone craft made it safely away from the sinking schooner, but soon, the motor ran out of gas, and the churning seas tossed the boat in endless directions. The storm passed the next day, and they continued to ride out the waves as they began rationing water and saltwater-soaked biscuits to survive.<\/p>\n

Exhaustion and hypothermia were setting in due to prolonged exposure to the freezing December winds and ocean spray as the five survivors drifted in their little motorboat. They placed clothes on a pole to attract any vessel\u2019s attention, while days would pass without any sightings.<\/p>\n

Finally, on the night of December 29, with their water and food supplies gone, they were miraculously spotted by the fishing trawler Walwyn Castle<\/em>. The captain and crew brought the exhausted men on board and gave them food and warm clothing. The trawler headed for the port of Swansea, about 210 miles from the point of their rescue. In the four days they had been drifting, they covered around 220 miles with the winds and currents.<\/p>\n

Ten crew members and a stowaway went down with the ship, including First Officer John Michael Natvig and Captain Mitchell. The captain was from Poughkeepsie, New York, whereas Natvig was from South Portland, Maine. Two years later, the logbook, thrown overboard before the crew abandoned the ship, had washed ashore on one of the Isles of Scilly, off England\u2019s most western coast. Surprisingly, it was still legible. Second Mate N. P. Austin, one of the survivors, made the last entry. It read, \u201csinking, Latitude 48\u00b0N, longitude 19\u00b0W, bound for Copenhagen.\u201d The great ship had been in service for nineteen years.<\/p>\n

\"Digital<\/a>

Digital Illustration of the location of the sinking and rescue of the survivors of the Eleanor A. Percy<\/em> off the coast of Ireland.<\/p><\/div>\n

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