Good Men Down
[03.05 question]
Jane Meneely
There was no doubt in the mind to go to Wallace Thompson day. He was in debt and had finally broken ice. He had listed property Claud W. Somers Less than a year, and was determined to assert his-was the realization his life-long dream of owning their own dredgeboat. When the wind came up and the rest of the oyster fleet back home, he was placed in the open sea, in the Honga River mouth, determined to get in a lick more. Then she went back to Chance, the small port on the island close to Deal had left that morning before dawn March. He was not worried about the time, but he knew better than anyone how treacherous winds of spring can be, how it could do sneak up on you and hammer to pieces. I did not know was that the wind today to build near-hurricane force and that neither he nor his crew ever set foot on dry ground.
People living on Deal Island still shake their heads about what happened on 4 March 1977. The details you provide differ to an extent, because many people witnessed the event from very different perspectives, but one thing is certain, they can remember the tragedy as if it happened yesterday, instead nearly 30 years. Some of the witnesses have since died, but the community of sailors who still works in the waters of the Strait of Hooper Bay and Tangier Sound, has retained their stories and woven into the fabric of island life.
I saw with my own eyes when I started asking questions about the Claud W. Somers. I had driven to Wenona, Maryland, the port at the end of Deal Island and home to some of the latest Bay skipjacks remain active. I had gone to Holland Arby's small tent next to the pier and was chatting with the parent of Arby's Paul. The couple Netherlands had stationed himself on a small table where it was itself another solitaire hand. He was telling me what I knew about Somerstragedy, but he could not remember the name of the man who had given Wallace a trailer. "Wait a second. These guys know, "he said pointing a Crabber ST Webster and one of his friends in the parking lot. Both wore white rubber boots and caps of the sailors of all working parties. When they came back a few packing boxes for their soft crabs, Netherlands upstream: "You remember the man who towed in children? Companion to Wingate, perhaps?
Webster frowned, and thought I would say, "What boys?" When? "But Holland knew he just wanted to say. "I do not remember why," said, "but I bet Corbin grant would know." Webster grabbed a packet of biscuits and joined the conversation. "Thompson was a good boatman, a lot of experience. I saw him sailing into the dock more than once. It is unfortunate that all that, "recalling that all but one of the crew of Wallace that relate day.
In my search for a living memory of the facts, finally I did talk to Grant Corbin, Elsworth also spoke with Hoffman, a retired president who oversaw the local DNR search when the boat is not returned, I talked master list with many years Art Daniels spoke with Esther Wallace, widow of Thompson, and Kevin Wallace, son of Thompson, I spoke with Donald Mills, who left in the dark cloud after the storm to try to find the men, I spoke with Don Simmons, whose father, official DNR Jennings Simmons, was with the group to find and recover the bodies, I spoke to Snooks Windsor, Somers helped raise the fund once it was discovered that, sunk in 20 feet of water at the mouth of the river Hong, and he saw the drowned bodies were brought ashore at Wingate. I spoke with someone who could find that had a memory of the event, and gradually W. Somers Claud 's history began to emerge.
Wallace Thompson was born and raised on Deal Island. It was one of 23 children (yes, 23), children of James and Robert Waterman Roseana Wallace. By all accounts he was affable and well liked and had a streak of the devil. Afraid of nothing, they say. And he was ambitious. He had set his sights on owning his own boat one day, against all odds.
Wallace worked in and around boats all his life. He was a jack-of all trades, and had commanded a lot of boats boats of others. His name appears on the list for 1971 Chesapeake Appreciation Days racing listed as The captain of the Ida May, owned by Elbert Gladden. When the Somers W. Claud wine for sale, Wallace was finally ready to buy. The boat was a sorry mess, for sure. It leaked like a sieve and the engine of his yawl boat was unreliable at best. But she was much worse than some of the other boats in the Deal Island dredging fleet-a total of 35 ships at the time. And there was nothing wrong with her that Wallace could not fix.
The Somers came from good stock. It was built in Virginia's Eastern Shore by Tom Young in 1911, commissioned by Thomas Edward Somers, a businessman Crisfield, and the name of his son Claudio Williams Somers. It was 461 / 2 Feet Long with a beam of 14 feet, and fast. With the then owner of Captain Evans to head Curwin, which hit the chines with the rest of the race dredgeboats in 1931, the list-the last before that World War II. Over 30 years later, plagued all again, this time with Captain Linwood Benton on the wheel.
But by the time Wallace bought the boat Parkinson Jack in the spring of 1976, its glory days were over. Wallace took about Eldon voluntarily shipyard in chance and put to work. At the start of the season for dredging, which had achieved its reasonably sound-by their standards, at least, and was not far behind in carpentry and repair ships. Was about to sink at the dock every morning, but they put the pump is and would be floating again soon. She was not the list is only known to take some water overnight. Moreover, retention of water has always been the bane of the old.
Wallace took all their problems in stride, doing what he could for the boat when he had the time or money after paying their mortgage, "" there was a lot of cash left. He remained with his sweat and prayers mostly. Were the island that he told to his face he was a fool to run such a decrepit old ship, which would choke someone. But there were many who thought that knew what he was doing well and would like generations of oyster farmers before him.
The winter of 1976-77 had been a particularly bad season. Not many oysters to start-MSX had begun to devastate oyster farms already in decline. Worse, the bay was frozen for two months Reduce the number of days the boatmen could even open water. The Deal Island sailors were desperate to get back to work when the ice broke Finally, in late February, during a reception warm wind. A few days later the ice had melted, except for those big piles of ice slab broken which had been pushed to shore by wind and tide. Even more positive was the news that the DNR had issued the oyster season two weeks beyond the usual court March 15.
It bursts on the morning of Friday, March 4th, with four foot seas and 15 to 30 mph winds. In all probability, was worse. Wenona boats could "see" the wind, according to Art Daniels, Captain of the City of Crisfield list. They do not leave that day. However, Possibility port is safe from a coup in the south, and 55 years old, Wallace Thompson went to his boat in the morning and pumped out as usual to run the day. His crew came together: her older brother, "Big George Wallace, 64, his nephew, Carter Wallace, 20, cousin of his wife, Thomas James, 20 years, his son Gerald Wallace, 24 and home on leave from the Navy, and one that is not relative, Levin Johnson, 44. Another son, Kevin Wallace, 15, was at the pier ready to go over his house when he was called unexpectedly. "I was there in the spring when they left, but for some reason I can not remember, I did not go with them that day, "he says now. Another regular crew member, Earl White, who died recently, she stayed home that day, "I could not even get out of bed," he said. I knew Gerald would be taking place.
Captain Elsworth Hoffman, a Department official Natural Resources Police Chance, made a tour of the harbor and Wallace advised him not to leave that day. Reports indicate bad weather later in the development of the afternoon. That was not enough to deter Wallace. In the dim light of dawn, he started the engine and eased his boat away from the dock listing. TheSomers expelled Chance port north to Tangier Sound, ran Sharkfin Shoal and along the north shore of Bloodsworth Island, toward the land of dredging out Hooper's Island near the mouth of the Hong. Any boat that was leaving that day, would have left the bench in the dark in order to be in the oyster "rock" when the sun rose, so as not to miss a single service "lick" of the oyster beds. Like hunters, skipjacks can not start harvesting until dawn, but the sun begins to rise they do.
Wallace would have been prepared for any breeze that hit him as he left the shelter of the port. His crew will curl of the mainsail from the previous night. This was standard practice for a listing, it is always easier to shake a reef that put one in, especially in a cold winter morning. Wallace certainly smelled the breeze in the morning and left their reefs in three of them. A listing does not require much wind, but to pull a dredger. If it collects too much speed, dredging only bounce off the bottom. The captain will gauge the wind and ask what needs to adapt its mainsail conditions. Wallace does not need much fabric in the morning.
Then, as now, a list was allowed to carry 150 kilos of oysters in one day, but by the 1970s, especially in the lower Bay, where MSX was more prevalent, no one was throwing at 150 bushels per day. Half of that would be a splendid OYSTERMAN tour of the Deal. When the wind really started to get up at noon, Wallace had done reasonably well, but not enough to quit. Listing working that day in office, while Wallace was left to get a few more "Jaguares" Waterman term for a full dredge. He became more than I expected. From all accounts of the fierce winds in the afternoon. Landsmen marked them at 75 miles per hour. Paul Holland, working as a Buyer Wenona oysters then, says that blew 80 to 85 at its peak. Long before the peak of the storm, Wallace began house. That's when hell took over. He began to have problems with irritable motor skiff, and I could not give way.
Buddy Jones, aboard his boat the tonging Matt Dana, was hightailing by chance, when it was the Somers W. Claud Hooper Strait destination, according to an account printed in SalisburyDaily Times, 7 March 1977. Jones said it appeared Wallace was having problems, so that pulled alongside and offered to help. Replacement Battery Wallace took Jones hopes to help his boat started. When that attempt failed, Wallace Jones gave a trailer. "I drive about ten miles in the first two hours," Jones told the newspaper. "When we came to Hooper Straits, we were really in trouble. "He said that by then the winds reached 70 mph with 15-mar foot, and the towline snapped off his shoes. Jones closure system, but the line broke again. Fearing for his own safety, Jones put on his lifejacket and told Wallace and his crew to abandon ship and come aboard the Dana Matt. Wallace refused, saying: "We will try to save her!" Buddy Jones said he had to get help for themselves and motors away. Looking back, he saw Thomas James had a life jacket and climbed into the skiff the list, probably in another effort to get the engine started.
Meanwhile, Art Daniels had seen the Somers, get out, but he had not seen him return. He called the DNR to say Wallace could be in trouble. Cape Walton Webster went searching for the missing boat, but the conditions were so rough, turned back. When the Somers had not been back in port at 5 pm, Elsworth Hoffman, DNR officer on chance, decided to go to find himself. He went down to his boat, but could not get the engine running. Conditions had deteriorated considerably during that time, recalls that even if he had come the boat goes, I was not sure he could have been open water. Back in his office, about sunset, he received a radio call from the tug Interstate, probably Salisbury's departure, with a carbon wire. The tug reported seeing a ship in trouble at Hooper Strait. From your description, Hoffman estimated that was probably the Somers, but was unable to do anything, and other DNR boats were too far away. He could only wait and hope that the brave and capable Wallace could mount out or get your boat to the water protected. Perhaps he already had.
Word spread quickly that Wallace was in trouble. When time is decreased, who could went to look for him, and the Coast Guard and DNR launched a search out. Donald Mills Head of Bishops said that there was a thick fog of the night. It reached a 55-gallon drum floating in the water, the type of a captain of listing have been used to transport gas to the engine Winder. "I knew he was near, and looked at me. Seeing the drum, I knew that the vessel sank, but I thought maybe some of these children are hung on the mast. "He found nothing.
According to some reports, users of Wingate, Maryland, saw the yawl boat to 9 pm and had broken with the list and was stranded on the beach of Bishops Leader. A few hours later the body of Thomas James, still in a lifejacket, was found floating in the
Bishops of the light head and Hooper Strait, and would-be rescuers knew the chances of finding the listings and the rest of his crew were scarce. Between the fog and visibility was nil in the dark. At that time, around midnight, they concentrated their efforts in the area where the body of James was found, thinking that Wallace had left Hooper Strait, running before the wind toward the port of Wingate. Or perhaps he had deliberately tried to run her in shallow water to avoid submerged when it sank. Helicopters with searchlights sweeping the area, but still found nothing.
Finally, shortly before midnight, Henry Gootee Golden Hill detected the vessel on their radar, west and north of where people had been seeking. "Do you know an area well, you see something on radar that does not belong there," he says from his office at the Marine Gootee in Church Creek. He had left his dock at 7:30 pm after learning that a vessel was in trouble. In the thick darkness his eyes peeled on your radar screen, as in the water ahead. One by one, family markers came on the screen as he expected, but something unknown was made in the section of light water over the Hooper Strait. Indeed, when his way closer and could point out that I could see the top of the Somers mast, the slope of the water about 300 yards away Norman Cove. No sign of life.
News of the discovery spread quickly, and in the morning until 50 boats had gathered at the site. The Cambridge captain Ben Parks recalls leaving Hooper Island with his father aboard the family boat. The Hooper Island volunteer fire company, he says, was the only drag the body "around, and they are always called upon to use. It is a beautiful device, listen to describe it. It is a long steel rod on rollers, with sharp, three-pronged hooks hanging from it. "It will be inconvenient," says Parks. He climbed aboard the police boat to help Harold Pritchett official with trawl, but there is no luck. Back and forth, back and forth, to comb the entire area around the list to no avail. It was not until Charles Abbott and a few of the men had changed slightly Chance list in order of their elevation from the bottom of the bodies of four men Levin Wallace and Johnson were found below the mast of the ship. One by one the men were transported aboard the police boat and led to the dock of public Wingate.
"I remember seeing those guys lying on the police boat like it was yesterday," says Snooks Windsor, who was at the pier when the boats came still operates a marina and train there. "It's not something that is likely to forget."
Meanwhile, Somers W. Claud was floated and towed back to Chance. Thirty-three bushels of oysters lying on their covers. Within a month it was sold to DK Bond, who is moved from Chesapeake Beach, Maryland it is now owned and sailed by the Reedville Fishermen's Museum, one of only a few of Virginia built skipjacks left.
Nobody can say how or why the Somers finished in the mouth of the fungus when, on behalf of Buddy Jones, the ship was about to cross-strait Hooper when he left her for help. Captain Ed Farley HM Krentz listing out of Tilghman, speculates that the yawl boat, with Thomas James still on board and trying to start the engine, that have been released from Somers. Wallace may have been trying to drive the boat to recover the child. The list, loaded with oysters, and certainly taking on more water faster than anyone could pump out, just went down, the solution at the bottom with its cargo of oysters on the deck yet.
Regardless of how and why, the result remains the same. It is part of the workload of the water. Boats sink; people drown. Perhaps the history of Claud W. Somers remains so deeply rooted in the collective memory, precisely because nobody can really know what happened. Or perhaps the telling and retelling the story of this kind is of a community first line of defense, a warning to their children about the vagaries of nature and the dangers inherent in the use of water. It is, after all, a warning, and anyone "Coming Up in the water" as the islanders began, must heed the lesson.
About the Author
By Jane Meneely, writer for Chesapeake Bay Magazine. For more great articles and photos on boating, sailing, fishing, and cruising, visit http://www.ChesapeakeBoating.net
2007 Cal Poly Pomona Men’s Soccer
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