By Sunset Beach, Reprinted By The Raleigh Telegram
SUNSET BEACH, NC – While Hurricane
Sandy caused devastation to most of the Northeast, the Southeast
experienced a much less severe
storm. But the storm still managed to
unearth a piece of buried history in Surf City, on Topsail Island.
A section of the William H. Sumner, a
three-masted schooner whose young captain died under suspicious
circumstances after running the ship aground in 1919, has been
protruding from the sand a short distance from the Dolphin Street beach
access.
The wreckage is a chunk of the ship
that floated ashore when the Coast Guard blasted the vessel shortly
after it ran aground, to remove the navigation hazard.
At least part of the 489-ton, 165-foot
ship is believed to be resting at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean near
the southern end of the island. Erosion caused by strong coastal storms
routinely exposes what has been identified as a side portion of the
ship. This piece has been there for quite a while, and should ideally
remain there underneath the sand, being naturally preserved that way.
The wreckage is only visible at certain periods of low tide.
A large frame of the ship that once
rested on the shore is in the state archaeology lab in Fort Fisher. The
frame was moved to the lab after a group of fishermen was caught trying
to illegally remove it from the beach about a year ago.
The state claims all abandoned
shipwrecks still in the water. Surf City Mayor Zander Guy said when the
wreckage was initially exposed more than 10 years ago it was a public
safety concern. Large iron bolts used to hold the ship’s frame together
eventually erode into spikes – a potential hazard to beachgoers. The
state can permit beach towns to relocate and re-bury ship wreckage.
For the most part, beach towns leave
the artifacts in place, giving a residents and visitors a rare glimpse
of the past outside of museum walls.
The Sumner is a valuable resource unique to Surf City since most shipwrecks on the North Carolina coast are in the Outer Banks.
Archaeologists have studied the ship, a
“heavily-built” vessel that hauled lumber and phosphate rock for about
30 years. On Sept. 7, 1919, it was sailing precariously close to the
shore, catching the attention of swimmers and sunbathers at Wrightsville
Beach.
Shortly after it ran aground, the
Sumner’s 24-year-old captain was dead. His ship’s mate, Charles L.
Lacey, claimed that his boss, Robert E. Cockram, shot himself to death.
This was Cockram’s first command after a promotion only two weeks
before.
But evidence pointed to foul play, and
Lacey was charged with murder. He was convicted of the crime but later
acquitted in an appeal. ::
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: This article was released by the Town of Sunset Beach, North Carolina.