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Gay Head New Bedford, Massachusetts

Vessel Details

8/26/1949

The scallop dragger Gay Head was returning to Fairhaven with a full catch when she struck a shoal during a heavy gale and was instantly shattered by the heavy seas off Nantucket, giving the crew no opportunity to escape. She had last been sighted that morning by the Jerry and Jimmy about 30 miles east of the Nantucket Lightship.

The dragger Southern Cross sighted wreckage off Wasque buoy, and the Coast Guard tug Arundel searched the scene. The wreckage, found on Muskeget Shoal, was landed at the State Pier in New Bedford, where the owner, Captain Daniel F. Mullins, identified it. No trace of the crew members was ever found.

One of the crew members, Kenneth Warne, was the nephew of Captain Karl Haakonsen.

Name Age
Jacob Helgesen
Karl Haakonsen
Hans Johansen
Sivert Pettersen
Peter Apeland
Douglas Cline
William Dunn
Terge Pedersen
Lewis Tripp
Kenneth Warne
Ranvald Abelsen 48

  • Trade Indicator: Fishery dragger
  • Hull Material: Wood
  • Year Built: 1924
  • Ship Builder: Essex, Massachusetts
  • Owner: Capt. Daniel F. Mullin
  • Previous Owners:
  • Service: Commercial fishing
  • Doc. Issuance Date:
  • Doc. Expiration Date:
  • USCG Doc. No.: 223564
  • IMO Number:
  • Call Sign:
  • Hull Number:
  • Length (ft): 67.6 ft.
  • Hull Depth (ft): 8 ft.
  • Hull Breadth (ft): 17.1 ft.
  • Gross Tonnage: 45
  • Net Tonnage: 17