in a Storm of Confusion =====
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n the days before big-rig The Portland failed to arrive trucks and multi-lane highin Maine, as scheduled, the ways, the seaway between next morning. Rescue ships Boston, Massachusetts, and searched the waters, but Portland, Maine, was very found nothing . Within days, busy. A new 291-foot-long bodies and items from the side-paddle steamer, the sh ip began to wash ashore w ooden-hulled Portland, was on the beaches of Cape Cod. built in 1889 to help keep up Until then, no one even knew with the traffic. In October of of the wreck, because the that year, the majestic storm had downed telegraph Portland set off upon the lines along the Cape. Kennebec River to great celeHardest hit by the tragedy bration, and headed out for Boston. was the community of Portland . For ten yea rs Portland carried summer Most of the passengers were tourists to the coast of Maine, mostly withreturning home after spending out incident. Then in November 1898, a sudThanksgiving in Boston. Many of den change in weather would sea l its fate. them, and about half of the DAILY SERVICE, SUllDAYS INCLUDEO Portland's crew, were African The weather was calm as Portland left TB.11 NICW A.KD P.&.L..A.TIA.L 8T8AllJIR8 Boston carrying about 200 passengers and BAY STATE AND PORTLANn. Americans . This part of Portland's crew. History is unclear on whether the Alternately leave F1u.1o::Ltlf w;....,.P, Portland community was devastated by the very eventng at 7 o'olook, arit~lng In aeaao captain received a warning about a gatherloss of so many breadwinners . or oonneotlona with earlloa• tralna rorpoln be ond ' ing storm . It is possible that he ignored a The mystery surrounding the command not to set sai l that evening. ship's loss led many to search for Soon the weather worsened, clocking winds of over 90 it throughout the 20th century. In 1989 the steamer's miles an hour and 30-foot seas. The ship was last sighted remains were finally located in the Stel lwagen Bank around 11 o'clock that evening. After that, we can only National Marine Sanctuary in Massachusetts Bay. guess what happened. Mykee Saki/off
The Portland Resurfaces ... and Stays at the Bottom of the Sea
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he steamer Portland had barely settled into its Maritime Group of New England (HMGNE), which had locatwatery grave when a search for the sunken vessel ed dozens of shipwrecks, found the wreck that Rowe and began. More than 100 years wou ld pass before that others had described . Using the sonar equipment, they realsearch proved fruitful. ized that this ship could not possibly be the Portland. There Some people believed that the steamer was no paddle wheel. had gone down near Peaked Hi ll Bars, a HMGNE moved its search farther sandbar just off Provincetown at the north . This area was closer to the reportnorthern tip of Cape Cod. The U.S. Navy ed last sighting of the Portland and neardragged the sea bottom with a large er to where fishermen had first pulled chain secured between two tugboats. up debris from the steamer. In 1989, the They found nothing. Still, the large group found signs of a ship that was a amount of bodies and debris that paddle wheel steamer. Further investiwashed up on the beaches suggested gation showed that it was, in fact, the Portland sank not more than a few miles Portland. off the shores of Cape Cod. For months, Instead of going public w ith the details Launching the updated ROV from the RIV Connecticut. SBNMS fishermen netted fragments from the of their find, HMGNE wa ited. ship's cabins and other debris . Within a few years, the federa l governFrom 1924 unti l 1945, searchers continued to find evi- ment designated the entire area in wh ich the Portland sank dence of a wreck north of the Cape. Some, including his- as the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary. torian Edward Rowe Snow, were so convinced it was the Removing or damaging historical resources (l ike the wreck Portland that they erected a plaque on land pointing to its of the Portland) is prohibited in sanctuary waters. No other location some seven miles out to sea. salvagers could try to claim the shipwreck. In 2002, once Then, in 1978, new equipment including a side scan sonar, HMGNE knew that the shipwreck would be protected, pointed the search in a different direction . The Historical they let the world know the details of the discovery.