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The
City of New York was Admiral Byrd's flagship during his famous
Antarctic explorations, Captained by
Although she only made one trip to the frozen south, she became famous for her exploits. In addition to her voyage of exploration, she had a long career as a merchant ship, survived to be one of the last working commercial sailing vessels in North America, and may have played a role on one of the greatest maritime disasters of all time.
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The famous polar exploration ship City
of New York started life as the sealing barkentine Sampson,
built at Arendal, Norway, in
1885. She was of amazingly strong
construction, her hull being 34 inches thick in places. Old stories,
supported by some facts, indicate that she may have been the "mystery
ship" seen on the night RMS Titanic sank. Many people have long
claimed that the lights of an unknown ship were seen near Titanic
that night. It is said that Sampson was that night engaged in
illegal sealing operations near the spot where Titanic went down.
The crew of the Sampson saw a large, fast ship approach and fire rockets
into the air. Thinking the ship to be a revenue cutter out to enforce the
law, they fled. Instead, the ship was supposedly
Titanic firing distress rockets after her fatal brush with an iceberg.
There are some who believe that the
Sampson was actually engaged in smuggling weapons to Ireland on the
voyage, and that was the real reason they fled!
City of New York departed New
York on 25 August
1928, headed south for New Zealand. Arriving
there on the 26th of November, she took on final supplies and set out for
Antarctica. To save her coal supply she was taken in tow by the steamer
Eleanor Bolling. The ships were struck by a heavy gale on December
7th, causing the towline to part. City of New York was left on her
own in the storm with 30 fathoms of line hanging from her bow. It took two
hours of all hands work to bring in the towline. Upon returning home the City of New York was replaced by the famous Bear. City of New York became a museum of polar exploration, touring the Atlantic coast and the Great Lakes. She ended up at Cleveland, where she was trapped in her berth by a newly constructed bridge. There she remained until World War II brought great need for shipping. To help meet the need City's masts were taken out and she left the Lakes for a return to service along the east coast, sailing from Halifax. She was rerigged as a three masted schooner, stripped of her engine, and re-entered service in 1944. After a few years on the Nova Scotia-West Indies route she was deemed too slow. In 1947 she had her topmasts removed, her bowsprit shortened, and she was fitted with an engine. Thus she became a motor schooner, carrying only two jibs and her foresail and mainsail. Late in 1962 City of New York was sold for use in the Prince Edward Island potato trade. On 30 December 1962, before she entered her new service, she broke her tow and drifted onto Chebogue Ledge outside Yarmouth Harbor, Nova Scotia. A stove overturned, starting a fire; the ship quickly filled and sank. Storms later broke her up and washed parts of her hull ashore. courtesy of www . hazegray . org
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The Barquentine has three or more masts with square sails only on the the fore mast |
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