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Shipwrecks
of the Outer Banks Archive Photos
Click on
any picture below to see a larger image. All photos by Fred
Hurteau.
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The
photos on this page were taken circa 1972-73. Some of these
wreck sites are no longer visible but may reappear at the whims
of the tides and sand. Some have washed away and disappeared
altogether. Some are more visible now than they were when these
photos were taken. Such is the nature of these pieces of shipwreck
history. Without GPS coordinates (something not available at
the time of the photos) the location, and thus the likely identity
of some of these is not known.
On the other side of the coin, you never know what new surprises
the tides and storms will bring to light in the near future
- more pieces of history for us to ponder and wonder about.
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The G.A.
Kohler washed high up on the
beach in a hurricane on Aug. 23,
1933. The huge 4-masted schooner
languished on the dunes like a beached
whale for nearly ten years. During
WWII this popular tourist attraction
was burned to obtain her scrap metal.
In 1973 when this photo was taken
this was all that visibly remained. |
 
The Altoona (left)
broke in two at Cape Hatteras point in 1878. This piece of
the wreckage
is also visible in the background of the 1973 photo at right,
showing another piece of the ship. One source indicated
this wreckage
has washed away after remaining visible for more than 100 years.
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This
is another photo of the Oriental seen
on the previous page. |
This
enlargement better shows the boiler
stack which has defiantly withstood
the oceans fury since 1862. |
The unmarked shipwreck (at right)
rests within sight of the Oriental (pictured
above). Click on this thumbnail
and find the Oriental in
the ocean at the far left of
this picture. The spikes in the
foreground are the remains of
fencing used to stabilize dunes. |
M.A.
Spencer |
M.A.
Spencer |
M.A.
Spencer |
The
three photos above are different
angles of a wreck marked by the
park service as the M.A. Spencer,
but I have been unable to locate
any references to a shipwreck by
that name.
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The
photos at left and right are
opposite ends of a shipwreck
on Ocracoke Island believed to be the George W. Wells. Although
most of this wreckage was buried under
the sand, it appeared to be as
long as the remains of the Laura
A. Barnes shown below. |
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The Laura
A. Barnes (at left, right and five photos below) was a 4-masted
schooner out of Camden, Maine, that shipwrecked in a storm on
June 1, 1921. The crew was rescued and the stranded ship was
sold to some locals for salvage. It was stripped and the salvage
was sold at auction. Parts of her went into building a house,
which was a very common occurrence on the Outer Banks. Storms
shifted the remaining wreckage about, and vandals have set fire
to the hulk several times.
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Laura.A.
Barnes |
Laura.A.
Barnes |
Laura.A.
Barnes |
Laura.A.
Barnes |
Laura.A.
Barnes |
Laura.A.
Barnes |
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For
a modern view of shipwrecks on the Outer Banks,
Go to Folklore and History - Page
One > |
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