August 2, 1922
Sch. Elva L. Spurling Sunk
Off Nauset
One of Crew Killed But Rest Are Rescued
Sch. Elva L. Spurling, Capt.
George Perry, was run down and sunk off Nauset, Cape Cod, yesterday
afternoon at 4 o'clock during a think fog by the collier, Lake Flournoy.
Patrick Powers, one of the crew was killed and his body was recovered some
time afterwards.
The Spurling was
inward bound with a trip of 45,000 pounds of groundfish at the time. Without hardly
any warning, the collier, bound for Norfolk light, crashed into the fisherman midway on
her port side. The vessel commenced to sink rapidly. Three of the crew sought
refuge in the rigging, while others on the starboard side took to their dories.
In the collision, Patrick Powers, one
of those in the rigging was crushed to death between the rigging and side on the
steamer. His body was recovered some three hours afterwards, floating on the
surface. He was 44 years old, and leaves a widow and several children in Westboro.
In less than three minutes the Spurling
sank. The steamer stood by and succeeded in rescuing the 14 other
members of the crew and then proceeded back to Boston, arriving in port about
midnight.
The Lake Flournoy is
a 2500-ton vessel, 251 feet long, with a beam of 43.6 feet and a draft of 26.2 feet.
The crew numbered 32 men, none of whom was hurt in the crash. The steamer was built
in Duluth in 1920. On this sailing it was bound for Norfolk.
The Elva L. Spurling was
an auxiliary fishing boat of 79 foot length and a tonnage of 74. She was built in
Essex in 1904 and had Boston for its home port. |
