John Minturn was a three-masted packet ship that was lost on February 14, 1846. The ship left New Orleans headed for New York carrying $80,000 in goods and crew and passengers totaling 51 individuals. Captain Dudley Stark was Master of the ship.[1][2] Her commander was Dudley Stark, who was a native of Stonington, Connecticut.[3] When the weather got bad, John Minturn took on pilot boat Blossom's Pilot Thomas Freeborn who tried to guide the ship to port.[4]
 Wreck of the ship John Minturn by Nathaniel Currier | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | John Minturn |
| Owner | New York Pilots |
| Operator | Dudley Stark, Thomas Freeborn |
| Out of service | February 14, 1846 |
| Homeport | New York |
| Fate | Wrecked February 14, 1846 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | packet ship |
| Propulsion | sails |
| Sail plan | Schooner-rigged |
Construction and service
editThe John Minturn was a three-masted packet ship. Captain Dudley Stark was Master of the ship. She was used as a passenger ship from New Orleans. She had accommodations for cabin, second cabin and steerage passengers.[5]
End of service
editThe ship was caught in a gale off Mantoloking in Ocean County, New Jersey shore, 4 miles (6.4 km) south of Sqwan inlet.[6] Thirty-eight lives were lost aboard the ship. This represented the largest loss of life from the storm which claimed upwards of 60 victims.[7] The disaster was immortalized in an 1846 hand-colored lithograph, Pilots' Monument, by Currier and Ives.[8]
Later, newspapers reported widespread plundering of the dead.[9] The reports prompted the New Jersey Senate to appoint a commission to investigate the validity of the claims. In a March 20, 1846, report by the commission to the Senate, the commission found the claims to be unwarranted.[10]
The 1846 wreck sparked the development of the United States Life-Saving Service, an agency that would assist shipwrecked crews and passengers.[11] That service would eventually merge with the United States Coast Guard.[12]
In 1847 the New York Pilots constructed the Pilots' Monument in memory of their comrade pilot Thomas Freeborn (1808-1846). It is located at the top of Battle Hill in the Green-Wood Cemetery.[13][14]
References
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