Pemberton

Description: schooner barge, collier, wood.
Dimensions: length 184.4 ft., width 35.1 ft., depth 16.2 ft.
Tonnage: gross 839, other.
Propulsion:
Machinery:
Cargo:

The Shipwreck

Date Sunk: February 13, 1907.
Cause: burned.
Location: Nantucket Sound, east of Nobska Light, Woods Hole.
Coordinates: latitude 41° - 28.9' N; longitude 70° - 31.6' W.
Loran:

While bound from Boston for South Amboy, New Jersey, the schooner barge Pemberton caught fire off Nobska Point and burned to the waters edge. There were no fatalities. Valued at $25,000 the vessel was uninsured.

Dive Site Conditions

Depth in feet:
Visibility in feet:
Coordinates given by the Massachusetts Board of Underwater Archaeological Resources put Pemberton off Hedge Fence Shoal in about 70 feet of water.
Primary source documentation, however, only list the vessel as having "burned to the waters edge off Nobska [Point]."
Brad Luther, in his 1965 publication The Vanishing Fleet, puts Pemberton;
"11/4 miles E X N of Nobska Light, Woods Hole", in 37 feet of water at coordinates 41° - 31' -14" N and 70° - 37' - 38" W.

Historical Background

Constructed: in 1899, at Bath, Maine by builder Kelly, Spear & Company.
Construction details: 3 masted.
Crew: 3; Master: E.L Snow (1899).
Owners: Staples Coal Company (1899).
Home or Hailing Port: Fall River, Massachusetts.
Former Name(s) and date(s):
Official number: 150815. Country: U.S.A.
Other Comments:

Salvage

Sources:
A Maritime History of Bath Maine; Vol.II, Baker, 1973
Merchant Vessels of the United States; 1906
Merchant Vessels of the United States, Vessels Lost Chapter; 1907
New York Maritime Register; February 20, 1907
The Vanishing Fleet; Luther, 1965