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Nature of Casualty
Crushed between grounded floe and moving pack ice. Tornfelt, Evert E., Burwell, Michael, Shipwrecks
of the Alaskan Shelf and Shore, U.S. Department of the Interior, Minerals Management Service, Alaska
OCS Region, 1992
The five northernmost ships, the Roman, Comet, Concordia, Gay Head, and George, were completely
surrounded. Slightly to the south the John Wells, Massachusetts, Contest, J. D. Thompson, Henry
Taber, Fanny, Monticello, and Elizabeth Swift were not as tightly gripped... The Comet of Honolulu,
the ship nearest the Roman, was the next to go. At one the next morning "she was pinched until her
timbers snapped and the stern was forced out and hung suspended for three or four days. "When
Captain Packard of the Henry Taber saw the Comet's ensign at half mast he went to her in his boats to
offer assistance. He found Captain da Silva and his crew abandoning ship. Captain Knowles of the
George Howland bought the entire ship and cargo for thirteen dollars. Bockstoce, John R., Whales,
Ice, and Men: The History of Whaling in the Western Arctic, University of Washington Press, Seattle
Washington, 1986:154-155
On the 2d September the brig Comet was crushed in the heavy ice; her crew were taken on board the
other ships and cared for. In now became evident that the ice was setting on shore very heavily, the
open strip of water became narrower every day, and no possible chance to get out. Still no one thought
there would be any difficulty of getting out the first north-east gale. On the 8th of September the bark
Awashonks was crushed between the heavy floe and aboard the other ships. New York Times 11-14-1871
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