By Keeper James D. Charlet
The first paragraph of the Annual Report of the Operations of the United States Life-Saving Service for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1913 report on this wreck is a huge testament to the incredible successes and efficiency of the surfmen of the United States Life-Saving Service: “The wreck of the schooner John Maxwell in the early morning of November 2, 1912, three-fourths of a mile southeast of the New Inlet Life-Saving Station, coast of North Carolina, furnished the most serious casualty of any that occurred upon our eastern seaboard during the year within the scope of operations of the service.”
Ship’s Capt. Fred Godfrey … testified that almost immediately after grounding, the Mate and remaining four crew (except the cook) mutinied by hurriedly leaving the schooner in the ship’s boat. The captain elaborated by saying with certainty that had all hands been assisting, the breeches buoy would have saved them all.
Three neighboring stations responded. Keeper Patrick Etheridge’s crew from the New Inlet Station immediately set up the beach apparatus. Three shots were fired; all failed.
The next day, another surfboat launch failed. Another Lyle gun shot failed.
The schooner’s inevitable fate began as it started to break up. As the schooner was violently and literally broken to pieces, spars flying, rigging collapsing in heaps of spaghetti, and seams parting, ….
So, how did this story end? What were the exhausting details? You can find out in April 2025 when this volume II is released.
1 Annual Report of the Operations of the United States Life-Saving Service for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1913, p. 58.