Huntsville and Myronus
Researching shipwrecks is a never-ending job. One can never ascertain every last item of information about any particular
shipwreck, because documents may be sequestered in oddball places where even the most dedicated researcher will never think
to look - or have the time.
Sometimes, after reading my published accounts, people have contacted me about a wreck that I covered but whose location
or identification was unknown. For example, I wrote about the Huntsville in Shipwrecks of New Jersey: South
(published in 2002). The Huntsville was a wooden-hulled screw steamer that burned and sank in 1877. In the chapter
on the Huntsville, I provided construction specifications and the approximate location of the wreck (extrapolated from
historical documentation in my possession).
After reading my account, David Pfeiffer realized that he had dived on a wreck which closely fit my description: single
piston engine, large iron prop, located off Egg Harbor, and so on. The wreck was known as the Lang. Pfeiffer contacted me,
and informed me of his conclusions (in which I heartily concurred).
He and his fellow divers have since dedicated themselves to identifying the Lang. So far, no positive identification has
been made, but efforts are ongoing to recover some item from the site that can be associated with the Huntsville.
In this manner, the Popular Dive Guide Series has provided the impetus to ponder about unidentified wrecks.
Most old wrecks are never identified positively, but have their identities presumed by dint of a preponderance of
circumstantial evidence. One notable exception is the Cleopatra (Shipwrecks of Delaware and Maryland: 2002 Edition),
lost in 1889 after collision with the Crystal Wave. I found a brass stencil with the vessel’s name cut out of the
metal. But that kind of find is an aberration - one which I am unlikely to repeat. Sigh . . .
On other occasions, people have brought to my attention certain facts about a wreck of which I was previously unaware.
Recently, I received a letter from Massachusetts from one Paul Johnson. He had just read the chapter on the loss of the
Myronus in Shipwrecks of Rhode Island and Connecticut (2004), and took exception to an unreported fact that
he found personally important.
The schooner Myronus sank in 1907 after a collision with the passenger steamer Tennessee. The schooner
sank in two minutes, carrying down with her the four crewmembers who were asleep in their bunks. Only the captain and the
mate escaped; they were on deck at the time of the collision. Captain Belatty nearly drowned because he did not know how
to swim.
According to the documents in my possession, the captain was drowning “when Joseph Kenny, a clerk of 320 Broadway, and
Michael J. Coffin, an oiler on the United States battleship New Jersey, jumped overboard and supported him until
the boat reached them.” The boat was a lifeboat from the Tennessee, on which 350 passengers were taking passage.
Johnson disagreed with the quoted statement because he possessed documentation that contradicted it. He kindly sent me
copies of documents that he had gathered from a variety of sources: contemporary newspapers, a Navy magazine, sworn
depositions, and the Treasury Department. The reason for Johnson’s interest was his relation to the rescuer, who was his
grandfather.
Johnson’s documents contained their own inconsistencies. For example, the oiler was assigned variously to the
USS Virginia and to the USS New Jersey (which were sister ships). The spelling of the name of the captain
of the Myronus was given variously as Baratty and as Bellutty. The bane of the ardent researcher is that he is
beholden to original documents without being able to attest to their veracity.
Despite these nonconformities, official documents concurred on two important points: the correct spelling of the name of
the oiler was Michael F. Crosson; and Crosson was awarded a medal in recognition of his gallantry. (To add confusion, one
report boasted that the medal was struck from gold, while another claimed that it was struck from silver. Joseph Kenny was
not mentioned in any of the supporting documentation.)
The record has now been revised and corrected with regard to the Myronus. I welcome copies of all documentation
pertaining to shipwrecks that I have covered in the Popular Dive Guide Series, and pertaining to shipwrecks that I will
cover in future books.
