Princess Augusta Haunts Block Island (1738)

Description

John Greenleaf Whittier wrote “wise sound skippers, though skies be fine, Reef their sails when they see the sign, of the blazing wreck of the Palatine”. There was no ship, The Palatine, however. Instead there was a ship of Palatine immigrants called the Princess Augusta, lost to time, and only remembered as a glimmer on the sea.

Ship Name: Princess Augusta

Nationality: English

Built: 1720

Tonnage: 200 Tons

Sank: 1738

Location Sank: Block Island, Rhode Island

Reason for Sinking: Hit sand bar in a storm

Lives Lost: Over 300 over the space of the voyage, exact number unknown.

Sources:

The Story of the Palatines: An Episode in Colonial History, By Sanford Hoadley Cobb

A History of Block Island, By Samuel Truesdale Livermore

Block Island Map and Guide, By Samuel Truesdale Livermore