by Finny Dianora-Brøndal

September 25, 2026

There have been many tales of shipwrecks. For as long as man has been navigating the Earth’s waters, man has also failed to do so flawlessly. All around the world there are shipwrecks, each with their own unique story. Our own Long Island happens to have a concentration of them in its surrounding waters. Nay, out of the three historical articles I have written thus far, two involve shipwrecks. The first is my column from last month, which focused on HMS Culloden; the second is this month’s installment, “The Peril of the Circassian.”

November 6, 1876, just off Liverpool Harbor, England

The Circassian has just left Liverpool, bound for New York City’s bustling port with 1,400 tons of cargo, all of it insured for $90,000. In today’s economy that is roughly $2.81 million.

Built in 1856, this vessel was originally an iron-hulled twin-screw steamer and served as a blockade runner for the Confederacy during the Civil War. Her capture by the Federal Navy on May 4, 1862, is known as one of the most valuable captures of the Civil War. After the war, she was auctioned off and refitted for commercial use. For the Circassian, this meant her engines were stripped (allowing for more storage capacity) and she was converted to an all-wind-powered sailing vessel. This is her first transatlantic crossing since her refitting.

December 11th, 1876, just off Montauk Point, United States

After about a month of sailing, the Circassian finally reaches the eastern tip of Long Island. The bad news: She is being mercilessly battered by a severe winter storm. Having encountered the storm earlier on their trip, the crew is thoroughly occupied with merely keeping the vessel afloat. To make matters more complicated, earlier on their trip, they had come across a foundering Heath Park 500 miles off Montauk Point. Amidst the storm, the crew of 11 had been promptly rescued and brought aboard. With the howling winds and turbulent seas, I have little doubt the crew and their new companions sorely yearned for those engines that had been removed prior to the crossing.

Eventually the storm passes but the Circassian now finds herself in more trouble. By “an error in compass,” she strikes an outer sandbar and is stranded not 400 yards from shore. Luckily, she is only 20 yards west of Mecox Lifesaving Station (then located at the end of Ocean Road in Bridgehampton), perhaps her only stroke of luck in the whole ordeal.

From the Journal of the Mecox Lifesaving Station

Monday, December 11, 1876

This day came in with cloudy weather and light westerly winds and small sea. At 10:55 o’clock P. M. Patrolman Samuel H. Howell discovered a vessel on the outer bar, by her firing off rockets and immediately answered the same by Coston patrol signal, and afterward by blue light.

Tuesday, December 12

There were forty-nine persons on board including eleven wrecking crew taken from off an English bark at sea. The ship was bound from Liverpool to New York with general cargo, about half loaded.

Twenty yards west of station and on the outer bar, drawing 19-1/2 feet of water. Cause of wreck, an error in compass. Boat was launched at 10:30 A.M., and arrived at the ship at 11:00 A.M., and returned at 11:30. Made seven trips in all, and broke five oars. The Captain was Robert Wilson of Liverpool, England.

We had at this time, forty-two persons at the station. We used the mortar and one shot which landed upon the ship’s deck, — made immediate connections by hand line and hawser. In the meantime the tide had fallen off so that we could use the boat as stated above, and filled the boat but once during the day.

The lifesaving station completes its task of rescuing everyone on board, a testament to their bravery and skill. With all 49 people rescued, the next and final task is to rescue the ship itself and the cargo insured for $90,000 ($2.81 million). Less than half of the crew (14 men plus the stowaway) stay to help salvage the ship.

A plan commences when Captain John Lewis of the Coastal Wrecking Company is tasked with commanding an operation to lighten the Circassian’s load and, in doing so, ease her off the sandbar and into deeper water. With only 15 men from the vessel plus the company’s own men, the operation requires more recruits. Because of this, Shinnecock men from Southampton are enlisted in the salvage operation due to their maritime skills and extensive knowledge of the local waters.

By Christmas Eve, around a third of the Circassian’s cargo has been removed, but with two-thirds still remaining, on December 29th, another winter storm blows in. This one is even worse than the first. The laborers are ordered to stay onboard; there is a possibility this is done at gunpoint.

Friday, December 29th

At 7:00 P.M. E. Erastus Halsey discovered and reported what he thought was a signal of distress from the ship “Circassian” … We at once proceeded to get the gear in readiness to rescue the persons on board. At 8:00 P.M. everything was in readiness … The wind suddenly chops around to the southwest with rain and blowing heavily, which brought everything to the leeward …

… We were obliged to take position full fifty yards back, or close under the sand hill, on account of the extreme heavy sea and full tide … the mainmast fell by the force of the storm, the sea constantly breaking over her. We could see with the glasses of the station the men in the rigging, but about midnight the tide fell off, and we saw the lights on her decks and the ship still whole, but her decks completely swept fore and aft.

Saturday, December 30

This day comes in with heavy westerly gales, cloudy weather and heavy seas running. At, or about 2:00 A.M., discovered that the men on board the ship had again been obliged to take to the rigging, the sea again breaking over her. At 3-1/2 o’clock or thereabouts, discovered that she had broken in two, the forepart settling down, head foremost, and the aft part, stern foremost, the mizzen still erect and rigging full of men … about 4-1/2 P.M. [the mizzen] settled in the water. Soon thereafter, four men were hauled out of the surf, being all that are saved out of thirty-two persons on board.

With the Circassian finally destroyed, only four of the men onboard survive. Three are of the original transatlantic crew, and one is of the later wrecking crew. None of the 10 Shinnecock men who remained aboard for the final salvage operation survived.

Sitting here relaying this history, I cannot imagine how horrific it must have been for those onboard the Circassian during her last moments. Conversely, those ashore must have been haunted for the rest of their lives from powerlessly watching this tragedy unfold.

The peril of the Circassian is still remembered by some as one of the most tragic maritime stories of our area. In addition to having a tragic end, the Circassian has an incredibly odd coincidence associated with it that not many people have chronicled. What happened to the Circassian (a boat which has a relatively uncommon name) had more or less been spelled out 40 years before the ship even sank. During my research for this article, I came across a maritime adventure novel published in 1836 titled, “The Pirate, and The Three Cutters” by Captain Frederick Marryat.

The first half of the book tells the story of a ship called the Circassian. In the book, the Circassian is a cargo vessel sailing from New York Harbor to Liverpool, England. Unfortunately, though, along the way, the ship sinks due to a violent storm out at sea and only three onboard survive. For me (as I hope for you, dear reader), this coincidence brings an air of eeriness to the whole ordeal. See you next month.

To read the article on 27east.com, click here.

Finny Dianora-Brøndal is the Sag Harbor Whaling & Historical Museum’s Local History Writing Program intern and a recipient of the Robert David Lion Gardiner Foundation’s 2026 Gardiner Young Scholars Program award. The Whaling Museum’s Local History Writing Program is a new collaborative initiative with The Express News Group that engages students in the exploration, research and documentation of local history.

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