[FT. OCRACOKE] [CRISSIE WRIGHT] [SUGAR SHIP] [W.E. HUTTON]
[THE PAPOOSE] [OLIVE THURLOW] [BLACKBEARD'S QAR]
[PEVENSEY] [CORE BANKS SURVEY]

The Wreck of the Crissie Wright

On January 11, 1886, the three-masted schooner Crissie Wright, grounded and sank on Shackleford Banks near Diamond City in the midst of a powerful blizzard. Six of her seven man crew froze to death in the rigging. The model above was built by Jim Goodwin and is the most precise example of the doomed ship that we have today. We have located several targets which could be this wreck and the search will continue in April 2010.

 
Common grave of the dead crew members.
The grave is located in the Old Burial Ground in Beaufort, NC.

Vice President of SIDCO, David Pope and Research Consultant
Greg Purdy prepare a J.W. Fisheries Proton-3 Magnetometer
to begin searching for the Crissie Wright. Greg's father
Al Purdy prepares the tow cable.

SIDCO's flagship Fortress, joins the search this winter after being refit with a new engine, DGPS navigations systems, an onboard computer and the Schonstedt GAU-30 Magnetometer/ Applied Microvideo underwater camera package.

The Official Shipping Record

This document was compiled for every ship in existence and gives a wealth of information about Crissie Wright including her date of construction and the fact that her fasteners were galvanized iron.

The Crissie Wright

The story is told
That in January 1886,
Life on the Banks
Was simple and hard, but rich

Children played - picking up twigs and sticks,
Old men mended nets,
Younger men searched for oysters and clams,
Women made sure the tables were set.

The day of the eleventh was sunny and mild,
Some say it got up to seventy degrees,
But by supper time on the day,
Gale force southwest winds bent the trees.

Excited voices told the news,
That the Crissie Wright
With seven on board as a crew
Had run aground near the bight.

As winds blew, the temperature dropped,
Soaked crewmen wrapped in the sails
The water froze in their boots and
They were unable to bail.

Today as January winds blow,
The story is told again,
How the crew of the Crissie Wright froze to death,
And this is the tale of those brave men.

Written by Benji Taylor, Harkers Island, NC