On what should have been an ordinary day of fishing, five Manhattan men suddenly found themselves fighting for their lives in the waters off New York’s coast in 1909.
Their launch suffered a catastrophic breakdown miles from shore, taking on water so quickly that bailing became hopeless. With the vessel sinking beneath them, the fishermen abandoned the deck and clung to the outside of the boat, desperately trying to keep it afloat while awaiting a miracle.
That miracle arrived in the form of a passing sloop whose crew spotted the men just before the launch disappeared beneath the waves.
Although the fishermen survived, their boat was lost to the sea, and the rescued men curiously declined to reveal where in Manhattan they lived.
Fishermen’s Narrow Escape
MANHATTAN, New York. — Five fishermen from Manhattan were rescued from drowning yesterday noon by a party of men from Rockaway. Three miles offshore the launch in which the fishermen were broke down. It fell into the trough of the sea, and made water faster than they could bail out.
They went over the sides and swam with the launch in an effort to lighten it, and it was about ready to go down when William H. Fisher, John Dugan, and Fire Chief Bresnan, who were out for a sail in the sloop Esther, came to the rescue.
They got the fishermen into the sloop and made an effort to save the launch, but she went down when two miles out.
The rescued men gave their names as John O’Keefe, Michael Hart, Robert Smith, Albert Joyce, and Arthur Keating, but refused to give their addresses.
They were landed at a fishing club in Jamaica Bay and cared for there until they were able to start for the city.
Source: New York Tribune. New York, N.Y. July 19, 1909.
