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PORTLAND (Shipwreck and Remains)
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| Nearest city: | Gloucester, Massachusetts |
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| Built: | 1889 |
| Architect: | New England Shipbuilding Co.; et al. |
| Architectural style: | No Style Listed |
| Governing body: | Federal |
| NRHP Reference#: |
04001473 [1] |
| Added to NRHP: | January 13, 2005 |
The Portland is a historic shipwreck in Gloucester, Massachusetts. The S.S. Portland was built by New England Shipbuilding Co. in 1889 and sank in the Portland Gale of 1898 off of Cape Ann, killing 192 people.[2]. The shipwreck site was located in 2002 and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2005.
In 2008, five Massachusetts scuba divers became the first to reach the steamship, also known as the "Titanic of New England".[3] The divers spoke about their three successful dives 460 feet below the ocean's surface, relating that they found no human remains, however, they indicated that they did not explore below the deck because of the danger.[3] Their dives were 10–15 minutes in length, used in exploring the site before returning to the surface.[3] It was noted that the divers "were unable to retrieve artifacts" due to rules in place at Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary.[3] The Portland's resting place will remain a secret.[3]
Divers David S Faye, Bob Foster, Don Morse, Slav Mlch and Paul Blanchette spent 10 to 15 minutes each dive exploring the shipwreck and had to endure up to 4 hours of decompression in the frigid North Atlantic.
The wreck of the Portland was located, and visited, in the last week of June, 1945. A dive commissioned by noted author Edward Rowe Snow (who is also known as the Lighthouse Santa) occurred during the last week of June through the first week of July during the last year of the war. Snow records the affidavit of diver Al George, from Malden, Massachusetts, in pages 178-180 of his book Strange Tales from Nova Scotia to Cape Hatteras. According to the affidavit, George found the site by traveling to a location discovered by Captain Charles G. Carver of Rockland, Maine. The site is roughly identified as follows: "Highland Light bears 175 degrees true at a distance of 4.5 miles; the Pilgrim Monument, 6.25 miles away has a bearing of 210 degrees; Race Point Coast Guard Station, bearing 255 degrees, is seven miles distant."
According to diver George, recovery of artifacts would be cost-prohibitive, and nearly impossible given the status of the wreck. Even acknowledging the likely presence of uncut diamonds in the purser's safe, George assessed the chances of recovery as a losing financial proposition, based in part on how deeply entrenched in the sand the wreck was, and how widely dispersed the impact with the bottom had spread bits and pieces of the ship.
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