He nervously paced the passageway. Wringing his hat in his hands, an elder member of his fellow steerage passengers walked up to him and patted him on the back. “Easy my boy,” the elder said softly. “She will be fine.” The young man smiled. Suddenly, the door to the room opened and a woman rushed out. The door slammed quickly behind her. She ran down the passageway. The calm on the young man’s face disappeared. The elder again patted him on the back and offered, “it is the way.” Within a few minutes the woman reappeared with a bowl of hot water. She knocked on the door and was allowed in. The young man’s patience was waning when finally he heard a cry. It was a baby’s cry. The passenger list of the S.S. Sicilian Prince would have to be updated before they arrived in New York.
Meanwhile, walking along the beaches of Long Beach, Long Island, United States Lifesaving Service Patrolman M.K. Abrams was thankful that he had worn his extra set of long-johns. The cold wintry wind swept along the strand as he trudged through the hard-packed sand in the early morning hours of November 20th, 1904. Suddenly he stopped in his tracks. He reached up and pulled his watch cap up over his ear. His senses were not tricking him. Yes, he counted after he heard the drone of the horn. Yes, two minutes. That was the fog horn of a passing ship. He strained his eyes and peered into the dense fog that blanketed the waters off of Long Beach. Then, he suddenly saw a gray mass begin to emerge in the fog. Abrams grabbed for his Coston flare and lit it. The gray mass loomed larger and larger. It continued on its northeast course. Abrams cursed under his breath as he lit a second flare. Why wouldn’t they slow their speed and alter their course. Did they not realize they were steaming straight for the beachhead?
An hour earlier, at approximately four o’clock in the morning, Captain William Hanck, in command of the S.S. Sicilian Prince, noted the light off his bow. It was the Barnegat Light, he believed. To ensure, he ordered soundings taken. With the additional information, he ordered the helmsman to continue on the northeasterly course at a speed of twelve knots an hour. At roughly five o’clock in the morning, as Lifesaver Abrams was about to light his first flare, the lookout aboard the S.S. Sicilian Prince excitedly shouted out the alarm “Breakers, dead ahead!” Captain William Hanck quickly ordered engines full reverse. The orders however were too late. The S.S. Sicilian Prince slammed into the shoals sending several of the officers and crew to the deck. Despite efforts to free the ship from the sand, the ship was solidly aground. Captain Hanck passed orders to his chief mate. Captain Hanck would go ashore with a landing party to determine their position and to arrange for assistance.
Word spread quickly amidst the five hundred and forty plus immigrants that they had finally reached the United States. To quell their concerns, when questioned why the captain and several of his men were lowering the lifeboat, officers told the immigrants that he was going to meet with the customs officials to coordinate their arrival at quarantine and eventually Ellis Island. Content with the explanation, and with little ability to see through the hazy fog that lingered in the early morning, many of the Italian immigrants celebrated the culmination of their fourteen day journey from Genoa and Naples to their new homeland.
Meanwhile ashore, Abrams watched as a small lifeboat appeared in the breakers. It was clear to Abrams, a patrolman in the service, that the men aboard the craft were taking a beating in the unfamiliar surf-line. Abrams stood at the ready to effect a rescue as the lifeboat appeared to be about to capsize several times as it maneuvered into the shallows of the shoreline. As the lifeboat neared the beachhead, Abrams ran over to greet the boat and its men. Abrams offered a salute as he noticed the captain’s rank on his reefer coat. Captain Hanck returned his salute. “Good morning my good man,” the Englishman offered. “May I ask where I am?” Abrams took a deep breath, “well Captain, this here is Long Beach, Long Island. You heading for New York?” “Why yes,” Captain Hanck replied, “but we are stuck solidly in the sand. Would you direct me to a telephone?” Abrams explained to Captain Hanck that a telephone was available at the Long Beach Hotel but he suggested that they beach the boat and head to the Long Beach Lifesaving Station which was only a mile away. There, he explained, the men could dry out and warm up. Conceding to Abrams’ recommendation, the men beached the lifeboat and headed out to the station. Upon their arrival at the Long Beach Lifesaving Station, Abrams introduced Captain Hanck to Captain Richard Van Wicklen. After shaking hands and assisting the men in donning some warm clothes, arrangements were made for Captain Hanck to get transportation to the Long Beach Hotel. Tugs would be needed to assist the stranded steamer..
Several hours later, tugboats from Merritt & Chapman Derrick and Wrecking Company began to arrive on scene to render assistance to the stranded liner. Captain Van Wicklen, along with a team of surfmen, headed out to the liner to take stock on the situation. He called out to the S.S. Sicilian Prince’s’ First Officer who was standing on the bridge wing. “Anything I can do for you? If the vessel is in danger, I’ll take off your passengers.” The First Officer leaned over the rail of the bridge wing. “The captain said that no one was to leave the ship.” Captain Van Wicklen nodded in agreement and inched his surfboat closer to the ship and grabbed the attention of a group of sailors standing along the rail of the main deck. “We no understand English,” one of the sailors replied to the questions of Captain Van Wicklen about the condition of the ship. “Have you any oranges on board,” one of the surfmen shouted to the sailors. The same sailor who had indicated his lack of mastery of the English language quickly replied, “Lots of them, great, big ones.” The lifesavers laughed. The First Officer, who was growing tired of the lifesaver’s line of questioning disappeared from the bridge wing. Within seconds, the ship’s whistle was sounded – drowning out the lifesavers. Captain Van Wicklen turned to his men and they rowed for the beachhead. The lifesavers maintained a vigil on the strand in case the situation changed.
The bevy of tugboats passed their lines and began their efforts in pulling the stranded steamer from the sandbar. On the first day of the effort, little progress was made. The tugboats remained on station and the salvagers agreed that they would attempt again at the next high tide. The following day, the steamship was moved into deeper water but was still stuck. After consultation, it was determined that the tugboats Chapman and Luckenbach would transfer the immigrants to Forty-Fifth Street, Brooklyn so that they could be processed for quarantine and immigration at Ellis Island. While the immigrants were transferred from the steamer to the tugboats, other lighters were utilized to take out any and all cargo. The process was arduous but necessary if the tugboats were going to be successful in pulling the steamer free from her sandy predicament.
On the evening of November 22, 1904, a hearty cheer arose on the decks of the S.S. Sicilian Prince and aboard the tug boats. The steamer was finally free from the sandbar. The heavy work of rigging lines and utilizing kedge anchors had finally paid off. By later that evening the S.S. Sicilian Prince was safely moored at her pier in Brooklyn, New York.
For the immigrants coming to the United States, their brief sojourn and not so normal arrival via tugboat to New York was eventful but nonetheless, the five hundred and fifty souls would reach their goal. They had reached America and were on their way to become citizens once through Ellis Island. The goal, the one they had set two weeks earlier when they left the shores of their home country of Italy, had been complete…it just turned out that their voyage included an unscheduled and brief stopover near Long Beach, in our waters.
About the Author – Adam M. Grohman is the researcher and author of over thirty-six books which capture the rich history of our maritime environs and United States Coast Guard History. For more information about scheduling a lecture or to purchase any of his available titles, please visit www.lulu.com/spotlight/adamgrohman or email grohmandive@hotmail.com.