The loss of the Higginbotham

The loss of the Higginbotham turns a dangerous homeward passage into a shipwreck whose cause remains unknown: the vessel vanishes into fog, while its scattered lifeboats leave the crew to face the sea without knowing whether they were struck by a mine or a torpedo. Joe Williams survives, but Captain Perry does not; the wreck is followed by an equally uncertain struggle to obtain the crew’s wages.

The failing ship and sudden blow

On the trip home, the Higginbotham was leaking so badly that Captain Perry stopped worrying about submarines. The crew doubted the vessel would make Halifax. Light and rolling heavily, she pitched dishes off the mess table despite the fiddles meant to hold them in place. The ship’s worsening condition had made the voyage precarious even before the sudden disaster.

One foggy night south of Cape Race, Joe, taking a turn on deck amidships with his chin tucked into his pea jacket, was thrown flat. Nobody learned what had hit the ship. A mine and a torpedo remained equally possible explanations; the narrative does not resolve the uncertainty. The boats were in good order and the sea was smooth enough for the crew to get away, but the four lifeboats separated. The Higginbotham faded into the fog. Those escaping did not see her sink; the last they could make out was her main deck awash.

Lifeboats and rescue

Joe’s boat was cold, wet, and quiet. The men at the oars worked to keep the bow toward the small chop, while each larger wave soaked them with spray. Wool sweaters and life preservers offered little protection from the cold. The fog gradually lightened into day, and Joe’s boat stayed together with Captain Perry’s boat until late afternoon.

A large fishing schooner, a banker bound for Boston, picked up the two boats. The rescue ended the immediate ordeal at sea, but it did not restore what the wreck had taken: the Higginbotham was gone, and the boats had been separated in the fog. The crew’s survival depended on seaworthy lifeboats, a manageable sea, and the schooner’s arrival.

Captain Perry’s death and the aftermath

Captain Perry was already in a bad way when the fishing schooner took the survivors aboard. The schooner’s master did what he could for him, but Perry remained unconscious. Four days later, as they reached Boston, he died on the way to the hospital. Doctors attributed his death to pneumonia. The shipwreck thus continued after the rescue, with the captain’s illness turning survival into bereavement.

The next morning, Joe and the first mate went to the owners’ agents to arrange payment for themselves and the crew. Instead, they encountered a dispute over the ship’s ownership: a speculative buyer named Rosenberg had supposedly bought her in mid-Atlantic, but could not be found; Chase National Bank claimed ownership, and the underwriters were contesting the matter. The agent said the crew would eventually be paid because Rosenberg had posted bond, but could offer no immediate solution. Joe and the mate left the office cursing, and the mate went to South Boston to tell the chief. The wreck had left the surviving crew not only without their vessel but waiting on an unresolved ownership tangle for their wages.

Significance of the loss

The episode’s danger rests partly on what remains unknowable. The ship’s last appearance—her main deck awash—does not become a witnessed sinking, and no one can identify the blow that doomed her. The narrative keeps the crew’s narrow escape concrete: the hard rowing, soaked clothes, separating boats, and delayed rescue. Against that precarious survival, Captain Perry’s death and the crew’s inability to secure prompt payment show that reaching land does not end the consequences of the wreck.