The Benjamin C. Cromwell was a transport schooner

Schooner

A schooner is a type of sailing vessel characterized by the use of fore-and-aft sails on two or more masts with the forward mast being no taller than the rear masts....

 built from June 30, 1883,
to October 31, 1890 by Andrew J. York in South Portland, Maine

South Portland, Maine

South Portland is a city in Cumberland County, Maine, United States, and is the fourth-largest city in the state. Founded in 1895, as of the 2010 census, the city population was 25,002. Known for its working waterfront, South Portland is situated on Portland Harbor and overlooks the skyline of...

. York sailed as master of three sailing ships, the Mattie B. Russell from June 21, 1873, to March 20, 1876; of the Edward Waite from 1876 to 1883; and of the schooner Benjamin C. Cromwell.

The Benjamin C. Cromwell was moored either prepared to or had already taken on the lumber

Lumber

Lumber or timber is wood in any of its stages from felling through readiness for use as structural material for construction, or wood pulp for paper production....

 and naval stores

Naval stores

Naval Stores is a broad term which originally applied to the resin-based components used in building and maintaining wooden sailing ships, a category which includes cordage, mask, turpentine, rosin, pitch and tar...

 before it met its end. On August 1, 1899, the 2nd hurricane of the season

1899 Atlantic hurricane season

The 1899 Atlantic hurricane season ran through the summer and the first half of fall in 1899. The season was average, with 9 tropical storms, of which 5 became hurricanes and only two became major hurricanes....

 struck St. George Island and the Apalachee Bay

Apalachee Bay

Apalachee Bay is a bay in the northeastern Gulf of Mexico occupying an indentation of the Florida coast to the west of where the Florida peninsula joins the United States mainland. It is bordered by Taylor, Jefferson, Wakulla and Franklin counties. The Aucilla, Econfina, St. Marks and Ochlocknee...

 area causing massive damage to some 15 ships moored at Dog Island, Florida. The Benjamin Cromwell was, like the others, was hopelessly beached.