The Paul Palmer was a five-masted 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 in 1902 by George F. Welt in Waldoboro, Maine

Waldoboro, Maine

Waldoboro is a town in Lincoln County, Maine, in the United States. The population was 4,916 at the 2000 census. Waldoboro is a picturesque fishing and resort town.-History:...

.

It was part of William F. Palmer's fleet of white-hulled vessels active in the New England coal trade. The fleet was sold to J. S. Winslow and Company in 1911.

After departing Rockport, Maine

Rockport, Maine

Rockport is a town in Knox County, Maine, United States. The population was 3,209 at the 2000 census. Rockport is a popular tourist destination and art colony.-History:...

 on Friday, June 13, 1913 under the command of Capt. Howard B. Allen and destined for Newport News, VA

Newport News, Virginia

Newport News is an independent city located in the Hampton Roads metropolitan area of Virginia. It is at the southeastern end of the Virginia Peninsula, on the north shore of the James River extending southeast from Skiffe's Creek along many miles of waterfront to the river's mouth at Newport News...

 where she would pick up a load of coal for the return voyage, the Paul Palmer caught fire for unknown reasons. Attempts to douse the flames with the vessel's own pumps were not successful, and the crew abandoned ship. The Paul Palmer burned down to the waterline and then sank. There were 11 passengers and crew on board, including the captain’s wife and a female guest. The passengers of the Palmer took to lifeboats and were picked up later on by the fishing schooner Rose Dorothea, bringing them to Provincetown, Massachusetts

Provincetown, Massachusetts

Provincetown is a New England town located at the extreme tip of Cape Cod in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 3,431 at the 2000 census, with an estimated 2007 population of 3,174...

. The cutter Androscoggin was dispatched from Portland, Maine

Portland, Maine

Portland is the largest city in Maine and is the county seat of Cumberland County. The 2010 city population was 66,194, growing 3 percent since the census of 2000...

 to destroy the remnants of the wreck so as to avoid a hazard to other ships.

In 2000, researchers at the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary

Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary

Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary is an 842-square-mile federally protected marine sanctuary located at the mouth of Massachusetts Bay, between Cape Cod and Cape Ann...

discovered the wreck and documented it, locating artifacts that proved the ship's identity in 2002.

Image

• Launching of the Paul Palmer