Deadly Gamble

Hurricane Connie wobbled like a drunken pirate toward the mid-Atlantic coast of the U.S. In the late hours of August 11, 1955, Connie turned inland and began tracking a course up Chesapeake Bay. Here, the storm turned its fury on a three-masted schooner, the Levin J Marvel, with 27 crew and passengers who had been enjoying a pleasure cruise. That voyage would end in the Chesapeake's deadliest shipwreck. The true story of the wreck of Levin J Marvel begins in the early days of passenger cruising on the Chesapeake, when old workboats refitted for new jobs. Two owners sought to transform the 64-year old ram schooler in a seaworthy Chesapeake Windjammer cruising boat, but resources were short and age had taken its toll. The old boat was no match for Connie. She broke apart, and passengers and crew were tossed into the raging Bay. A nearby town mobilized to save 13, but 14 lives were lost. Was the captain at fault? No boat would have withstood the fast-tracking storm, reluctant witnesses told the judge weighing the legal consequences of the captain's deadly gamble. But the judge could deliver only legal, not moral, judgment. Its legacy, apart from lives lost and forever altered, is written into the Federal Register. This shipwreck contributed to passage of legislation protecting passengers on the water.