Would you like to join the "Died-At-Sea" project?

Question

Ahoy Mates,

Do you have a relative who passed away while on (or overboard of) a ship? A new project has stood up called "Died-At-Sea," which has been accepted as a sub-project under the Worldwide Projects tab (soon to appear) of the Global Project. The purpose of this project is to honor the memory of those who have Died at Sea.

The project lists known mariners and passengers who died at sea, with or without WikiTree profiles. One of the activities of members is to create profiles using the posted source material and other sources, if known. Another more challenging activity is to search for available sources that identify new names of mariners and passengers to add to the list. Contributions are welcome.

Comments

Would this be better as part of the Cemetery Project?  In any case I have a number of relatives that fit so I'll keep watching this space.

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As I have plenty on my To Do list at the moment I won't be joining, but I did find some very useful sources when researching my 2 x g grandfather William Oatway (Oatway-36). For British seamen there are Monthly Lists Of Deaths Of Seamen, 1886-1890 and Registers Of Seamen's Deaths, Classified By Cause. Both available from the National Archives.

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Stu, there is some overlap with cemeteries because some mariners who died at sea have cenotaphs in cemeteries. If you decide to join, you may add your name to the members' list on the web site.

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Martin, I also have too much to do. I have to quit something but it won't be WIkiTree. I appreciate tip on the useful sources of data. Thank you for that.

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I am certainly not giving up WikiTree,. I am deeper into a Cemeterist project than I expected - these Victorian families with ten or more children take a lot of time to sort properly.

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I think it useful to tag this post with Died_at_sea.

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I added the tag Died_At_Sea to this post. Since only 6 are permitted, I removed Profiles, feel free to change, Marion, if there’s a different one you’d rather switch out :-) 

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Thank you, Klaas, for suggesting the tag "Died_At_Sea."

Thank you, Elaine, for adding the tag "Died_At_Sea" which I should have added. You are right; profiles is too general. I am learning all the time about the best practices of WikiTree.

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My grandfather died at sea off the coast of Saipan during WWII. He was serving below deck on the USS Fanshaw Bay and died from a Japanese aerial bomb . He was buried at sea. https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Kaiser-3416#

https://www.thepurpleheart.com/roll-of-honor/profile/default?rID=05d30296-a9f2-47b0-8c88-132304b98477

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My Great Great Grandfather (from (I think) Wexford Ireland), moved to New Brunswick Canada but is listed as sea Captain, and died at sea around 1877.  Where? What ship? I have no idea. oops, I forgot to say, his name was Stephen Bradley (I think he was born 1830).

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Hello Ken and Suzanne, If either of you would like to join the project, please let me know.

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Thank you, Elaine, for your help.

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Ken, I have added your grandfather to the project. You are still welcome to join the project.

Answer 1

Yes I would like to join.

My 2x Gt grandfather (John Thomson) supposedly died at sea and we still dont know for sure when, where or what the ships name was.  The where was somewhere around New Zealand but there are 2 different locations.

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Thomson-5483

Comments

Undine was Maori owned after 1853

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Thanks Valerie. I had no idea...

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Robynne, you can join by adding your name to the members' list on the web site.

Answer 2

I have been working through the following site;

http://www.vissersnamenmonumentscheveningen.nl/

for my ancestor fishermen lost at sea.

I have been using two existing categories;

[[Category:Buried at Sea]] 

and

[[Category:Lost at Sea]]

Regards, Gerry

Comments

Gerry, thank you for the information about the NL web site and the categories. I searched for an existing category, but somehow I missed these. If you decide to join, just add your name to the list.

I have added these category suggestions to the Died-at-Sea web site. Thank you again.

Answer 3

Yes, I would like to participate and start with the wife of my 2nd great-granduncle, Sarah Lee (Poston) Pope.

Comments

Cathy, thank you for joining and welcome aboard.

Answer 4

Oh yes, I also have another step-relative who was a mariner and he was lost at sea in Scotland sometime before 1855. Mark Adamson was my 2x Gt grandmothers first spouse before she married the 2nd spouse.

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Adamson-1906

Actually I think poor Catherine lost BOTH spouses at Sea.

Comments

Robynne, when Avis Hillock Squires Hildreth Brewster, the wife of my 4x great uncle, Samuel Robert Hildreth, remarried, she made sure she did not select another sea captain. Her second husband, Mr. Brewster, was a livery stable keeper.

Answer 5

HI, Marion, this is an interesting category.  In the Acadians project we know thousands of Acadians died at sea when the British deported them to the US Colonies, England and France in the mid-1750's.  We already have a category for these people.  If you wish to also have them included in your category, you are welcome to find them and add them.  I don't have time to participate in your project directly as it is tangential to the Acadians project but I would be glad to point you to ship lists or other information you might want.  Feel free to PM me.

Comments

Cindy, thank you for this information. Your reply will show up in the link to this G2G post, where members can find profiles to search and add.

Answer 6

I'm keen to join  but as far as I know I don't have anyone who died at sea ( still have no details on paternal side so always a possibility.)

In my adopted family there was an Uncle who was on a RN ship which was torpedoed He was in the engine room and had severe burns most of the crew were lost but he used to tell me that "God wears oilskins" as I understand he was rescued by  a RNLI lifeboat. The 2 families used to meet at a North Wales coastal town where we were always given money to put in the lifeboat station. He left a sizeable part of his estate to this charity.

Have come across a number of profiles who would have fitted into this project if I'd been aware

Is there a tag I need ti follow?

Comments

To join, access the web site, hit "edit" and add your name to the members list using the same format as the other members use. You do not have to be related to anyone who died at sea to be a member and participate. We thank you for your interest and for joining this project.

Answer 7

Yes I am interested. My 1st cousin 2t removed was lost at sea at age 15, sailing with his father, the captain. Because of this loss the mother had to be placed in a psychiatric home and died, the father refrained from sailing. And I am interested in the big disaster of Moddergat, Friesland in 1883 where 109 fishermen with 22 ships came in a big storm and 83 men got lost at sea as well as 17 ships. Most of these men are in someway related to me.

Comments

Klaas, thank you for your interest. To join, access the web site, hit "edit" and add your name to the members list using the same format as the other members use. We are likely to find many more deaths at sea, lost ships, and wrecked coastlines from the events that followed the eruption of Krakatoa in 1883, which was a particularly bad year to be at sea. At least two of my relative perished, at sea two days apart in Sep. 1883. We welcome any information you can provide regarding the 1883 disaster of Moddergat, Friesland. Sounds like a perfect fit for a perfect storm.

Answer 8

One of the most famous ship captains to die at sea was Commander William Lewis Herndon. He died, along with 400 passengers and crew, during a hurricane off the coast of North Carolina in 1857 on the ship, Central America - known as the Ship of Gold. The Central America set sail from California with $2,000,000 in gold from the California Gold Rush aboard. 

He is my 4th cousin, 5 times removed.

Comments

Shonda, thank you for this information. The history of the Central America is a great fit for the Died-a-Sea project. To join, access the web site, hit "edit" and add your name to the members list using the same format that the other members use.

Thank you for joining and welcome aboard.

Answer 9

So many things to do already and I know I have quite a few who died at sea.

I had a quick look at your space page and wondered if there was a place I could add a sortable editable Wikitable of these 25 odd names and date details for others who had a bit more time to add?

Comments

Hello NG, thank you for your interest in the project, the details of which are new and evolving. I encourage you to participate and one way you can is to construct a WikiTable, but make a new section and leave the existing list intact in the interim, just so we have all the information prior to switching to a new format. I look forward to learning more about how to do WikiTree tables.

Answer 10

I have at least one ancestor whose death at sea was documented, and I morbidly enjoy reading about historical shipwrecks -- this sounds like something I should be part of!

Comments

Hello Roxanna, Thank you for your post.

Having two relatives who died at sea, and having been shipwrecked twice myself, I also like to read about historic storms and shipwrecks not only for historical purposes, but to learn what to do to avoid the next disaster at sea. If you would like to join the project and add the profile(s) of your relatives who died at sea, please go to the web site, click on "Edit" and add your name to the membership list. Then you can add profiles to the project list.

Wishing you fair winds and following seas,

Marion

Answer 11

Please add me to your project. I helped with the crew of the USS Bryant and have be working on the USS Indianapolis crew for awhile. I also have quite a few family members that died at sea in the British services on my Nicolls line. The sea does call…

Comments

Hello V,

Thank you for your interest in the project. I have added you as a member. Here's wishing you fair winds and following seas.

Marion

Answer 12

I would be interested as I have lost many family members from one voyage and other relatives from separate trips. I am still missing a few pieces to the puzzle. I just finished my research from the loss of the ship D.R. EATON in October of 1878. I could share that information with the group.

Comments

Hello Richard, thank you for your interest in this project. I'll sign you up. Then you can add profiles to the list of mariners, passengers, etc. who died at sea.

Answer 13

Yes. I have at least 4 realtatives that died at sea. Two were ships captains and 2 were passengers.

Comments

Hello Raymond, I have signed you up. Welcome Aboard.

Answer 14

Yes I want to join as my father John Parton Gabriel was lost at sea in 1940, I have quite a lot of information and a good source of others who were on board the Jonathan Holt when it was torpedod. I don't know how many, if any, are in Wikitree.

Comments

Hello John,

Thank you for asking. We are in the process of developing best practices. Currently the easiest way is to add the data as a list like the one about the 23 seaman who died in the cat 3 hurricane in the Bahamas. Another way is to construct a table. You can use either approach.

Fair winds and following seas!

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Marion, hi

Thank you for your response. I have entered one person, James Ashton (Ashton-4614) if you have a look at what I've included you'll see that there is potentially quite a lot of data across all 50+ who died. I suspect that the sources will be important so I am a little in the dark. Creating a SS Jonathan Holt sinking Feb 1941 as a project or table could be the answer. What is your advice?

Thanks

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Hello John, I did not find James Ashton or SS Jonathan Holt on the Died_At_Sea page. You are right that in some disasters, many mariners die together and it makes sense to honor them as a group. As a general rule, you should have a good source for each profile and profiles are better to add to the page than just names with no profile attached. You could create a table and enter the mariners who died on the SS Johathan Holt or make a header then enter each mariner as a simple list. Either way is OK.

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Marion , hi I entered him in the main area of the Tree, plus two others Thomas Bestman and Teh Bagrey. Is there a way to move them to the died_at_sea project space? Can you also please check that the sources that I have entered are the correct format.

I am sorry to be such a pest but I am struggling as you can see.

John

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Hello John, Thank you for asking. Please keep asking until we can all figure this out and learn together! We are all struggle with something. If I can't help you, we can ask the question(s) on G2G where many kind and thoughtful WikiTree genealogists offer solutions.

Please tell me the WikiTree ID of the profiles you would like me to check, such as James Ashton. When you add a profile to WikiTree, the profile is not added automatically to the Died_At_Sea or any other project space. You need to add it to that space explicitly. I can check your sources and their format if I know the WikiTree ID.

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One is Bestman - 4  Thomas Bestman

I have just loaded, I hope, in the died_at_sea project as a free page something called SS Jonathan Holt with a list of all those lost. Maybe you will be able to find it?

Thanks again  John

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Thanks again. It's getting to the end of my day here in Durban, South Africa so I'll attack again tomorrow.

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Hello John, The only place I find "SS Jonathan Holt" is in the entry of your father's profile on the list. Please send me the URL that points to the location where you entered the list of all those lost and I will post this URL on the project page.

Best,
Marion

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I have now loaded under SS Jonathan Holt sinking the 50+ people who died when the ship was torpedoed in Feb 1941. Names, rank, service and wtree url are included for the interest of any searching. SS Jonathan Holt sinking (wikitree.com) 

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Hello John,

Thank you for your continued contributions to the Died_At_Sea project with the addition of further information regarding the sinking of the SS Jonathan Holt.

The link is now posted on the project page.
Best,

Marion

Answer 15

This is a fascinating subject to me. I had a 2xg- grandfather who died at sea and I have explored lots of ship wrecks

Comments

Hello David, If you are interested, I'll sign you up.

Answer 16

I would like to have included my uncle who died along with over six hundred others when the ship, HMS Wakeful, he was on being evacuated from Dunkirk on the 29th May 1940 was sunk by a torpedo from an enemy submarine.

I do not wish to be part of the project team.

Comments

Hello Charles, Thank you for this information. I have added your Uncle's profile to the project web site.

Answer 17

I have quite a few ancestors who died at sea - many were fishermen and/or served in the Royal Navy or Merchant Marine in the World Wars. I also have one who was in the Royal Air Force and died at sea when his plane went down - actually, this is probably another group that could be included.

Comments

Hello Ruth, If you would like to join, I'll sign you up. Then you could add profiles to the list.

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Hello Marion

Yes, I would like to join the project - so please sign me up.

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Welcome aboard!

Answer 18

I can't take on anything new at this point but have a couple of people in my tree who qualify. Can we add the died-at-sea tag to existing profiles? In the news this week is the story of the accidental discovery of the SS Nemesis that disappeared 120 years ago off the coast of Australia with 32 crew members. As the story reported that the crew were from Australia, the UK and Canada, I have a post about the find ready to go out on Facebook to my Canadian genealogy society.

Comments

Hello Marilyn, Yes, you can add a Died_At_Sea tag. Thank you for the information about the SS Nemesis. It looks like it would be appropriate for the project.

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Thanks Marion. I have read the information on the project but can't figure out how to tag or add anyone. Here is one of my relatives to be added. If you can show me the steps then I can add any others. Christiansen-2243

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Hello Marilyn, I will try to help you. You go to the project web site and click "Edit." Then scroll down past the members list to the profile list add the profile in the same format as you see the other entries. I added Christiansen-2243 to the project profile list.

If you decide to join later, you can add your name to the members list using the same format as the other names. Your interest in the project is much appreciated. Please reply to this post if you have any trouble with these instruction list.

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Marion, your instructions were good. I tried to add my Christiansen and learned you were ahead of me on that so I added 5 Brinstons from my Brinston one-name study and a Galbraith.

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Hello Marilyn, Welcome aboard. The interest in this project exceeds my expectations and has kept me quite busy. I intend to welcome all members and help in any way I can.

Answer 19

I have a great-great-great grandmother that died at sea on the way to America.  She was aboard the schooner, Ellida in 1842.  Anne Larsdatter Helle (married name Dusterud).

Comments

The best way to add your 3xg grandmother is to sign up as a project member and then add her profile to the profile list. I would be very interested to know the story. My 2xg grandfather sailed on a small schooner from Calcutta, India to New York, USA bringing his wife and four children. The voyage was rife with danger and it is a wonder that almost all of them survived.

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Marion, thank you for the reply and the information on your grandfather.  Anne Dusterud was born 1797 in Norway and married in 1817, having their first child in Mar 1818.  :-)

Lots of children before making the decision to head to America.  Her Cenotaph is in Wisconsin. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/105466361/anne-l_-dusterud

Anne (Larsdatter) Dusterud - WikiTree Profile

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Anne's on the project profile list. Good catch!

BTW, my 2x ggrandfather's profile tells quite a story.

Lt Robert Deane RN (Deane-1139)

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loved reading your 2x ggranfather's story.  especially the mutiny and being at sea for 6 months.  whew....  :-)

Answer 20

He died at sea or off the coast when rescued. If you look at the picture in the second paragraph it explains his death. https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Kilton-274

Comments

Hello S. Thank you for this information. It looks interesting. Would you like to join the project?