Large, wooden-hulled schooners graced the seas of coastal
Maine for more than a century as vessels of trade and commerce. With the advent of steam-powered craft, however, these elegant four-, five- or six-masted wooden ships became obsolete and vanished from the harbors and horizons. The Edward Lawrence, the last of the six-masters, became her own funeral pyre in Portland Harbor, burning to ash before everyone’s eyes. The Carroll A. Deering washed ashore with no trace of her crew, empty as a ghost ship except for three cats and a pot of pea soup still cooking on the stove. In this testament to the beauty of the Maine coastal region, maritime history enthusiast Ingrid Grenon tells the story of these magnificent relics of the bygone
Age of Sail and celebrates the people who devoted their lives to the sea.
Background Information
Before the advent of steam-powered vessels, American ships under sail roamed the oceans of the world. Maine was still part of Massachusetts at the time of the Revolution, but soon separated and was admitted as a state.
