The Crissie Wright met her doom one frigid January night in 1886. There might be some residents of Beaufort who remember being told what their grandparents and great-grandparents told them about that night.
The ship, a three-masted schooner, was sailing by the coast of North Carolina, when bad weather was imminent. The captain did not want to risk the treacherous waters of Diamond Shoals with the worsening weather, so he headed for Cape Lookout. As she neared the safety of the harbor, the main mast brace split. She went onto the shoals and was broadside. Incoming waves added to her plight.
Lifeboats could not be launched because the waves were too fierce. Captain and crew climbed up the rigging. Residents of nearby Diamond City watched the floundering ship. The seamen tried to launch their boats, but, because of the Atlantic's intensity, could not do so. Finally, they built a bonfire on the beach, hoping some of the crew would try to swim to the shore and safety. This did not happen. The people watched, feeling helpless, while the captain and several crew members were swept into the roiling waters.
The night was so cold that some of the natives used the expression, words to the effect that it is as cold as the night The Crissie Wright was stranded. By the next morning, the ocean was calmer and the seamen could reach the ship. Four men sought shelter in the jib sail. Three froze to death, but the cook was still alive. The man survived less than a year later and never recovered from that night.
I could find no information about sightings or hearing voices of those who were dying as I have found in other cases of shipwrecks.
Theodosus Burr died in a shipwreck near Cape Hatteras Lighthouse in 1812. Her ghost has been sighted walking on the shore by the structure.
By Sanderling, a male voice, usually around 1 AM, is heard screaming that the monster is swimming closer to him. It is believed that he was a man who was a victim of a shark attack.
