Shipwrecks and Remarkable Rescues
More than 700 ships have been wrecked in the dangerous waters that surround
Nantucket Island. Thursday evening, August 21, at 8 pm, Maurice Gibbs will speak about some of the memorable wrecks and the remarkable and unusual rescues by life-savers that are not often discussed. He’ll discuss The British Queen, “a rescue that I like to call the Errol Flynn rescue,” and the Andrea Doria, he said. “And I’ll let the tail end of the lecture turn into a gam if people want to ask questions.”
Gibbs is a past director of the Nantucket Historical Assoc., a founding director of the U.S. Life-Saving Service Heritage Assoc., and current board member and President Emeritus of the Nantucket Shipwreck and LifeSaving Museum. He is a respected national expert on maritime history, especially in reference to the waters surrounding Nantucket.
A 34-year Navy veteran, Gibbs began his naval career as a basic Seaman in 1952, progressed through the ranks, earned his commission and retired as a Commander in 1986. He spent six tours in Antarctica starting in the 1950s, culminating with his final tour in the 1980s. The United States Government named a 10,000 foot peak in Antarctica’s Victoria Mountains Mt. Gibbs in his honor in 1968. His expertise in the areas of Oceanography and Meteorology earned him his final naval position as Plans and Programs Director for the Oceanographer of the Navy. He returned home to Nantucket in 1989.
The sea is in Gibbs’ blood, he was named after his grandfather who served as a Surfman in the U.S. Life Saving Service and the Coast Guard. He remains an active member of the Coast Guard Auxiliary, where he was awarded the Coast Guard’s Meritorious Public Service Award for “outstanding support in the preservation of U.S. Coast Guard service heritage;” he presents detailed facts on shipwrecks and rescues only a deep passion could produce.
The lecture is presented by the Egan Maritime Institute, which operates the Nantucket Shipwreck and Lifesaving Museum as well as Mill Hill Press and the Coffin School. The lecture will be held in the historic Coffin School, downtown at 4 Winter Street.
