Overview

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.

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Deadly Gamble weaves a carefully researched and compelling account of the greatest tragedy on the waters of Chesapeake Bay and its consequences-not only in the loss of life, but in the regulatory review and changes in the oversight of passenger-carrying vessels. With her deep knowledge of maritime work and law, author Kathy Bergren Smith provides a rich context for the sinking of the Levin J Marvel in Hurricane Connie. -Pete Lesher, Chief Curator: Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum

Author Information

Kathy Bergren Smith is a Maryland-based writer and photographer who covered maritime industrial subjects for over 20 years. She was East Coast correspondent for WorkBoat Magazine and a regular contributor tor to National Fisherman. She also was the staff photographer for the Port of Baltimore Magazine and a commercial photographer to the port community. Her maritime imagery was widely exhibited and collected internationally.She lives on the West River, in Galesville, a village visited often by the Marvel and just north of the ship's final resting place.

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