Daily Kennebec Journal

Five-Masted Schooner Santino Is Reported Sinking Off Nantucket

Boston, Feb. 18—The five masted schooner Santino, bound from Norfolk to Boston with a crew of 12 men today reported herself as sinking 38 miles northeast of Nantucket Lightship. A radio message relayed to this port said that the schooner had 11 feet of water in her hold and her pumps were broken down. The British steamer Egremont was reported to be standing by and the coast guard cutter Acushnet reported that she was on her way to aid the distressed schooner.

A wireless message intercepted later from the Egremont said that the Santino had been abandoned by her crew and that the sea was washing over the decks, and that the schooner was sinking fast.

The Santino was built on the Pacific coast in the early days of the World War and was originally owned and operated by the Globe line of New York. She was later sold to the Boston Ship Brokerage Company and is now owned by New Bedford interests.

The schooner lay at New Bedford for two years after she was acquired by the Boston concern, but after her sale to the New Bedford interests, she was refitted for the coal trade. The ill-fated vessel had made but one round trip to Norfolk since she entered the coal trade, and was on her second when disaster overtook her.

The Santino was owned by S. T. O'Brien and S. E. Bentley, both of New Bedford.