Wreck spotters camps?

[BVI Hunter]

I have been given a few leads on some old ruins that were allegedly camps set up,on high ground, overlooking reefs so that when a ship wrecked they could be first on the scene.
Maybe even assist the wrecking by shining false lights?

Has anyone heard of thes types of camps befoe?

 

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[aquanut]

They did it on Key West and other places along the Florida Keys.

 

[Jason in Enid]

I've read about them, never seen one.

 

[liverock]

Anns beach in lower Matecumbe ocean side was where one of the salvage camps was...found some stuff there back in the 70's. as did Fizz.....

 

[BVI Hunter]

I've read about them, never seen one.

I have seen pictures of some old ruins said to be an old camp.
will head up there soon!

 

[ARC]

Don't know about "wrecker" camp... I am sure they exist...
I once read about a Native Indian involvement mentioned in an early record...
Something about natives misleading a ship that had approached shoreline to "conduct trades"...
They were guided into a shallow water area where they could not retreat...
Once inside the "bay/cove" the Indians (Calusa If mem serves me) then attacked them... killed them all...
Record of it was witnessed by captive who later escaped.

ANd I remember this one ... involving De Leon...
"Ponce de Leon was again enticed by the idea that the Calusa chief had gold to trade with him if he would wait a day by some Indians he met well out taking soundings of a harbor. Like the first time, this was a trap set up by Calusas. Canoes filled with about eighty breech wood clothed Calusas attack eleven Spanish sailors."


Ps... I have been to a "supposed" survivor encamp once.

 

[SADS 669]

Wasn't there a camp near Kip Wagners site, mentioned in "Pieces of Eight?"

 

[Jolly Mon]

I have been given a few leads on some old ruins that were allegedly camps set up,on high ground, overlooking reefs so that when a ship wrecked they could be first on the scene.
Maybe even assist the wrecking by shining false lights?

Has anyone heard of thes types of camps befoe?

There is a pretty good book by Birse Shepard called Lore of the Wreckers. It is not specific to the Keys, but discusses the history of wrecking from Key West all the way up the east coast. It seems that wherever there were LOTS of wrecks (I.E. Florida Keys, North Carolina outer banks) there are legends of unscrupulous types putting out false lights in order to cause shipwrecks. Unfortunately for the theory, there has never been a single court case of a ship's captain claiming he was wrecked because of false lights. And MANY shipwreck cases wound up in court for various reasons, mainly financial. Nags Head, North Carolina supposedly got its name because wreckers would put lanterns around horses necks and lead the horses up and down the beach in order to lure in victims. There is no historical basis for this idea, but many believe it is true.

The idea of wreckers using "false lights" makes little sense from a practical perspective, at least IMHO. For a mariner, an unidentified light at sea, especially during heavy weather, screams one thing: "STAY AWAY" !!!

In any event, there is no doubt wreckers would hang around certain areas and lie in wait for shipwrecks. These places don't need human intervention to be virtual "wreck traps". So the idea of a "wrecking camp" is entirely feasible---provided the camp is in close proximity to shipping lanes and also provides safe harbor for the wrecker's own ships. You can't salvage a ship if yours is lying at the bottom of a reef.

And I assume we are making a distinction between a "salvage camp" and a wrecking camp. A salvage camp could be practically anywhere necessity dictated. The 1733, 1715 and Ribaut survivors camps come to mind...

 

[Jolly Mon]

Anns beach in lower Matecumbe ocean side was where one of the salvage camps was...found some stuff there back in the 70's. as did Fizz.....

I think that little stretch of beach used to be called "Money Beach"...I always wondered why, LOL...

 

[aquanut]

I think that little stretch of beach used to be called "Money Beach"...I always wondered why, LOL...

The 1733 fleet that you already mentioned.

 

[ARC]

Wasn't there a camp near Kip Wagners site, mentioned in "Pieces of Eight?"

Yes... a few of em there.
They are survivor camps...
Which basically were a bunch of holes in the ground...
They would bury themselves in the sand to avoid being eaten alive by mosquitos.

 

[Jolly Mon]

The 1733 fleet that you already mentioned.

Yup.

The ten mile or so stretch between Grassy Key and Lower Matecumbe is a most interesting area. On both sides of the bridge...

 

[frankie]

They did it all over from what it sounds like. They did it on the cape also. They would start fires on the beach or show lights to guild ships into the shore or onto sandbars.

 

[Denniss]

One of the legends of the outer banks of North Carolina has the wreckers walking a horse with a lantern Origin of Names on North Carolina's Outer Banks | OBX History | Outer Banks History

The legend of Nags Head is that in the days of pirates, when tales drifted ashore of the wonderful treasures being plundered at sea, one of the "Bankers", (natives to the Outer Banks) got the inspiration which brought the name Nags Head. A lantern was tied around the neck of an old and gentle horse, and this old nag led slowly up and down the dunes now known as Jockey's Ridge, so that the light shone out to sea. As a ship's captain saw this light, it appeared to be from a ship riding at anchor in a sheltered harbor, but when he tried to make anchorage his ship would go aground, with land pirates then making the crew "walk the plank" before looting and burning the ship.

There's an entire book on one of the salvage camps for the 1715 fleet The Winter Beach Salvage Camp: Mr. Douglas R. Armstrong: 9781483906430: Amazon.com: Books

 

[grossmusic]

I'm pretty sure such camps have existed all over the world at various times. Nova Scotia, Keys, Italy, Bristol, Africa...everywhere. As others have stated, anyplace where wrecks tend to occur, usually a cape such as Good Hope, Keys, Cape Horn, etc. The Keys are most famous for it - started out a poor, hapless community then made folks crazy rich in a few short years. Some were accused of being "sirens" luring the ships or dousing lighthouse lamps (see Jolly Mon's post for some good anecdotes).

Even a movie about it with the Duke: Reap the Wild Wind.

Because they were "camps" (or towns) for that purpose, the likelihood of finding anything NOW is very small. They're picked clean.

 

[aquanut]

A truly interesting book. "The Young Wrecker on the Florida Reef" The Trials and Adventures of Fred Ransom, by Richard Meade Bache. First published in 1869. Re-pubished in 1999 by The Ketch and Yawl Press, Key West, with an introduction by Tom Corcoran. It is slightly fictionalized history.