Stricken Sea Monster
Posted by: Loren Coleman on August 1st, 2010
Illustration by Bill Herd.
Kingsport Times
Kingsport, Tennessee
December 31, 1947
Three Mates Watch Stricken Sea Monster
Thrash In Agony, Captain Of Ship Relates
(Editor’s Note: The following story was written by the captain of the S.S.
Santa Clara, Grace Line vessel, at the request of the Associated Press and
radioed to New York following the ship’s report to the Coast Guard that it
had struck a “sea monster” in the Atlantic off the North Carolina coast.)
By J. Fordan
Master of the S.S. Santa Clara
Aboard the S.S. Santa Clara – (AP) – (By Radio) – On Dec. 30, 1947, the Grace Line steamer, Santa Clara, was cleaving though sunlit, calm, blue seas due east of Cape Lookout, on route from New York to Cartagena.
The Santa Clara had just crossed the Gulf Stream when William Humphreys,
chief mate, John Rigney, navigating officer, and John Axelson, third mate,
assembled on the starboard wing of the bridge to take the noon sight at
11:55 a.m.
Suddenly John Axelson saw a snake-like head rear out of the sea about 30
feet off the starboard bow of the vessel. His exclamation of amazement
directed the attention of the two other mates to the sea monster, and the
three watched it unbelievingly as, in a moment’s time, it came abeam of the
bridge where they stood, and was then left astern.
The creature’s head appeared to be about two and one-half feet across, two
feet thick, and five feet long. The cylindrically-shaped body was about
three feet thick, and the neck about one and one-half feet in diameter.
As the monster came abeam of the bridge it was observed that the water
around the monster, over an area of 30 or 40 square feet, was stained red.
The visible part of the body was about 35 feet long.
It was assumed that the color of the water was due to the creature’s blood
and that the stem of the ship had cut the monster in two, but as there was
no observer on the other side of the vessel there was no way of estimating
what length of body might have been left on the other side.
From the time the monster was first sighted until it disappeared in the
distance astern, it was thrashing as though in agony. The monster’s skin
was dark brown, slick and smooth. There were no fins, hair, or
protuberances on the head, neck, or visible parts of the body.
See also Matt Bille’s article, here.
Thanks to Jerome Clark.
About Loren Coleman
Loren Coleman is one of the world’s leading cryptozoologists, some say “the” leading living cryptozoologist. Certainly, he is acknowledged as the current living American researcher and writer who has most popularized cryptozoology in the late 20th and early 21st centuries.
Starting his fieldwork and investigations in 1960, after traveling and trekking extensively in pursuit of cryptozoological mysteries, Coleman began writing to share his experiences in 1969. An honorary member of Ivan T. Sanderson’s Society for the Investigation of the Unexplained in the 1970s, Coleman has been bestowed with similar honorary memberships of the North Idaho College Cryptozoology Club in 1983, and in subsequent years, that of the British Columbia Scientific Cryptozoology Club, CryptoSafari International, and other international organizations. He was also a Life Member and Benefactor of the International Society of Cryptozoology (now-defunct).
Loren Coleman’s daily blog, as a member of the Cryptomundo Team, served as an ongoing avenue of communication for the ever-growing body of cryptozoo news from 2005 through 2013. He returned as an infrequent contributor beginning Halloween week of 2015.
Coleman is the founder in 2003, and current director of the International Cryptozoology Museum in Portland, Maine.
Again, this fits within the parameters of the standard USO. There’s a rich history of sightings in the ocean waters, and with the stigma of reporting such things in a captain’s log, the fact that they are reported means two things to me. One, that whatever they saw had to have some strong impact for the captain to have reported seeing such a thing. Two, because of the stigma, there have probably been a whole lot more sightings that were never reported.
We can get into a discussion of how come not nearly as many sightings are happening these days anytime now. 🙂
I wonder if what they actually saw was the tentacle of a giant squid. The only description of the head was that it looked snake-like. No description of its eyes, mouth, teeth, etc.