George Washington Dow

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George Washington Dow (* 1847 in Trenton (300 km northeast of Boston ), Hancock County , Mount Desert Island, Maine , USA ; † March 17, 1919 in Melrose (Massachusetts) ) was an American sailing ship captain. He came from an old family of captains in Hancock, Maine, and was considered to be one of the finest sailing ship masters the state of Maine has ever produced.

In 1868, at the age of 21, he became a skipper for sailing ships on long voyages, at that time one of the youngest in the States. As a captain, he sailed for many years between the Caribbean and the American east coast ( emigrant ships ), for various American shipping companies on the New England coast , but mainly for the Boston company JS Emery & Co. He had no major problems at sea until 1907 and was still there the seafarers as the "happy" captain.

In 1907 he took over the seven - masted gaff schooner Thomas W. Lawson , which was the second largest sailing ship in the world after the RC Rickmers built in 1906 , on her first transatlantic voyage . He even reactivated his former first officer Bent P. Libby for this voyage, who had already given notice of the voyage. The big ship was lost in a storm, anchored in poor visibility conditions , within the western Isles of Scilly . Captain George W. Dow and his machinist Edward L. Rowe from Boston were the only survivors of the disaster after a dramatic rescue operation .

Captain Dow was still at sea until 1910 and then retired at the age of 63, after more than 45 years at sea.

Sailing ships commanded by Captain Dow

  • Auburndale ( Bark , 1891–1903)
  • Colorado (Bark, about 1889)
  • Barque ( schooner )
  • Everglades (schooner), 1868
  • Stampede (three-masted gaff schooner, 1876)
  • Albert L. Butler (three-masted schooner, about 1880)
  • Thomas W. Lawson (seven-masted schooner, 1907)
personal data
SURNAME Dow, George Washington
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American sailing ship captain
DATE OF BIRTH 1847
PLACE OF BIRTH Trenton (Mount Desert Island), Hancock County , Maine
DATE OF DEATH March 17, 1919
Place of death Melrose, Massachusetts