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Graveyard of the Atlantic
Graveyard of the Atlantic
The treacherous waters that lie off the coast of the
Outer Banks bear the name Graveyard of the Atlantic. It is a grim, but fitting, epithet,
for here more than 600 ships have wrecked, victims of shallow shoals, storms, and war. Diamond
Shoals, a bank of shifting sand ridges hidden beneath a turbulent sea off Cape Hatteras, has
never promised safe passage for any ship. But seafarers often risked the shoals to take
advantage of north or south flowing currents that passed nearby. Many never reached their
destination. Fierce winter nor'easters and tropical-born hurricanes drove many ships aground,
including the schooner G.A. Kohler (shown at left) in 1933. Other ships were lost in wars.
During World War II German submarines sank so many Allied tankers and cargo ships here that these
waters earned a second sobering name - Torpedo Junction. In the past 400 years the
graveyard has claimed many lives. But many were saved by island villagers. As early as the
1870s villagers served as members of the U.S. Life Saving Service. Others manned lighthouses
built to guide mariners. Later, when the U.S. Coast Guard became the guardians of the nation's
shores, many residents joined its ranks. When rescue attempts failed, villagers buried the dead
and salvaged shipwreck remains. Today few ships wreck, but storms still uncover the ruins of old
wrecks that lie along the beaches of the Outer Banks.
Nineteenth century island rescue crews returned shipwreck survivors to safety in small
oar-powered boats. Today the U.S. Coast Guard patrols the Outer Banks with
helicopters and other modern equipment.
The Gold Lifesaving Medal, the highest peacetime honor for saving a life, has been awarded to
many Hatteras rescuers for their extraordinary heroic deeds.
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