Deadly Gamble weaves a carefully researched and compelling account of the greatest tragedy on the waters of the Chesapeake Bay and its consequences–not only in the loss of life, but in the regulatory review and changes in the oversight of passenger-carrying vessels. With her deep knowledge of maritime work and law, author Kathy Bergren Smith provides a rich context for the sinking of the Levin J. Marvil in Hurricane Connie. Pete Lester, Chief Curator, Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum, St. Michaels, Maryland
Meckling purchased the Levin J Marvel in the summer of 1954. The boat was mothballed on the Wicomico River in Salisbury, Maryland. Meckling, a talented tinkerer, set to work immediately and planned on getting the old boat to Annapolis in time to start cruises in late July. In fact, he began an advertising campaign, placing ads in Philadelphia and New York papers, as well as the Baltimore Evening Sun.
He hired the captain who had run the Marvel’s sister ship, Edwin and Maud, to help him deliver the boat to Annapolis. The ships’ company also included Bill Hall, a 16-year old Wicomico High School rising senior, as cabinboy, two local men as deckhands, Meckling’s 6-year old son and two parakeets. On July 16, 1954, the Marvel set sail for the first time in over a year.
About eight miles into the voyage, Capt. Tawes noticed the ship was sluggish and it’s bow was riding lower in the water. Meckling discovered that seams in the stern were open and the old ship was taking on an alarming amount of water.
“Bill turned green with the fright,” Meckling recalled in a newspaper article. The captain grounded the Marvel intentionally to keep it from sinking. The Salisbury Fire Department boat came to pump it out but needed further assistance from Coast Guard. After several hours, the Marvel refloated on high tide with no injuries and only an escaped parakeet. Meckling took the boat to Brown’s Marine Railway in White Haven. The captain returned to Salisbury with he cabinboy, leaving Meckling and the deckhands to pick up the pieces.
This first setback might have spooked a less optimistic boat owner, but Meckling was undaunted. He quipped to the local paper hat the near sinking was actually good, the planks of he old wooden ship needed to swell and a $50 recaulking was all that was needed to get underway. The railway was too busy to haul him quickly so the Marvel was off to Baltimore for the repairs.
Already, Meckling was behind schedule, his first cruise had to be cancelled and angry ticket holders mollified.
A jaunty Capt. Meckling in the Salisbury Daily Times
Bill Hall, before the near-sinking, the Daily Times
On August 12, 1955, the schooner Levin J Marvel capsized in the Chesapeake Bay near the town of North Beach, Maryland. The ship sought shelter from Hurricane Connie in Herring Bay during a weeklong adventure cruise that became deadly. The Marvel’s 23 passengers and 4 crew-members were washed into the storm about a quarter mile from shore. The townspeople organized a remarkable rescue effort in severe conditions and saved many lives that day. In the end, fourteen passengers lost their lives, the largest number of fatalities on the Chesapeake to this day.
For the Marvel’s captain, the storm was just the beginning. The Coast Guard decided to make the disaster an object lesson in order to persuade congress to legislate an inspection regime for passenger vessels. He was painted as the incompetent master of a decrepit ship and charged with negligence and manslaughter. He might have ended his days in prison if not for the pro bono work of a retired Baltimore magistrate.
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Levin J Marvel 