Age 56
Abel died in the Newfoundland Disaster. (Note: his date of death is given as 1 April 1914; there is no way to know if he died the first or second day/night.)
The S. S. Newfoundland was a sealing ship that wound up jammed in ice off Newfoundland's northern coast. The captain of the Newfoundland was the son of the captain of the S. S. Stefphano, and on 30 March 1914, Wes Kean saw signals from the ship of his father Abram that indicated there were seals several miles off. Wes sent his crew across the ice to hunt seals under the impression that if the weather turned his crew could stay aboard his father's ship overnight. However, when the crew of the Newfoundland reached the Stephano, Abram merely fed them lunch and then ordered them to go back out and kill more seals and return to the Newfoundland, despite the weather worsening.
When the storm finally hit, each captain assumed the men out on the ice had taken shelter on the opposite ship. Wes Kean did not blow his horn to allow his crew to help find their ship in the dark and rain, and the owners of the Newfoundland had had the ship's transceiver removed because the transceiver did not add to their profits.
The storm began as freezing rain and turned into a snow storm. The Newfoundland crew members spend two nights, with no shelter, out on the ice in those storms. By the time the S.S. Bellaventure picked up the survivors, 78 men had died of the Newfoundland's 132-man contingent.
This same storm also sank the S. S. Southern Cross, resulting in the loss of all hands. The total losses from both ships was more than 250 men, and these incidents are known collectively as the 1914 Newfoundland Sealing Disaster.
Abel died in the Newfoundland Disaster. (Note: his date of death is given as 1 April 1914; there is no way to know if he died the first or second day/night.)
The S. S. Newfoundland was a sealing ship that wound up jammed in ice off Newfoundland's northern coast. The captain of the Newfoundland was the son of the captain of the S. S. Stefphano, and on 30 March 1914, Wes Kean saw signals from the ship of his father Abram that indicated there were seals several miles off. Wes sent his crew across the ice to hunt seals under the impression that if the weather turned his crew could stay aboard his father's ship overnight. However, when the crew of the Newfoundland reached the Stephano, Abram merely fed them lunch and then ordered them to go back out and kill more seals and return to the Newfoundland, despite the weather worsening.
When the storm finally hit, each captain assumed the men out on the ice had taken shelter on the opposite ship. Wes Kean did not blow his horn to allow his crew to help find their ship in the dark and rain, and the owners of the Newfoundland had had the ship's transceiver removed because the transceiver did not add to their profits.
The storm began as freezing rain and turned into a snow storm. The Newfoundland crew members spend two nights, with no shelter, out on the ice in those storms. By the time the S.S. Bellaventure picked up the survivors, 78 men had died of the Newfoundland's 132-man contingent.
This same storm also sank the S. S. Southern Cross, resulting in the loss of all hands. The total losses from both ships was more than 250 men, and these incidents are known collectively as the 1914 Newfoundland Sealing Disaster.
Age 56
Abel died in the Newfoundland Disaster. (Note: his date of death is given as 1 April 1914; there is no way to know if he died the first or second day/night.)
The S. S. Newfoundland was a sealing ship that wound up jammed in ice off Newfoundland's northern coast. The captain of the Newfoundland was the son of the captain of the S. S. Stefphano, and on 30 March 1914, Wes Kean saw signals from the ship of his father Abram that indicated there were seals several miles off. Wes sent his crew across the ice to hunt seals under the impression that if the weather turned his crew could stay aboard his father's ship overnight. However, when the crew of the Newfoundland reached the Stephano, Abram merely fed them lunch and then ordered them to go back out and kill more seals and return to the Newfoundland, despite the weather worsening.
When the storm finally hit, each captain assumed the men out on the ice had taken shelter on the opposite ship. Wes Kean did not blow his horn to allow his crew to help find their ship in the dark and rain, and the owners of the Newfoundland had had the ship's transceiver removed because the transceiver did not add to their profits.
The storm began as freezing rain and turned into a snow storm. The Newfoundland crew members spend two nights, with no shelter, out on the ice in those storms. By the time the S.S. Bellaventure picked up the survivors, 78 men had died of the Newfoundland's 132-man contingent.
This same storm also sank the S. S. Southern Cross, resulting in the loss of all hands. The total losses from both ships was more than 250 men, and these incidents are known collectively as the 1914 Newfoundland Sealing Disaster.
Abel died in the Newfoundland Disaster. (Note: his date of death is given as 1 April 1914; there is no way to know if he died the first or second day/night.)
The S. S. Newfoundland was a sealing ship that wound up jammed in ice off Newfoundland's northern coast. The captain of the Newfoundland was the son of the captain of the S. S. Stefphano, and on 30 March 1914, Wes Kean saw signals from the ship of his father Abram that indicated there were seals several miles off. Wes sent his crew across the ice to hunt seals under the impression that if the weather turned his crew could stay aboard his father's ship overnight. However, when the crew of the Newfoundland reached the Stephano, Abram merely fed them lunch and then ordered them to go back out and kill more seals and return to the Newfoundland, despite the weather worsening.
When the storm finally hit, each captain assumed the men out on the ice had taken shelter on the opposite ship. Wes Kean did not blow his horn to allow his crew to help find their ship in the dark and rain, and the owners of the Newfoundland had had the ship's transceiver removed because the transceiver did not add to their profits.
The storm began as freezing rain and turned into a snow storm. The Newfoundland crew members spend two nights, with no shelter, out on the ice in those storms. By the time the S.S. Bellaventure picked up the survivors, 78 men had died of the Newfoundland's 132-man contingent.
This same storm also sank the S. S. Southern Cross, resulting in the loss of all hands. The total losses from both ships was more than 250 men, and these incidents are known collectively as the 1914 Newfoundland Sealing Disaster.
Gravesite Details
Abel has a separate stone and is also listed on a group memorial to five men killed in the Newfoundland Disaster. The memorial was erected by the Morning Star No. 2 LOL
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