by Manager Port Society | Oct 8, 2025 | Cenotaphs
We remember Captain Joseph Rua and William L. Pedro who tragically lost their lives on November 30th, 1978. The two men were traveling on their tugboat going from Boston to Quonset, RI when they sent out a distress call that night stating they were sinking. The next...
by Manager Port Society | Oct 8, 2025 | Cenotaphs
We pay tribute to those lost among the scalloper Navigator. On November 30th, 1977, twelve brave souls left the New Bedford harbor to the waters east of Nantucket. After the vessel went missing, the Coast Guard searched for any sign of the crew or ship. It was on...
by Manager Port Society | Oct 8, 2025 | Cenotaphs
We focus on Captain WM. Swain who was tragically pulled overboard due to a tethered line and drowned in the depths below on May 19th, 1844 at just 49 years old. Though Captain WM. Swain’s body was never recovered, his fate serves as a reminder to all of us just...
by Manager Port Society | Sep 25, 2025 | Blog, Events
This October, Seamen’s Bethel in New Bedford will host a special commemoration of one of the most daring rescues in maritime and Irish history—the Catalpa Rescue. In 1876, the American whaling ship Catalpa set sail from New Bedford on a mission that would capture the...
by Manager Port Society | Sep 19, 2025 | Blog
New Bedford Port Society President Phil Oliveira sits down with Sculptor Stephanie Rocknak to discuss the Herman Melville statue at the Seamen’s Bethel in New Bedford,...
