SEDWICKCOINS BLOG

By Connor Falk

The S.B. Pulaski represents one of the earliest of major U.S. shipwrecks to be salvaged and the coins recovered provide a fascinating glimpse back in time to late-1830s America.

The ship began her brief life in 1837 at the shipyard of John A. Robb located in Fell’s Point, Baltimore, Maryland. Built for the Savannah & Charleston Steam Packet Company, she was a steam packet meant for carrying passengers, cargo, and mail up and down the East Coast. In an interesting historical connection, the shipbuilder John A. Robb also constructed the famous S.S. Republic (launched in 1853 as the S.S. Tennessee), which also ran an East Coast route until her sinking in 1865 with a cargo of gold and silver coins.

The Pulaski was a brand-new and luxurious ship, affording her passengers a comfortable journey. She was favored by wealthy Southern families and businessmen whenever they needed to travel from the South up to the North and back again. Her cargo holds held trade goods and U.S. Post Office mail packets, earning further revenue for her owners.

The Pulaski’s voyage on June 14, 1838, started off normally. She had departed Charleston, South Carolina, at 6 AM, having come up from Savannah, Georgia. Captain John Dubois commanded the ship with a crew of 36 and with around 150 passengers aboard. Now bound for Baltimore, Maryland, the passengers settled in for a day heading out to sea.

At 10 o’clock that night, the Pulaski was about 40 miles off the coast of North Carolina, sailing north at a steady clip in moderate seas. The First Mate, Mr. Hibberd, had charge of the ship and was pacing the promenade deck. As he later told the Wilmington Observer, he “found himself shortly after upon the main deck, lying between the mast and side of the boat.”

Regaining consciousness, Hibberd headed to the midships. There, he found the head of the starboard boiler blown out and the decks above torn apart. The hull was also damaged and Hibberd observed water rushing in whenever the ship heeled to starboard. Later accounts would blame the ship’s engineer for the explosion by letting the boilers run dry then refilling them with cold seawater while hot.

The boiler explosion killed many passengers and crew instantly in their cabins. Captain Dubois was lost, presumed killed in the explosion. First Mate Hibberd began launching the lifeboats, initially telling passengers they were to inspect the ship’s hull, so as not to raise a panic. One of the lifeboats was in poor condition due to sun exposure; after several attempts to bail it out, it capsized. The other two lifeboats, loaded with 21 survivors including First Mate Hibberd, stayed near the Pulaski until it broke up and sank just 45 minutes after the explosion.

The 21 survivors in the two lifeboats made their way to the North Carolina shore. After paddling north for some time, hoping to find a way into the intercoastal waterway, they attempted to land on the beach. The rough waves overturned the first lifeboat near shore and five of the eleven survivors on board that boat drowned in the surf. Three hours later, the second lifeboat made a successful landing. The survivors then made their way to Stump Sound where a local took them in. Two days later, First Mate Hibberd and two other passengers left for Wilmington where they reported Pulaski’s sinking. They were initially thought to be the only survivors of the wreck.

On the morning of Tuesday, June 19, the crew of the schooner Henry Camerdon came across a sight: a large portion of the deck of the S.B. Pulaski, barely afloat, containing 23 survivors. Once taken aboard, the survivors mentioned another piece of the wreck was floating nearby with more survivors. An hour later, the Henry Camerdon rescued a further seven survivors who were clinging to a piece of the wreck. The survivors, suffering from exposure and dehydration over four days, were brought back to Wilmington. The Fayetteville Observer newspaper then reported that a further thirteen survivors had come ashore at New Inlet. Of the 37 crew and over 150 passengers aboard, 59 were saved.

The Newbernian newspaper of New Bern, North Carolina, eulogized those who died in the S.B. Pulaski sinking in their Friday, June 29, 1838, edition as follows:

“Dreadful Steam Boat Disaster!

“Thus have we hurriedly sketched the most painful catastrophe that has ever occurred upon the American coast. Youth, age, and infancy have here been cut off in a single night, and found a common death under the same billow.

“Days, months, years and ages will circle away, and still the vast waters will over them roll.”

It wasn’t until 2017 that the wreck site of the S.B. Pulaski was located. Discovered by Swordfish Partners, the salvors filed an admiralty claim on the then unknown wreck. In partnership between Blue Water Ventures International and Endurance Exploration, the salvage work began with the main goal of definitively identifying the wreck. Divers sent down to the 120 foot-deep site found a scattered wreck covered in several feet of sand. In early 2018, a single brass tag was found bearing the name S.B. Pulaski.

With the wreck thus confirmed as the Pulaski, salvage began in earnest. Over the course of a few salvage seasons, many small artifacts such as silverware, pocket watches, and jewelry were found. Several larger artifacts found included ship’s tackle and a silver religious altar decoration.

Silver and gold U.S. coins were also discovered along with world coins that circulated in the United States during the 1830s. However, unlike the famous S.S. Central America, S.S. Brother Jonathan, or S.S. Republic, which mainly carried coins as their cargo, vast quantities of coins were never found on the S.B. Pulaski. The few recovered coins were all pocket change from the passenger and crew, representing a sample of coins found in circulation at the time. Thus, every coin from the S.B. Pulaski has a very real connection to those who sailed on her during her final voyage.

To view two rare coins recovered from the wreck of the S.B. Pulaski, please visit our November 13-15, 2025 Auction 38 here: https://auction.sedwickcoins.com/Treasure-World-U-S-Coin-Paper-Money-Auction-38_as110855?p=1&ps=50&so=1&q=pulaski&hi=0&vm=1