Grounding of the Liberty ship Charles S. Haight on Flat Ground

Returning in ballast from Newport, England, to New York, the Liberty ship Charles S. Haight went aground on Flat Ground off Rockport overnight between April 1 and 2, 1946. Crew members were taken off by the Coast Guard cutter Ojibwa. No deaths or injuries are reported in the sources reviewed. A local injunction sought by Rockport citizens stopped a plan to sink the oil-laden stern section.

Vessel: Charles S. Haight, liberty ship
When: Overnight April 1 to 2, 1946 80th anniversary
Where: Flat Ground, about 1.5 miles east of Rockport
Weather: Southeast winds (state account and federal records)
Aboard: 49, according to state and town accounts.

What happened

Shortly after midnight, April 2, 1946 Returning empty from Britain to New York, the Liberty ship went aground on Flat Ground off Rockport.
April 2, 1946, 3:30 p.m. The Coast Guard cutter Ojibwa took crew members off the ship. No deaths or injuries are reported.
April 1946 Rockport residents went to court and won an order stopping a plan to sink the oil-laden stern section. The salvage company gave up on the ship on April 6.
April 1946 Federal records list the ship as a total loss as of the night she grounded. Newspapers reported her a total loss by April 9.
Dec. 30, 1947 The wreck was sold where she lay for $500.

Others named in the record

Joseph A. Mano (also written Capt. Joseph A. Mano)
Captain. Survived.
D. S. Bangs (also written Lt. D. S. Bangs)
Coast Guard officer (Gloucester Group commander) who reported on the salvage. Not aboard.

Cape Ann connections

Rockport: Grounded on Flat Ground about 1.5 miles east of Rockport.
Rockport: Court injunction on complaint of Rockport citizens.
Gloucester: Report by the commanding officer of the Coast Guard Gloucester Group.

What the records leave open

Federal records give the grounding date as April 1, 1946. State and town accounts put it at 12:07 a.m. on April 2. We have not yet found a record that settles it, so we mark the anniversary in April.

Sources

Charles S. Haight vessel status cards and ship history, U.S. Maritime Administration
Coast Guard bi-weekly report excerpt, April 12, 1946 (Charles S. Haight), U.S. Coast Guard, via the U.S. Maritime Administration vessel history archive
Charles S. Haight, Massachusetts Board of Underwater Archaeological Resources (Mass.gov)
Charles S. Haight, Town of Rockport, Mass.

Written in our own words from the sources above. Know something the records miss, or a family story about this ship? Tell us.