Ship Ashore!: The Role of Risk in the Development of the United States Life-Saving Service and Wrecking Patterns Along the North Carolina Coast

For centuries, the shifting sands of the North Carolina Outer Banks have claimed hundreds of vessels, earning the nickname of ?the Graveyard of the Atlantic?. It was on these narrow strands of barrier islands that, between 1876 and 1915, the United States Life Saving Service (U.S.L.S.S.) established twenty-nine stations along the North Carolina shoreline, becoming a major component of the area?s maritime cultural landscape. This proposal advocates the study of the development of the U.S.L.S.S. on the North Carolina coast and will specifically focus on the role of risk management and the Service?s overall effect on wrecking patterns.

Scholars @ ECU