The T.W. Lawson, The Fate of the World's Only Seven-Masted Schooner

Armed with curiosity and a desire to piece together the story of the world's only seven-masted schooner, Tom Hall spent several years researching on both sides of the Atlantic, diving on the Lawson wreck and interviewing the relatives of those involved in the rescue efforts. The result of his work is the most complete account of the T. W. Lawson's story, ranging from her building and launch to her fated wreck off the Scilly Isles.

From the perspective of a century, the T.W. Lawson emerges as a hubristic period piece, sailing against the tide of history. Hall's account of its short life also tells us something about the times that created it, and the hardships and virtues of the people who tried to save it.--Robert Knox, the Boston Globe

Why is the story of the seven-masted schooner of interest to us now? One hundred years have passed since she rode down the slips of the Fore River Shipyard at Quincy. Now her remains lie torn and decaying with sand swirling through her gigantic masts--her ribs are lifeless, home now to crabs and weed. The reason is quite simple: the wreck of the T.W. Lawson lives on with the memory of her owner, the man who would rule the seas. From his Dreamwold Estate in Scituate, Massachusetts three thousand miles to the jagged rocks of the Isles of Scilly in the English Channel where she met her fate, the tales of the bravery on that night by the men of St. Agnes are talked about still. --Alec Collyer, BBC