Picture Source: NARA

For a couple of hundred years the east coast of the United States was not always a friendly place for ships. Some people engaged in causing ships to wreck on the rocks so they could get the valuable cargo. Often they would murder all the crew and any passengers because they didn't want any witnesses, so they could do the same thing again, in the same place, to the next unlucky ship that came along. Wrecking a ship was not hard to do. To accomplish this task you just had to set up lights in the wrong places. This would mislead the ships and cause them to crash on to the rocks.

The U.S. government established the United States Life-Saving Service which was part of the Treasury Department to rescue shipwreck victims, later this became the U.S. Coast Guard. An interesting aside is the fact that the U.S. was the only country in the world, at that time, to have such a service. Key West in Florida, used to be famous for the shipwrecks that were caused by its population. It was settled by English Bahamians, southerners and northerners who eventually drove out the pirates who were using it as a base. These new settlers were very happy to cause shipwrecks. It became so profitable that William Curry, one of the natives of the island, became Florida's first millionaire. The wreckers were not always easy to spot, as a matter of fact a pastor of a church there was also a wrecker. Everyone wanted to be the first to a wreck because he would be the "Wrecking Master" and this meant he would get the best cut of the loot. These practices ended in Key West when the first Lighthouse was built in the 1850s.

Many a town's person risked their lives to save the victims of shipwrecks, but many were responsible for the wreck in the first place. Sometimes shipwrecks were caused by a bizarre error. An example of this is the Stoney Creek Light House built on Cape St. George in 1860. This light house is responsible for at least 14 shipwrecks. Makes one wonder how this can be? The answer is simple, the light house was built on the wrong side of the island, luring ships to a watery grave on the rocks. It got so bad that it was ordered bombed. It is now called the Ruined Lighthouse.

Picture Source: NARA

For hundreds of years people existed on the plunder that they got from vessels that got wrecked in the English Channel. In some spots the water can be only 15 feet deep. It got so bad that when a French ship ran aground and the authorities sent men to protect it, the people from the nearest village came out to the wreck wearing masks and hoods armed with clubs, axes and swords. They drove the guards away and looted the ship. Its cargo was fine wines. They must have all enjoyed themselves that night.

Mooncussers was the name for the people that set up false lights to lure ships to their doom. They were also know as wreckers. There are over 2,000 known shipwrecks off the coast of the Carolinas and believe me they didn't all get there by accident. Some parts of this country had extremely bad reputations and were know for their Mooncussers and Wreckers. These regions were Cape Cod, The Outer Banks, Long Island, the Florida Keys and the Carolinas. These treacherous people figured out that putting a lantern on a horse and letting him walk the beach at night looked like a ship safely at anchor to a passing ship. This was called a Judas Lantern. This was especially a good trick in foul weather since a passing ship might seek refuge from the storm not knowing he would run aground. Sometimes the residents of a place might get blamed for wrecks they didn't cause. This happened in 1835 when a storm caused multiple shipwrecks near Barncgat, New Jersey.

Picture Source: NARA

Even today the sea is not entirely safe from those who would think nothing of killing a ships crew and passengers to make a profit. This is much harder today due to ship size and the amount of people on them. Luring a ship on to rocks is a thing of the past. With modern navigation equipment it is not possible for this to happen anymore except maybe to a small boat without navigation equipment, but then, these types of craft are not very profitable since they don't carry cargo.