The Graveyard of the Atlantic 400 Years of Shipwrecks, Mysteries and Heroic Rescues


For more than four centuries, seafaring vessels have traversed the tempestuous and deadly ocean waters that have been known, nearly as long, as the Graveyard of the Atlantic. The first ships came for exploration and discovery. Later, most participated in commerce, some delved in piracy, while others were engaged in warfare. In all, more than 1,000 unlucky vessels and their crews and passengers were forced to make the ocean waters and beaches along North Carolinas Outer Banks their final port of call, representing one of the greatest densities of shipwrecks in the world. It is simply one of the most dramatic and poignant chapters in U.S. maritime history.

Featured in this award-winning 90-minute film are the unparalleled rescues of the crews of the Ephraim Williams (1884) and the Priscilla (1899). Learn how shipwrecks provided a way of life and often a means of survival for the residents of these isolated barrier islands. Rare interviews with native Outer Bankers who witnessed many shipwrecks relate the excitement, intrigue and compassion caused by the shouts, Ship ashore!

Narrated by popular newscaster and musician, Bill Leslie.