The Thomas W. Lawson, with thirteen letters in her name, was the only seven-masted vessel in the world. Known as "Lucky Seven," the steel-hulled, 404' schooner was launched at Quincy, Massachusetts in 1902. She was initially designed to haul coal up and down the Atlantic coast, and did so until 1907, when the price of coal plummeted.  Then refitted to carry bulk liquid, she was contracted by the Sun Oil Company (Sunoco), to haul 2.5 million gallons of light oil to England. It was during this maiden voyage across the Atlantic that she encountered three gales which rendered her sails useless. With no other means of propulsion, she went aground, broke up and sank off the Scilly Islands, southwest of Cornwall. It was Friday the thirteenth, December 1907.  Her demise would be marked as the world's first oil spill.

Original: Available | Size: 30 x 24" | Print edition: Giclee | Size: 24” x 21"