Updated on 25 August 2026 | As the winds neared 50 miles an hour on the morning of Tuesday, 19 April 1949, Alberta II — a 48-foot scalloper belonging to Capt. Manuel Pires — was lashed to the Cape Cod Cold Storage Wharf, 125 Commercial Street. It had arrived the night before with 100 bushels (around 30,000 sea scallops), but was unable to get to its mooring on account of the high winds. When the tide rose, not even three lines could hold Alberta to the wharf. As it crashed ashore, a hole was stove near the bow, seams were opened amidships, and the port rail was heavily damaged.
Captain Pires declared the vessel a complete loss. The wreck remained submerged in the waters off the West End for at least the next 21 months, with only its masts showing. They would have been easily visible from the captain’s home at 100 Commercial Street.
Roughly where the wreck of Alberta II came to rest.
In memoriam
• Capt. Manuel Lawrence Pires Jr. (1910-1995)
Find a Grave Memorial No. 137909989.
1 “Scalloper Goes Ashore, Damaged in Freak Gale,” Provincetown Advocate, 21 April 1949, Page 5.