Jersey Shore Magazine

J e r s e y s h o r e • S P R I N G 2 0 2 1 38 JERSEY SHORE LANDMARKS SHIPWRECK SCAVENGER HUNT, continued from page 37 The Fortuna anchor in Ship Bottom. Jill Ocone On January 18, 1910 during a vicious winter storm, the Fortuna, a 193-foot-long, iron hulled, three-masted Italian bark, ran aground near what is today 16th Street in Ship Bottom. Lifesaving responders quickly arrived on the scene and rescued the seventeen people on board, which included the captain, crew, and four passengers. The wrecked ship capsized in the beach's sand and lay on its side for much of 1910, before most of its remains were cut up for salvage. Fast-forward sixty years to the summer of 1970 when Carole Bradshaw noticed a red tile while walking the tideline on Long Beach Island. "It was not particularly pret- ty, but there was something about it that screamed 'pick me up and take me home,'" she wrote in her book, Fortuna. That first piece from a giant puz- zle sparked a journey that changed the course of Bradshaw's life. Over the next few years, Bradshaw found more tiles, each one further piquing her curiosity. Through her research, which included conversations with family members and locals, she learned the tiles were carried as bal- last aboard the ill-fated Fortuna. A storm in 1983 exposed the Fortuna's steel ribs, and while Bradshaw was photographing the remains, she noticed something protruding from the sand: the tip of the Fortuna's massive 6,000-pound anchor, which salvagers had left behind because of its size. Bradshaw then embarked upon a mission to preserve the anchor as a historical artifact, and with the help of Ship Bottom's mayor at the time, Robert Nissen, the Fortuna's anchor was retrieved in the fall of 1983 by several volunteers. It now stands in front of the Ship Bottom Borough Hall to honor Long Beach Island's maritime history. Bradshaw's story, however, did not end with the anchor's retrieval. In her book, Fortuna, she chronicles her passion to learn about and find The Fortuna Anchor Ship Bottom Municipal Building, 1621 Long Beach Boulevard, Ship Bottom Saveria Adragna who was born on the Fortuna just before its 1910 mishap. Saveria's father was Captain Giovan Adragna, part owner of the Fortuna along with brother-in-law Captain Baldassare Savona and Captain Savona's father-in-law Aloisio Salvatore. Together, the three men chose the name Fortuna because it means "good fortune" in Italian. Captain Adragna's pregnant wife, Maria, and their children, Antonina (b. 1903) and Anna (b. 1907) were also onboard. Saveria was born on the ship near Barbados and was about a month and a half old when the Fortuna wrecked. After being rescued, the family left Ship Bottom a week later on January 25, 1910—but what had happened to baby Saveria? Could she still be alive all these years later? After finding the anchor, Bradshaw's seemingly impossible quest for answers led her to the United Nations, the Smithsonian Institute, the National Archives in Washington, D.C., and ultimately to Sicily, Italy where she found Saveria in 1985 in Trapani. Bradshaw also met her younger brother, Giuseppe, who was born in 1912. The siblings traveled to Long Beach Island in September 1985 to attend the dedication ceremony of the Fortuna's anchor, the anchor from their father's ship, at Ship Bottom Borough Hall. Bradshaw wrote of her discovery and quest, "It's part history, part adventure, and totally true." Photographer Lewis D. Crowell captured this image of the Fortuna wreck on Long Beach Island. The ship laid there for much of 1910, before most of its remains were cut up for salvage. courtesy of the Mil C. and James E. Birdsall Collection

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