Cape Cod’s “Graveyard of Ships” on the outer bar claimed many victims during the late 19th century.
The list of casualties may have been even longer had it not been for the efforts of one Isaac G. “Ike” Fisher and his crew at the Peaked Hill Lifesaving Station in Provincetown from 1880 to 1896.
A total of 152 souls were “rescued from frightful peril,” according to the Boston Globe, by Fisher and his charges, an accomplishment that was acknowledged by the Massachusetts State Legislature in a vote of thanks upon Fisher’s transfer to Wood End Station in 1896.
“The recital of these few of the many valiant rescues wrought by gray-haired Isaac and his followers, is given simply that the public may know that the quiet and elderly man who takes command at Wood End Station is a hero tried and true,” the Legislature concluded.