341. Pensacolian Shipwrecked 1918

Updated: Mar 24, 2022

During WWI, Pensacolians flocked to the call to arms of patriotism after Germany's unrestricted submarine warfare on US shipping. America's Army, Marines, and Navy quickly filled with eager young men and women. But America also needed a Merchant Marine to provide the transportation of troops and supplies to the war front. Even then, there was not enough so the government began offering contracts to privateers to haul supplies to and from American ports. One such contract was given to the Norwegian schooner "Remittent," built in 1917 with a wooden hull and four masts and two auxiliary diesel engines. She was owned by Alexander Prebensen of New York and was commissioned to sail from Pensacola to Valparaiso then on to Cape Gracias along the Mosquito Coast in Central America.

Aboard the Remittent was a Pensacola boy by the name of Frank Aloysius Montanari, born on August 30, 1897 and the son of Angelo Montanari (1859-1927) and Mary Elizabeth Lewis (1866-1935). His father was a mechanic who had immigrated to the U.S. from Italy in 1880. Angelo and Mary had married in Pensacola on March 13, 1885 and by 1910 they had settled in the Little Bayou area where Angelo became a millwright at a local sawmill. Frank was their seventh child out of eleven and was a newspaper boy for the News Journal at a young age. But by WWI, he had become an engineer in the merchant fleet.

So, on September 11, 1918 Frank left the family home at 1312 East Cervantes Street (now an office building built in 2004) and sailed out of Pensacola with a cargo of "coke and iron" heading for a great adventure yet to come! After unloading their cargo, they were to pick up a shipment of saltpeter in Chile. As chief engineer, he was responsible for the ship's engines, but problems began off Cape Catache. Then, eleven days out from the Yucatan more problems occurred, and they had to put into Progreso. To make matters worse, seven days out of Progreso they struck an uncharted reef on November 1, 1918 at 2:30 AM about seventy miles off Spanish Honduras. Several hours later, they took to the lifeboats and rowed westward all day. That evening they landed on a small island after being pursued by eight huge sharks. The sharks were so intent on supper that the monsters stranded themselves in the shallow water. Onshore they quickly ran into another denizen of the jungle, the large Iguana lizards that reached up to six feet.

During their ordeal, they were totally unaware that the fighting of WWI had ended with the signing of the Armistice on the 11th of November. But battling man-eating sharks and giant lizards was only the beginning for the stranded Pensacolian. Now came the indigenous natives who at first were shy and aloof, but finally invited them to their village to spend the night. The sailors acquiesced, but Frank was suspicious. He posted a guard for the night as his twenty comrades slept. However, it was not long before more and more armed warriors began appearing in the village. Luckily nothing happened, perhaps because the ship's company were alert and all armed. The next morning, they left the village and marched fifteen miles to Cape Racia. They went through village after village until they reached the town of Bluefields and the British consul. They happily left the consul on November 19th onboard the "Rama," a merchant vessel carrying fruit, arriving in New Orleans on the 25th.

After the war, the Montanari family moved to 1507 E. Gadsden Street (built 1919) while Angelo continued as a millwright. His children contributed to the family with Ethel Angela (1899-1952) working at Falk's Millinery, Lewis J. the manager of the Ferriss Warehouse & Storage, Olga D. (1891-1971) now a bookkeeper for Balkcom Drug Store, and Victoria "Vic" (1893-1981) a clerk for the Clutter Music House. By 1930, Mary was now a widow and her youngest child Charles D. (1908-1968) had graduated from Pensacola High School in 1927. That same year, her oldest Emilia (1885-1946) had become a noted vocalist while Lewis J. (1902-1965) was now the owner of the well-known Montanari Service Station at 900 East Wright Street. In the meantime, Mary was living at 904 16th Avenue, the house where she would eventually pass away. Frank had already married Lucille Purcell (Pound) and was now living in Miami and still a marine engineer. As WWII approached, Frank was still in Miami but working for the Seacraft Corporation out of Brooklyn, NY. He and Lucille would divorce in 1949. Frank would enter his last great adventure when he passed away on November 11, 1963 in New Orleans, LA.