Cape Ann Confrontation:
About ten leagues off Cape Ann in 1818, Captain Woodward and his crew of the schooner Adamant of Hingham spotted what they thought was a capsized boat in the water. On approaching the object they were stunned to discover it was actually a black serpent of enormous size. The alarmed serpent raised its head and some of its length out of the water as if to take a look at the schooner. Captain Woodward wasn’t taking any chances with a creature of that size. He had the forward cannon loaded and fired a round at the creature’s head.
Serpent Combat
It was direct hit; however, to the surprise of the captain and crew the cannon shot deflected off harmlessly. The creature shock it’s head and quickly started for the ship. The men hastily reloaded their cannon, but the creature approached so quickly they abandoned their positions in terror. Fortunately Captain Woodward’s astute sailing skills came into play. He skillfully tacked the ship to avoid the creature coming in contact with them. The creature, not to be out done, dove at the last minute. There was great trepidation that the serpent might upset the boat from underneath. Finally the creature reappeared with it’s head looming out of the water on one side of the ship and it’s tail on the other side. The Adamant hastily sailed away from the dangerous situation. The serpent followed the Adamant for several hours. With calculated prudence, Captain Woodward decided it best not to tempt the anger of the creature any further. He made sure to avoid shooting at the serpent again.
Some particulars about the sighting
In the combat, the crew got a good look at the creature with it’s head well out of the water. They figured the serpent had the following dimensions: it was about twice the length of the schooner (so about 130 feet), the head was about 14 feet in length and the body 6 feet in diameter slowly tapered off toward it’s tail. The creature was blackish in color, but the rest of the description was rather vague. It was terrible looking (not quite sure how we are suppose to interpret that), but it was nevertheless terrible looking. At port, the captain and several crew signed an affidavit swearing what they saw was true. To add to the Adamant’s sighting, there was a report in 1803 a 70 foot long sea monster being washed ashore in England. It was black in color as well and had scales so hard that a harpoon could not penetrate them. So it would not be improbable that the cannon shot might have been deflected. Whatever the truth of the Adamant’s story might be, one thing is certain: oarfish do not have scales, so it wasn’t an oarfish they encountered.
References:
Worcester Journal, Thursday 13 August, 1818, pg. 4. - Adamant encounter with the serpent.
Salisbury and Winchester Journal, Monday 19 September 1803, pg. 1. - Independent finding of a long black scaled creature washed ashore with tough armor.