The 220-ton British ship Augusta sailed from Rotterdam in August 1738 under Captain George Long and a crew of fourteen, transporting 240 immigrants to English colonies in America.
[1] The Princess Augusta's voyage was beset by terrible luck; the water supply was contaminated, causing a "fever and flux" that killed 200 of the passengers and half the crew, including Captain Long.
First mate Andrew Brook took command, as severe storms pushed the ship off course to the north, where the survivors spent three months enduring extreme weather and depleting stores.
[3] Tradition states that a German ship carrying immigrants to Philadelphia ran aground during a snow storm on December 26, 1738 and was stranded near Block Island.
[3] However, folklorist Michael Bell noted when investigating the legend that two versions of the night's events began to be circulated almost a year after the incident.
[10] Today a marker exists on the spot where the ship is thought to have run aground, by the Mohegan Bluffs, which reads: Palatine Graves - 1738.
[11][12] However, Charlotte Taylor of the Rhode Island Historical Preservation and Heritage Commission has noted that no physical evidence has ever been found to substantiate that claim, nor the legend itself.
[3] In the 2020 horror film The Block Island Sound, a character speculates that the Palatine shipwreck was caused by the crew being infected by a parasite that drew it in to a sea monster, in the manner of toxoplasmosis and cats.