Clayton Babineau was the second mate aboard the SS Marine Electric when she went down in 15 - 18 ft. seas, 40 mph winds, about 30 miles east of Chincoteague, VA. Thirty-one of the 34 crew members died when they had to abandon ship into frigid, 39 degree, water. Most dying from hypothermia, Clayton Babineau struggled to save others and himself as they waited for rescue.
The SS Marine Electric was a 605 ft. coal freighter and was en-route from Norfolk to Somerset, MA. The tragedy tightened inspection standards, resulted in mandatory survival suits for winter North Atlantic runs, and helped create the now famous Coast Guard rescue swimmer program.
Obituary:
Clayton L.O. Babineau, 42, of 8 Carlton St., second mate on the Marine Electric, was the husband of Mary A. (Cassidy) Babineau.
Born in Attleboro, he was a son of Dora (Gingras) Babineau of Jenson Beach, Fla., and the late Stuart Babineau. He had lived in Barrington for 15 years, and before that in Attleboro and Little Compton.
He was a member of the International Organization of Masters, Mates and Pilots.
Mr. Babineau entered the U.S. Merchant Marine in 1960, and taught for two years in public schools in Warren and Little Compton.
He also leaves two daughters, Suzanne M. Babineau and Cathy A. Babineau; a son, John C. Babineau, all at home; two brothers, Stuart C. Babineau of Key West, Fla., and John C. Babineau, and his maternal grandfather, Sam Gingras, both of Jenson Beach.
The funeral will be held at 10 a.m. at St. Luke's Church, Washington Road.
Providence Journal (RI) - Tuesday, February 15, 1983
Epitaph:
The mourners stood among the mounds of snow outside St. Luke's Roman Catholic Church yesterday and talked about a man who died in a shipwreck off the coast of Virginia.
A funeral for their loved one and friend, Clayton L.O. Babineau, was over. They talked about ships and the sea and about what happened and why. It was a tragedy, they said, that could have been avoided. They nodded when one man said the ship that sank was unworthy to be on the ocean.
Yesterday, in Rhode Island, families in Providence, East Providence and Barrington buried three men who died in the wreck of the Marine Electric.
The 605-foot-long ship sank in the Atlantic early last Saturday. Three men survived and at least 31 died. Among them were Babineau at age 42, Celestino R. Gomes, 30, from Providence, and John J. O'Connell, 55, of East Providence. The final figure of how many were on board remains unclear.
IT IS CLEAR that the crew of the Marine Electric was bringing coal to a power plant in Somerset, Mass.
There was as much as 25,000 tons of coal that came from the mines of Virginia and West Virginia and was loaded on the Marine Electric in Norfolk. It would be burned for power, just enough to supply about three days worth of electricity at the New England Electric plant in Somerset.
It was coal that would run the toaster ovens and blenders of Rhode Island and Massachusetts and even light the lights in places like St. Luke's Roman Catholic Church on Washington Road in Barrington.
In St. Luke's, the Rev. William L. Chapman said a Mass of Christian Burial. He told the more than 100 mourners: "Today, we bury someone who loved the sea, loved his family and loved his God."
He spoke of the will of God that "so often becomes difficult and not quite understandable." He said: "Today, we are challenged by this death as we are by how we live our own lives."
He prayed: "For those friends of Clayton who also died, we pray to the Lord."
In unison, voices of the mourners sounded the response: "Lord, hear our prayer."
THE FAINT SMELL of incense filtered through the room as the priest shook the censer around the oak casket covered with a white cloth.
At the priest's admonition, people started turning to those around them, shaking hands and touching one another.
The priest walked to the pew where the family members stood. He shook their hands, hands of Clayton Babineau's three children. He approached the woman whose husband had died, and with his flowing robe he wrapped his arms around Mary A. Babineau and patted her on the back.
Then he moved to the casket, reached out his hand and, just for a moment, touched his hand flat onto the white cloth.
He prayed: "We thank you Lord for the times in our lives when we have been touched by Clayton."
Then five pallbearers dressed in black walked to the altar, knelt in unison, and, on rising, with their black-gloved hands they steered the casket out the door.
Providence Journal (RI) - Friday, February 18, 1983
The SS Marine Electric was a 605 ft. coal freighter and was en-route from Norfolk to Somerset, MA. The tragedy tightened inspection standards, resulted in mandatory survival suits for winter North Atlantic runs, and helped create the now famous Coast Guard rescue swimmer program.
Obituary:
Clayton L.O. Babineau, 42, of 8 Carlton St., second mate on the Marine Electric, was the husband of Mary A. (Cassidy) Babineau.
Born in Attleboro, he was a son of Dora (Gingras) Babineau of Jenson Beach, Fla., and the late Stuart Babineau. He had lived in Barrington for 15 years, and before that in Attleboro and Little Compton.
He was a member of the International Organization of Masters, Mates and Pilots.
Mr. Babineau entered the U.S. Merchant Marine in 1960, and taught for two years in public schools in Warren and Little Compton.
He also leaves two daughters, Suzanne M. Babineau and Cathy A. Babineau; a son, John C. Babineau, all at home; two brothers, Stuart C. Babineau of Key West, Fla., and John C. Babineau, and his maternal grandfather, Sam Gingras, both of Jenson Beach.
The funeral will be held at 10 a.m. at St. Luke's Church, Washington Road.
Providence Journal (RI) - Tuesday, February 15, 1983
Epitaph:
The mourners stood among the mounds of snow outside St. Luke's Roman Catholic Church yesterday and talked about a man who died in a shipwreck off the coast of Virginia.
A funeral for their loved one and friend, Clayton L.O. Babineau, was over. They talked about ships and the sea and about what happened and why. It was a tragedy, they said, that could have been avoided. They nodded when one man said the ship that sank was unworthy to be on the ocean.
Yesterday, in Rhode Island, families in Providence, East Providence and Barrington buried three men who died in the wreck of the Marine Electric.
The 605-foot-long ship sank in the Atlantic early last Saturday. Three men survived and at least 31 died. Among them were Babineau at age 42, Celestino R. Gomes, 30, from Providence, and John J. O'Connell, 55, of East Providence. The final figure of how many were on board remains unclear.
IT IS CLEAR that the crew of the Marine Electric was bringing coal to a power plant in Somerset, Mass.
There was as much as 25,000 tons of coal that came from the mines of Virginia and West Virginia and was loaded on the Marine Electric in Norfolk. It would be burned for power, just enough to supply about three days worth of electricity at the New England Electric plant in Somerset.
It was coal that would run the toaster ovens and blenders of Rhode Island and Massachusetts and even light the lights in places like St. Luke's Roman Catholic Church on Washington Road in Barrington.
In St. Luke's, the Rev. William L. Chapman said a Mass of Christian Burial. He told the more than 100 mourners: "Today, we bury someone who loved the sea, loved his family and loved his God."
He spoke of the will of God that "so often becomes difficult and not quite understandable." He said: "Today, we are challenged by this death as we are by how we live our own lives."
He prayed: "For those friends of Clayton who also died, we pray to the Lord."
In unison, voices of the mourners sounded the response: "Lord, hear our prayer."
THE FAINT SMELL of incense filtered through the room as the priest shook the censer around the oak casket covered with a white cloth.
At the priest's admonition, people started turning to those around them, shaking hands and touching one another.
The priest walked to the pew where the family members stood. He shook their hands, hands of Clayton Babineau's three children. He approached the woman whose husband had died, and with his flowing robe he wrapped his arms around Mary A. Babineau and patted her on the back.
Then he moved to the casket, reached out his hand and, just for a moment, touched his hand flat onto the white cloth.
He prayed: "We thank you Lord for the times in our lives when we have been touched by Clayton."
Then five pallbearers dressed in black walked to the altar, knelt in unison, and, on rising, with their black-gloved hands they steered the casket out the door.
Providence Journal (RI) - Friday, February 18, 1983
Clayton Babineau was the second mate aboard the SS Marine Electric when she went down in 15 - 18 ft. seas, 40 mph winds, about 30 miles east of Chincoteague, VA. Thirty-one of the 34 crew members died when they had to abandon ship into frigid, 39 degree, water. Most dying from hypothermia, Clayton Babineau struggled to save others and himself as they waited for rescue.
The SS Marine Electric was a 605 ft. coal freighter and was en-route from Norfolk to Somerset, MA. The tragedy tightened inspection standards, resulted in mandatory survival suits for winter North Atlantic runs, and helped create the now famous Coast Guard rescue swimmer program.
Obituary:
Clayton L.O. Babineau, 42, of 8 Carlton St., second mate on the Marine Electric, was the husband of Mary A. (Cassidy) Babineau.
Born in Attleboro, he was a son of Dora (Gingras) Babineau of Jenson Beach, Fla., and the late Stuart Babineau. He had lived in Barrington for 15 years, and before that in Attleboro and Little Compton.
He was a member of the International Organization of Masters, Mates and Pilots.
Mr. Babineau entered the U.S. Merchant Marine in 1960, and taught for two years in public schools in Warren and Little Compton.
He also leaves two daughters, Suzanne M. Babineau and Cathy A. Babineau; a son, John C. Babineau, all at home; two brothers, Stuart C. Babineau of Key West, Fla., and John C. Babineau, and his maternal grandfather, Sam Gingras, both of Jenson Beach.
The funeral will be held at 10 a.m. at St. Luke's Church, Washington Road.
Providence Journal (RI) - Tuesday, February 15, 1983
Epitaph:
The mourners stood among the mounds of snow outside St. Luke's Roman Catholic Church yesterday and talked about a man who died in a shipwreck off the coast of Virginia.
A funeral for their loved one and friend, Clayton L.O. Babineau, was over. They talked about ships and the sea and about what happened and why. It was a tragedy, they said, that could have been avoided. They nodded when one man said the ship that sank was unworthy to be on the ocean.
Yesterday, in Rhode Island, families in Providence, East Providence and Barrington buried three men who died in the wreck of the Marine Electric.
The 605-foot-long ship sank in the Atlantic early last Saturday. Three men survived and at least 31 died. Among them were Babineau at age 42, Celestino R. Gomes, 30, from Providence, and John J. O'Connell, 55, of East Providence. The final figure of how many were on board remains unclear.
IT IS CLEAR that the crew of the Marine Electric was bringing coal to a power plant in Somerset, Mass.
There was as much as 25,000 tons of coal that came from the mines of Virginia and West Virginia and was loaded on the Marine Electric in Norfolk. It would be burned for power, just enough to supply about three days worth of electricity at the New England Electric plant in Somerset.
It was coal that would run the toaster ovens and blenders of Rhode Island and Massachusetts and even light the lights in places like St. Luke's Roman Catholic Church on Washington Road in Barrington.
In St. Luke's, the Rev. William L. Chapman said a Mass of Christian Burial. He told the more than 100 mourners: "Today, we bury someone who loved the sea, loved his family and loved his God."
He spoke of the will of God that "so often becomes difficult and not quite understandable." He said: "Today, we are challenged by this death as we are by how we live our own lives."
He prayed: "For those friends of Clayton who also died, we pray to the Lord."
In unison, voices of the mourners sounded the response: "Lord, hear our prayer."
THE FAINT SMELL of incense filtered through the room as the priest shook the censer around the oak casket covered with a white cloth.
At the priest's admonition, people started turning to those around them, shaking hands and touching one another.
The priest walked to the pew where the family members stood. He shook their hands, hands of Clayton Babineau's three children. He approached the woman whose husband had died, and with his flowing robe he wrapped his arms around Mary A. Babineau and patted her on the back.
Then he moved to the casket, reached out his hand and, just for a moment, touched his hand flat onto the white cloth.
He prayed: "We thank you Lord for the times in our lives when we have been touched by Clayton."
Then five pallbearers dressed in black walked to the altar, knelt in unison, and, on rising, with their black-gloved hands they steered the casket out the door.
Providence Journal (RI) - Friday, February 18, 1983
The SS Marine Electric was a 605 ft. coal freighter and was en-route from Norfolk to Somerset, MA. The tragedy tightened inspection standards, resulted in mandatory survival suits for winter North Atlantic runs, and helped create the now famous Coast Guard rescue swimmer program.
Obituary:
Clayton L.O. Babineau, 42, of 8 Carlton St., second mate on the Marine Electric, was the husband of Mary A. (Cassidy) Babineau.
Born in Attleboro, he was a son of Dora (Gingras) Babineau of Jenson Beach, Fla., and the late Stuart Babineau. He had lived in Barrington for 15 years, and before that in Attleboro and Little Compton.
He was a member of the International Organization of Masters, Mates and Pilots.
Mr. Babineau entered the U.S. Merchant Marine in 1960, and taught for two years in public schools in Warren and Little Compton.
He also leaves two daughters, Suzanne M. Babineau and Cathy A. Babineau; a son, John C. Babineau, all at home; two brothers, Stuart C. Babineau of Key West, Fla., and John C. Babineau, and his maternal grandfather, Sam Gingras, both of Jenson Beach.
The funeral will be held at 10 a.m. at St. Luke's Church, Washington Road.
Providence Journal (RI) - Tuesday, February 15, 1983
Epitaph:
The mourners stood among the mounds of snow outside St. Luke's Roman Catholic Church yesterday and talked about a man who died in a shipwreck off the coast of Virginia.
A funeral for their loved one and friend, Clayton L.O. Babineau, was over. They talked about ships and the sea and about what happened and why. It was a tragedy, they said, that could have been avoided. They nodded when one man said the ship that sank was unworthy to be on the ocean.
Yesterday, in Rhode Island, families in Providence, East Providence and Barrington buried three men who died in the wreck of the Marine Electric.
The 605-foot-long ship sank in the Atlantic early last Saturday. Three men survived and at least 31 died. Among them were Babineau at age 42, Celestino R. Gomes, 30, from Providence, and John J. O'Connell, 55, of East Providence. The final figure of how many were on board remains unclear.
IT IS CLEAR that the crew of the Marine Electric was bringing coal to a power plant in Somerset, Mass.
There was as much as 25,000 tons of coal that came from the mines of Virginia and West Virginia and was loaded on the Marine Electric in Norfolk. It would be burned for power, just enough to supply about three days worth of electricity at the New England Electric plant in Somerset.
It was coal that would run the toaster ovens and blenders of Rhode Island and Massachusetts and even light the lights in places like St. Luke's Roman Catholic Church on Washington Road in Barrington.
In St. Luke's, the Rev. William L. Chapman said a Mass of Christian Burial. He told the more than 100 mourners: "Today, we bury someone who loved the sea, loved his family and loved his God."
He spoke of the will of God that "so often becomes difficult and not quite understandable." He said: "Today, we are challenged by this death as we are by how we live our own lives."
He prayed: "For those friends of Clayton who also died, we pray to the Lord."
In unison, voices of the mourners sounded the response: "Lord, hear our prayer."
THE FAINT SMELL of incense filtered through the room as the priest shook the censer around the oak casket covered with a white cloth.
At the priest's admonition, people started turning to those around them, shaking hands and touching one another.
The priest walked to the pew where the family members stood. He shook their hands, hands of Clayton Babineau's three children. He approached the woman whose husband had died, and with his flowing robe he wrapped his arms around Mary A. Babineau and patted her on the back.
Then he moved to the casket, reached out his hand and, just for a moment, touched his hand flat onto the white cloth.
He prayed: "We thank you Lord for the times in our lives when we have been touched by Clayton."
Then five pallbearers dressed in black walked to the altar, knelt in unison, and, on rising, with their black-gloved hands they steered the casket out the door.
Providence Journal (RI) - Friday, February 18, 1983
Gravesite Details
His body was recovered and removed to McGrath Funeral Home, Bronxville, NY. Please use Edit tab for updates.
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