Rotting slowly away on the bottom of Tangier Sound, where she went down in 1955, is the ram Edward J. Baird, Jr. Rams are long, slender craft especially designed to go through the narrow C & D Canal.
"I thought I could tell you some history of that boat. It was my Dad's. He is on the little boat in the picture. Do you know that on nautical charts, it actually says "Staples Wreck" on the Little Ammenessex, part of the Chesapeake Bay off Crisfield. Dad wanted to use the vessel to haul cargo, but needed to sail it to Baltimore for overhauling and inspection. Unaware that Hurricane Ione was approaching, he left the Eastern Shore with a crew of several art student friends and his mother aboard. The Baird sank in Tangier Sound after the Coast Guard tried to tow it to safety. The vessel's three masts and rigging remained visible. My dad died 2 years ago."
