British Schooner Messenger of Peace Seized by Coast Guard, Dec. 31, 1921

British Schooner Went Ashore With Big Liquor Cargo. . . ship Went Aground on Shoal Yesterday, Was Floated and Taken into Custody by Coast Guard Officials. . . Vessel Had Grounded There Before. . . Was Famous “Mystery Ship” Which Went Ashore Off the Island Last August and Was Floated With Difficulty

By Associated Press

Seizure of the British schooner Messenger of Peace, with a cargo of liquor off the North Carolina coast, was reported to the Assistant Secretary of the Treasury Clifford today by the coast guard station at Elizabeth City, N.C.

The ship, the report said, was stranded on Ocracoke bar, off the coast of North Carolina, but was floated yesterday. Immediately the vessel and its crew were taken into custody by the coast guard cutter under command of Boatswain J.H. Garrish of the Ocracoke station.

The prohibition director at Salisbury, N.C., and the collector of customs at Wilmington have been notified of the seizure.

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By Associated Press

Ocracoke, N.C., Dec. 31—The Messenger of Peace, three-masted British schooner, which was seized off the North Carolina coast by the coast guard cutter, is the vessel which was known as the “mystery ship” which came into Ocracoke inlet last August and went aground on a shoal just inside the inlet. The ship was then in command of Captain A. Coleman of Jacksonville, Fla., who had a crew of nine West Indian negroes. A search of the vessel was made at that time but no liquor was found. Captain Coleman explained he came into the inlet to make a landing at Ocracoke to replenish his supply of drinking water.

The Messenger of Peace is a very old vessel and coast guardsmen said she was barely seaworthy.

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Over long distance telephone this afternoon, the Sun-Journal communicated with the coast guard station at Ocracoke in the effort to get further information relative to the seizure of liquor.

It was stated over the phone that the Messenger of Peace had 1,036 cases of high-grade liquor aboard. The vessel is now afloat and the officers and crew are being held, awaiting the arrival of instructions from the state revenue office.

From The New Bern Sun-Journal, Dec. 31, 1921. I searched unsuccessfully for an image of The Messenger of Peace but I did find an interesting article by Philip Howard about the ship’s rum running days, which you can read online at Messenger of Peace Archives - Village Craftsmen of Ocracoke Island.