Nezinscot was constructed by Neafie & Levy in 1897 as the 85-foot (26-meter) iron-hulled steam tug SS DeWitt C. Ivans for Moran and Company.
Service
The United States Navy purchased DeWitt C. Evans for $30,000 on 25 March 1898. It commissioned her on 2 April 1898 as USS Nezinscot. She operated from Key West, Florida, serving as part of the North Atlantic Fleet during the Spanish–American War. After the war ended, she remained at Key West until mid-1900, when she moved to Norfolk, Virginia.
While steaming from the Portsmouth Navy Yard to Boston carrying a cargo of chains, anchors, and searchlight equipment for the battleship Missouri, Nezinscot capsized and sank when her deck load shifted in heavy seas off Cape Ann, Massachusetts, on 11 August 1909. There were four fatalities among her nine-man crew.[1]
The wreck of Nezinscot lies in 300 feet (91 m) of water off Rockport, Massachusetts, 8 nautical miles (15 km) from Straitsmouth Island Light.[2]