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A discussion of the plight of the packet ship will take place at 4 p.m. May 1 at the Fairfield Museum. The event is co-sponsored by the Black Rock Historical Society.
The Charles Cooper was a packet ship sailing between Black Rock, Bridgeport, New York and Antwerp. Many European emigrants were carried on the return voyage to seek a better life in the United States. In 1866, the Charles Cooper was declared unseaworthy and stranded at Stanley in the Falkland Islands. The ship was converted for use as a storage hulk and beached on the Stanley shoreline, where she remained a prominent and well-loved feature of the town for generations.
In 2002, with the fast-deteriorating hulk posed a hazard to small shipping, the Falkland Islands Museum & National Trust was tasked with her removal. The extremely challenging project was completed by a small local team over the course of the winter and a substantial amount of the old ship was saved.
Speakers at the event are Robert Foley, president of the Black Rock Historical Society, Norman Brouwer, maritime historian, and Leona Roberts, museum manager of the Falkland Islands Museum & National Trust's Historic Dockyard Museum.
The event is free for museum members and $5 for non-members. Light refreshments will be served.
The Fairfield Museum is at 370 Beach Road, Fairfield. For more information, call (203) 259-1598 or go to Fairfieldhistory.org
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