It was part of William F. Palmer's fleet of white-hulled vessels active in the New England coal trade. The fleet was sold to J. S. Winslow and Company in 1911.[2]
After departing Rockport, Maine on Friday, June 13, 1913 under the command of Capt. Howard B. Allen and destined for Newport News, VA where she would pick up a load of coal [3] for the return voyage, Paul Palmer caught fire on 15 June 1913 for unknown reasons. Attempts to douse the flames with the vessel's own pumps were not successful, and the crew abandoned ship. The Paul Palmer burned down to the waterline and then sank. There were 11 passengers and crew on board, including the captain's wife and a female guest. The passengers of the Palmer took to lifeboats and were picked up later on by the fishing schooner Rose Dorothea, bringing them to Provincetown, Massachusetts. The cutter Androscoggin was dispatched from Portland, Maine to destroy the remnants of the wreck so as to avoid a hazard to other ships.
In 2000, researchers at the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary discovered the wreck and documented it, locating artifacts that proved the ship's identity in 2002.[4] The wreck was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2007.
