The Canadian Schooner Sunk by the US Coast Guard That Sparked an International Dispute

Built in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, in 1923, the I’m Alone was a Canadian-registered auxiliary schooner that spent six years smuggling illicit alcohol during American Prohibition.

In March 1929, while returning from Belize loaded with liquor, the vessel was intercepted by the United States Coast Guard cutter Wolcott in the Gulf of Mexico off the Louisiana coast. When the schooner’s crew refused commands to halt and attempted to flee, a second Coast Guard cutter, the Dexter, opened fire and sank the ship. Seven crew members, including Captain John “Jack” Randell, were pulled from the water and subsequently jailed in New Orleans. However, a French Canadian boatswain named Leon Mainguy drowned during the incident.

The destruction of the ship sparked a diplomatic dispute between Ottawa and Washington, with Canadian diplomat Vincent Massey condemning the military force used in international waters. Canada launched a lawsuit demanding financial compensation. During the international arbitration process, U.S. Coast Guard cryptanalyst Elizebeth Friedman uncovered evidence showing that despite its Canadian registration, the vessel was secretly owned and operated by an American syndicate.

Because of this revelation, the arbitration tribunal ordered the U.S. to pay a drastically reduced settlement:

• Amanda Mainguy (widow of the deceased boatswain): $16,000
• Captain John Randell: $7,000
• American vessel owners: $0

The dramatic maritime pursuit and political standoff were later immortalized in Canadian folk culture through Wade Hemsworth’s song, “The Sinking of the I’m Alone.”