Conover shares his Portland film

Filmmaker David Conover will show and discuss his hour-long film documentary “Wreck of the Portland” Thursday, Sept. 5, at 7 p.m. at the downtown Penobscot Marine Museum’s Stephen Phillips Memorial Library, 11 Church St.

Known as the Titanic of New England, the loss of the SS Portland is one of the greatest maritime disasters to occur off the Northeast coast of the United States. On Nov. 26, 1898, the passenger ship SS Portland, on route from Boston to Portland, was caught in a fierce blizzard. Struggling through the night with raging seas and 90-mile-per hour winds, the Portland finally sank with all 190 passengers and crew on board.

Little of the shipwreck and few victims were ever recovered, and the exact location of the tragedy was a mystery. During the summer of 2002, 104 years after the vessel’s disappearance, a remote operated vehicle (ROV) was used to locate the wreck of the Portland. This film was produced for the Science Channel series "Science of the Deep."

Conover graduated from Bowdoin College and worked for years as a professional seaman, crossing the Atlantic twice in small boats  He worked for Outward Bound, then made a film about Outward Bound that was aired on “National Geographic Explorer.” Conover’s company is Compass Light Productions in Camden.

Tickets in advance are $10, $8 for museum members, and will be $15/$12 at the door. To buy tickets in advance, call 548-2529.

Courier Publications’ A&E Editor Dagney C. Ernest can be reached at (207) 594-4401, ext. 115 or dernest@courierpublicationsllc.com.