This is the fifth in a series.

For many years the ocean just east of Barnegat Light has been called the graveyard of the Atlantic. As 1890 drew to a close, at a site just east of the lighthouse, the masts of two ships that had recently sunk upright protruding from the water created an eerie feeling, as they marked the final resting place of dozens of victims.

But as they say, bad things run in threes, and the year wasn’t over yet. On Dec. 29, the Wilkes Barre Record reported from New York, “The high winds that prevailed…