The E.H. Duval was built in 1868 in Shelburne, Nova Scotia, for William Rogers, a merchant from Yarmouth. Registered in Yarmouth, it was 149.4 feet in length and had a capacity of 661.96 tons. "At 8:30 a.m. a heavy sea broke over the ship … washing overboard eight men, five of which we managed to save but was not abel [sic] to save William Sumner Troop, Henry Lynch & Andrew Marello. We done all we could to save them but the sea was running so heavy … we could only save those that came in reach of lines hove to them." Master William H. Cook, logbook entry, 29 March 1870.