The HELEN BARNET GRING, a four-masted coasting schooner, was built in 1919 by Robert L. Bean of Camden, Maine for the Boston, Massachusetts shipping firm of Crowell and Thurlow.

Employed as a coasting schooner, the GRING sailed in the coastal and West Indies trade; generally carrying cargoes of stone, lumber, and coal. Captain Francis Bowker, who sailed aboard her said "The GRING was steady as a rock with a clean swept hold and could carry whole sail and topsails in a good, fresh breeze." She must have been a powerful vessel as she is forever immortalized by John F. Leavitt in his book Wake of the Coasters for causing the loss of the Schooner WILLIAM BOOTH. Leavitt mentions the 1928 tragedy; when "the three-masted WILLIAM BOOTH, stone laden, was cut down and sunk by the four-master HELEN BARNET GRING," three times in the course of his book.

During her 21 year career the GRING sailed under 4 separate masters; James W. Howard, Clarence W. Holden, George Mohr, and Will Plummer. Captain Plummer, in addition to commanding the GRING, was also the owner, having purchased her in 1937.

The Schooner's career ended on Oct. 22, 1940 when the HELEN BARNET GRING was shipwrecked and lost off Cay Verde, Cuba .