Unable to withstand the shock of returning to more fog and rain in Cambridge after a summer spent crossing the ocean fist one way and then the other, with a visit in foggy and rainy England in between, the 150 pound shell, which had taken part in the Henley Regatta, came to an ignominious end on route 16 some seven miles west of Cambridge.

It was being carried by car from New York, where it had arrived home from Europe with daily workouts in the ship's swimming pool between men's and women's hours. As the car was heaving in sight of Memorial Hall, it suddenly pitched into the ditch, leaving the shell to continue along the road for some ten or fifteen feet. At that it only suffered from minor scratches and bruises, but fate had yet more in store.

A twelve ton moving van then entered the scene from the left, and no sooner had the first pair of wheels left their impressions on the shell, then the second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth pairs of wheels did likewise, none to be outdone by its predecessor. That was the end of the shell.