Suspense's "The Wreck of the Maid of Athens" was based on the book The Wreck of the Maid of Athens: Being the Journal of Emily Wooldridge 1869-1870. Suspense's version is interesting, but it bears little resemblance to events described in Wooldridge's journal. In Suspense's version, the surviving crew members resent and blame the captain's wife as the cause of their troubles. Superstition dictates that having a woman on board is bad luck, and they blame her for the fire that destroys their ship.
The true story is more interesting. The Maid of Athens caught on fire and was shipwrecked in 1870 on the Isla de los Estados (Staten Island) in Argentina, off the eastern coast of Tierra del Fuego. In Wooldridge's journal, the crew members are respectful and everyone works cooperatively. The only problem with the sailors she describes is their nipping from the small stash of alcoholic spirits kept aside for medicinal purposes.
The journal chronicles her experiences as a woman shipwrecked in a remote part of the world, and how her husband, the captain, managed the situation and eventually navigated them in a hand-made boat to safety at Port Stanely in the Falkland Islands. Had they stayed at sea any longer, they would have had severe injuries from frostbite.
"The Wreck of the Maid of Athens" was adapted by Gil Doud and produced/directed by Elliott Lewis. Agnes Moorehead starred. Also appearing were Joseph Kearns, Jack Kruschen, Richard Peel, and Ben Wright. This episode aired on November 30, 1952.
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