A powerful nor’easter that struck Nantucket on September 26 revealed remnants of a shipwreck that may date back to 1884. The wreckage was spotted by Jason Graziadei while he was covering the storm for the Nantucket Current. Graziadei received a tip from local resident David DeHart who had located the remains on Point of Breakers beach.
The remains are believed to be from the Warren Sawyer, a three-masted schooner wrecked on Nantucket in 1884, though experts say further investigation is needed to confirm the newly exposed fragment.
The wooden timbers were visible in the sand and shaped like a ship hull, appearing in the same spot as earlier fragments found in 2022. David Robinson of the Massachusetts Board of Underwater Archaeological Resources had previously examined the site. He worked with the Egan Maritime Institute and the Nantucket Historical Association to research the wreck.
Robinson concluded that the remains likely belonged to a schooner named the Warren Sawyer.
The Warren Sawyer was traveling from New Orleans to Boston with cargo of cotton and scrap iron when it ran aground on December 22 1884. Local newspaper The Inquirer and Mirror reported that the ship’s captain and crew were rescued quickly. Islanders later salvaged much of the cargo from the wreck.
The Warren Sawyer was a three-masted schooner carrying 1,115 bales of cotton and 28 tons of scrap iron. Graziadei covered the earlier discovery of the wreck in 2022 and believes this new find is likely from the same ship. He said it was remarkable to be able to touch and see a piece of maritime history from 1884.
The location where the shipwreck now sits is one that cars have driven over on the beach this summer. NBC News reported that this may be the first time since early 2023 that a piece believed to be from the wreck has resurfaced. Jascin N. Leonardo Finger of the Maria Mitchell Association said the remains could be from the Warren Sawyer.
She added that more investigation would be needed to confirm the identity of the wreck.
The newly exposed wreckage includes large wooden beams with iron fastenings still attached. For beachgoers, these exposed timbers offer a rare physical connection to past maritime events.
The wood is not just debris from the latest storm but may be part of a vessel that wrecked more than a century ago. More than 700 shipwrecks occurred near Nantucket during the 19th century according to the Nantucket Shipwreck and Lifesaving Museum.
IMAGE: GARDNER(1915) Wrecks around Nantucket -1884-12-22 Schooner WARREN SAWYER, ashore at Surfside Permission (Reusing this file) Internet Archive Book Images @ Flickr Commons CC0