Maritime Expert Investigates Nantucket Shipwreck Exposed by Nor’easter

A maritime expert planned to visit a Nantucket beach to examine wooden beams uncovered by a recent nor’easter. These beams may be from a 19th-century shipwreck hidden beneath the island’s southern shore.

The Egan Maritime Institute mentioned that their exhibits manager would assess the location and provide a report to state underwater archaeologists. These experts would then work with the institute to pinpoint the shipwreck’s origin. The timbers, held together by rusted iron, were found near where remains thought to belong to the Warren Sawyer, a wooden schooner lost in 1884, had been discovered before.

Egan officials, part of the nonprofit managing the Nantucket Shipwreck & Lifesaving Museum, urged caution. They stated the identity of the exposed wreckage remained uncertain.

The nor’easter impacted the Northeast with heavy rain, strong winds, and dangerous surf. The storm flooded low-lying areas from New Jersey to New England and temporarily left over 100,000 without power. Several boats washed ashore in Massachusetts, while coastal erosion concerns rose due to waves hitting beaches and seawalls.

The Warren Sawyer’s historical records show it ran aground on December 22, 1884, while transporting cotton and scrap iron from New Orleans to Boston. The Massachusetts Board of Underwater Archaeological Resources documented its captain and crew were rescued. Island residents salvaged some cargo before another storm in January 1885 scattered the ship’s remains along the beach.

Jason Graziadei, an editor at Nantucket Current, reported the discovery. He found the beams with his son after receiving information about possible wreckage. They located the timbers on a drive-on beach known as the ‘Sewer Beds’ near the town’s wastewater facility. Erosion had formed a steep drop-off, making their find notable as beachgoers unknowingly drove over it all summer.

“Given where it was…it means everyone who was driving onto the beach this summer was just directly over this,” said Graziadei.

Graziadei’s son expressed curiosity about the ship’s fate and its crew. They could approach the wreckage directly.

State archaeologists had previously examined a section of Miacomet Beach’s hull, likely part of the Warren Sawyer, in late 2022. Another hull section appeared in early 2023 but was reburied by shifting sands.

Nantucket has over 750 shipwrecks in nearby waters, earning its ‘graveyards of the Atlantic’ moniker. A dive team last detected a World War I-era fishing boat shipwreck off Nantucket around this time last year.

The institute advised against disturbing the newly uncovered wreckage. Massachusetts law forbids removing or damaging underwater archaeological resources. The Nantucket Current cited a 1945 newspaper account of the Warren Sawyer wreck.