In 1884, Gale-Force Winds Ran a Ship Aground Near Cape Cod. Now, the Nor’easter Lashing the East Coast May Have Uncovered Part of It

On the evening of December 22, 1884, the Warren Sawyer ran aground on Nantucket, the island roughly 30 miles off the coast of Cape Cod. Now, more than 140 years later, a piece of the three-masted cargo ship may have emerged from the sand. Nantucket resident David DeHart first spotted the remains—a section of wooden beams with iron fastenings—on the Point of Breakers beach, on the island’s south shore, on September 26.

The wind and waves whipped up by the powerful nor’easter pounding the East Coast seem to have eroded part of the shore, revealing part of the historic wreckage. DeHart sent a news tip to Jason Graziadei, editor in chief of the Nantucket Current, who went to check out the debris for himself. The remnants are in the same spot where portions of a vessel emerged in December 2022 and February 2023.

Experts with the Massachusetts Board of Underwater Archaeological Resources concluded that in those two instances, the remains “most likely” came from the Warren Sawyer. A post shared by NANTUCKET CURRENT (@nantucketcurrent) Graziadei sent photos and a video of the newly unearthed remnants to David Robinson, the director and chief archeologist for the Massachusetts Board of Underwater Archeological Resources, who agreed they probably belong to the same wreck. The three-masted schooner was transporting 1,115 bales of cotton and 28 tons of scrap metal from New Orleans to Boston when it wrecked on the island’s south shore, as John Stanton reported for the Inquirer and Mirror in 2023.

Gale-force winds caused the ship to run aground on Miacomet Beach around 11 p.m. Rescuers stationed at the Surfside Lifesaving Station sprang into action, ultimately saving the lives of Captain Edwin L. Saunders and his seven-member crew.

According to the Nantucket Historical Association, the island’s residents salvaged as much of the vessel’s cargo and equipment as possible—at least 700 bales of cotton—before waves destroyed the ship. Warren Sawyer were sold by auction at Nantucket Jan 20, the aggregate proceeds amounting to about $600,” the New York Herald reported on January 25, 1885. Leonardo Finger, the newly revealed wreckage is an “unfortunate but good reminder” of the island’s history.

Moving forward, experts with the Egan Maritime Institute and the Massachusetts Board of Underwater Archaeological Resources will work together to definitively identify the wreck, per NBC News. In the meantime, Graziadei is still reveling in the discovery, which he says connects the island’s past and present. Sarah Kuta is a writer and editor based in Longmont, Colorado.