A recent nor’easter storm has revealed significant portions of a 19th-century schooner shipwreck off the coast of Massachusetts. The storm, which impacted New England over the weekend, has exposed parts of the Warren Sawyer, a wooden vessel that ran aground in 1884.
Background on the Warren Sawyer
The Warren Sawyer was en route from New Orleans to Boston, carrying cotton and scrap iron, when it ran aground near Nantucket on December 22, 1884. The ship's captain and crew of seven were rescued, but the vessel began to break apart after several weeks on the shoreline.
Recent Discoveries
Marine investigators in Massachusetts are currently examining splintered timbers that surfaced during the storm. These fragments were found close to previously located remnants of the lost schooner. The Egan Maritime Institute, a Nantucket-based educational non-profit, announced on Monday that it would send staff to the site in the coming days to assess the fragments and prepare a report for state archaeologists.
“"It’s too soon to be sure the newly emerged segments were definitely from the Warren Sawyer," the institute stated in a message to the Associated Press.
Nantucket is known as one of the "graveyards of the Atlantic," with its treacherous shoals contributing to over 750 wrecks during the 19th century. Many vessels traversed the island’s waters daily without modern navigation tools.
