Maritime Archeologists Find Skeletal Remains of Ship From 1800s Emerging From Sands on Shore of Nantucket

Background: Courtesy of Matt Palka; Inset: Public Domain

When the bones of a wrecked wooden boat emerged from sands on the south shore of Nantucket, researchers from the Egan Maritime Institute knew they had something extraordinary on their hands. Still half buried, the shipwreck was old and there was barely anything left—just a broken keel and several spine-like timbers jutting out. Now, researchers think they may have identified the vessel.

The wreck’s initial discovery, on Sunday, Dec. 2, 2022, led Evan Schwanfelder, director of education at Egan, to contact the Massachusetts Board of Underwater Archaeological Resources (BUAR) to help archive the craft and hopefully pin down its identity and history. David Robinson, director and chief archeologist for BUAR, alongside marine archaeologist and BUAR board member Graham McKay, visited the island and met with Schwanfelder on Thursday, December 8. They also teamed up with Michael Harrison, chief curator at the Nantucket Historical Association, and Holly Backus, Nantucket’s preservation planner, in a bid to ascertain the wreck’s origins.

A shipwreck was discovered on the south shore of Nantucket on Dec. 2, 2022. Courtesy of Matt Palka

The remains of a ship were still half buried. Courtesy of Matt Palka

The ship was thought to date from sometime between the late 19th to early 20th centuries, though in the months that followed the finding, research into available records pointed to a more specific period. Shipwrecks such as this aren’t a rarity in Nantucket. There are actually about 750 recorded shipwrecks along the island’s coast—often they are the victims of New England’s powerful winter storms. One, in particular, stood out before the research team.

The south shore shipwreck could be a small lower bow section of the Warren Sawyer, a three-masted coastal schooner from the 19th century, Robinson said. It is also one of the most well-recorded shipwrecks in Nantucket’s history. Yet they could not confirm this with “complete certainty,” the Nantucket Current reported, as discrepancies were noted in the vessel’s fastening hardware on record and, moreover, there are other wrecks in the area. If it is the Warren Sawyer, however, it would represent a most remarkable, tangible artifact from Nantucket’s history.

Researchers believe they may have uncovered the identity of the vessel. Courtesy of Matt Palka

“As with most historical archaeological research, exploring the available literature, archival, photographic, and archaeological evidence we collectively assembled for the site to try to arrive at a conclusive determination as to whether or not the wreckage is from the tern, Warren Sawyer, was a bit like pulling a thread on a sweater,” Robinson said. “The more interesting information I looked at, the more that I found.”

They learned that, after running aground near Miacomet Beach on Dec. 22, 1884, and despite her rolling violently in the surf, the ship’s seven crew members and captain, Edwin L. Saunders, were rescued within an hour by members of the Nantucket Surfside Life-Saving Station. And although the schooner’s days of sailing were finished forever afterward, she would live on in the work of local artist Wendell Macy. Always seeking subject matter that would sell, Macy painted “at least seven” coastal scenes that depicted the grounded Warren Sawyer, the Current reported. One of which was shipped to New Bedford for an exhibition and praised by The Inquirer and Mirror as his “finest efforts in marine work, in which he has been so successful heretofore.”

The three-masted schooner, Warren Sawyer, run aground in 1884. (Public Domain)

The shipwreck is believed to be the remains of 19th-century schooner Warren Sawyer. Courtesy of Matt Palka

“Her unfortunate end on the island’s south shore in 1884 is one of Nantucket’s most complete and remarkable stories of shoals, storms, and rescue,” said Charles Allard, director of Egan Maritime’s Shipwreck and Lifesaving Museum. “The Surfside Life-Saving Station saved the crew; wreckers salvaged most of the cargo; the shipwreck site has been known to reveal itself about every 20 years.”

The team has now surveyed the site and begun the archiving process. Schwanfelder said they want to take samples of the wood for carbon dating. Meanwhile, Nantucket officials are finalizing plans to host a citizens’ science project, turning the site into an “outdoor classroom” and generating wider interest in this most fascinating and historic maritime find.

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