Shipwreck Remnants Surface on Nantucket During Nor'easter

Fragments of a three-masted schooner, believed to be from the Warren Sawyer, which sank in December 1884, have washed ashore on Nantucket, Massachusetts, during a powerful nor'easter. The wooden remains of the vessel, found on the island's south shore on Saturday, were covered in seaweed and rusted nails after being brought ashore by the storm.

The Warren Sawyer was lost on the night of December 22, 1884, during a voyage from New Orleans to Boston. Loaded with cotton and scrap iron, the ship was blown off course by gale-force winds and wrecked near Miacomet Beach. While it has not been definitively confirmed that the newly discovered wreckage belongs to the historic vessel, experts believe the remnants are consistent with the iconic ship.

This is not the first time pieces of the Warren Sawyer have been discovered. In February 2023, Nantucket resident Jesse Ahern found wreckage, including wooden beams and a portion of the ship's stern, about 300 yards west of where the ship is thought to have wrecked. Officials were able to confirm those fragments belonged to the long-lost Warren Sawyer.

According to a 1945 account in The Inquirer and Mirror newspaper, the schooner sank around 11 p.m. after encountering gale-force winds. Local lifesaving station crews were able to rescue all eight men aboard by securing a line over the ship's bow and hauling them to safety. The rescued crew included Captain Edwin L. Saunders, mate Andrew F. Coffin, and seamen Thomas Coleman, Alexander McLeod, John O'Daniel, Daniel J. Kane, George Sibley, and Antone Swazey.

The nor'easter battering the East Coast began on Friday, bringing heavy rain, flooding, and power outages to the Tri-State area and New England. The storm has been attributed to at least one death from a falling tree, with another person reported missing. As of Sunday morning, over 131,000 Americans were without power, with Connecticut, New York, and Massachusetts experiencing significant outages. The storm also caused widespread travel disruptions, with over 2,000 flights delayed and more than 430 canceled on Saturday. Two music festivals scheduled for the weekend were also canceled due to the severe weather.