Shipwreck uncovered on Nantucket shore amid nor'easter storms
A shipwreck uncovered during this weekend's turbulent nor'easter storms could be large pieces from the Warren Sawyer, a schooner that wrecked in 1884, some experts told ABC News.
The weekend's sighting was near the location of what is most likely the Warren Sawyer in 2022, David Robinson, director and chief archaeologist at the Massachusetts Board of Underwater Archaeological Resources, told ABC News.
After experts made a preliminary site visit, however, Robinson told ABC News there is a chance this is a different ship based on the GPS location.
The Warren Sawyer wrecked on Dec. 22, 1884, while en route from New Orleans to Boston. The three-masted cargo schooner was carrying 1,115 bales of cotton and 28 tons of scrap iron, according to The Inquirer and Mirror.
The shipwreck was first reported by David DeHart on Saturday, the Nantucket Current reported.
Storms over the weekend brought on significant erosion along the coastline, exposing the shipwreck again after it had been reburied since the 2022 sighting, Robinson said.
"From the photographs and video that I've seen, it looks like it's the exact same wreckage, just based on its relationship to the dune bluff and the appearance of the timbers," Robinson said.
The nor'easter brought severe wind and heavy rain across the Northeast Saturday and Sunday, with the storms stretching from Maine down to New York.
The Egan Maritime Institute, a Nantucket-based maritime organization, said in a statement that the institute's exhibits and collection manager will survey the site on Monday to contribute to research and identification of the ship, which remains unconfirmed.
"The re-emergence of shipwrecks along the coast of Nantucket and the public's fascination with these vessels speak to the importance of our maritime heritage," the Egan Maritime Institute said in the statement. "Nantucket is one of the 'graveyards of the Atlantic,' with more than 750 wrecks estimated in the surrounding waters."
Shipwrecks can provide archaeologists and historians with vital information regarding maritime history, life on board ships, and the methods with which the ships were designed and built, Robinson said.
"They're one-of-a-kind types of resources," Robinson said. "We can learn a lot as archaeologists from analyzing if we have an intact wreck."
Officials encourage the public to refrain from walking on the ship, digging around it, or removing any materials, as it is a site of historical and archaeological significance.
The Massachusetts Board of Underwater Archaeological Resources recently became a partner of a nationwide citizen science shipwreck tagging program that involves attaching a QR code to uncovered shipwrecks, allowing for the tracking and documentation of shipwrecks along the coast.
