Nor’easter Uncovers 19th-Century Shipwreck on Nantucket Shore
A powerful nor’easter pummeling the East Coast on Sept. 26 and 27, 2026, has uncovered wooden remnants of what researchers believe is the Warren Sawyer, a 19th-century three-masted schooner that wrecked on Nantucket’s Miacomet Beach 142 years ago.
The violent storm brought heavy rain, gale-force winds, and severe coastal flooding to the Massachusetts island, altering shorelines and exposing maritime history. Jason Graziadei, editor-in-chief of the Nantucket Current, spotted the wooden remnants on the south shore Saturday and documented them on video. Graziadei noted that while it is possible the pieces belong to another vessel, the location and appearance strongly point to the Warren Sawyer.
Storm Erosion and the 1884 Wreck of the Warren Sawyer
The Warren Sawyer crashed onto Miacomet Beach on Dec. 22, 1884, while it traveled from New Orleans to Boston carrying 1,115 bales of cotton and 28 tons of scrap metal. Similar wreckage first emerged in December 2022 when a local resident spotted pieces while biking along the island’s southern shore, followed by additional fragments in February 2023.
Following the 2022 and 2023 discoveries, archival, photographic, historical, and archaeological evidence was examined by researchers. Massachusetts Archeologist David Robinson described the investigative process to the Nantucket Current as “like pulling a thread on a sweater,” noting that exploring the available literature revealed increasingly interesting information. A subsequent 2023 report from the Massachusetts Board of Underwater Archaeological Resources concluded the site was most likely the Warren Sawyer, though scientists at the time could not make a definitive declaration due to an inconsistency between discovered fastening hardware and historical records for the ship.
Current Investigation and Regional Storm Impact
Jascin N. Leonardo Finger, deputy director of the Maria Mitchell Association, stated that while the newly exposed remnants may originate from the Warren Sawyer, further investigation is necessary to confirm their identity. Leonardo Finger also noted that shipwrecks were common during the schooner’s era, with Nantucket residents historically scavenging items washing ashore from wrecks.
Beyond the archaeological discovery, the rare September nor’easter caused notable beach erosion across Nantucket and left a trail of destruction along the eastern seaboard from Massachusetts down to New York, New Jersey, and Delaware. The storm knocked out power for hundreds of thousands of customers across several states, with tracker Poweroutage.us reporting tens of thousands of outages in New York, Connecticut, and Massachusetts.
Tragically, the weather turned deadly on Saturday afternoon when a 56-year-old New York City Housing Authority worker, Leighton Brown, was struck and killed by a fallen tree at Brooklyn’s Cypress Hills Houses, as announced by Mayor Mamdani. New York State Police also reported an ongoing search for an unidentified missing swimmer who disappeared in the ocean off Long Island’s Robert Moses State Park on Saturday afternoon.
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