Nor’easter exposes possible 1884 shipwreck on Nantucket

A nor’easter exposed wooden shipwreck timbers on Nantucket’s south shore over the weekend, but researchers have not confirmed whether the newly visible wreckage belongs to the schooner Warren Sawyer, which ran aground near the island in 1884. The timbers were spotted on a beach near Point of Breakers during the storm, which brought strong winds and waves to the Massachusetts island. A video shared by the Nantucket Current showed the wood exposed in the sand. The fragment appeared in the same area as wreckage found in 2022 and 2023 that researchers later assessed as most likely coming from the Warren Sawyer. That earlier identification remains tentative, and the origin of the newly exposed section is also unconfirmed. Massachusetts underwater-archaeology researchers examined historical, archival, photographic and archaeological evidence concerning the earlier finds and concluded they were most likely from the schooner. They could not make a definitive identification, in part because the fastening hardware did not match records for the vessel, according to reporting on their assessment.