Ada K. Damon
Schooner · United States · Lost 1909 · Cape Ann & the Gulf of Maine
A converted Essex-built fishing schooner driven ashore on her first sand-hauling trip in 1909, whose hull still resurfaces on Crane Beach after storms.
Become Captain of RecordSee Shipwreck on Map
The Vessel and Her Loss
Ada K. Damon was built in 1875 in Essex, Massachusetts, and spent decades fishing the Grand Banks before her 1909 conversion to hauling sand. On her very first sand voyage, a Christmas snowstorm parted her anchor chain and drove her ashore on Ipswich's Crane Beach on December 26, 1909. Her crew of five reached shore safely, and the ship was abandoned as a total loss after the Life-Saving Service stripped her rigging. Buried and re-exposed by shifting sand for over a century, sections of her hull remain a well-documented archaeological landmark on the beach today.
Vessel
- 1875
- H.A. Burnham Boat Building
- Essex, Massachusetts
- Wood
- 84 ft
- 23.3 ft
- 94.22
- Sail
- Captain A.K. Brewster
Loss
- December 26, 1909
- Storm
- Steep Hill Beach, Crane Beach, Ipswich, Massachusetts
- Atlantic Ocean (Gulf of Maine)
- Plum Island, Massachusetts → Boston, Massachusetts
- Sand (in ballast, en route to load)
- 5
- 0
- A.K. Brewster
The Wreck Today
- Not established
- Hull sections periodically exposed and reburied by shifting sand; large portions surfaced after storms in 2020 and 2024
- Not established
- Not established
- Owned by the Massachusetts Board of Underwater Archaeological Resources; located on Crane Beach, managed by The Trustees of Reservations
Position
- 42.73° N 70.77° W
- Approximate position
- Ipswich, Massachusetts
General location on Steep Hill Beach; exact position of exposed hull sections shifts with sand movement over time.
Evidence
Overall confidence: Well documented (92/100)
Build history, wreck event, ongoing site condition.
Massachusetts Board of Underwater Archaeological Resources
Ownership and protected status of the site.
