Bessie White
Schooner · Canada · Lost 1922 · Long Island & the New York Approaches
A Canadian four-masted coal schooner that ran aground in fog on Fire Island, later exposed repeatedly by storms including Hurricane Sandy.
Become Captain of RecordSee Shipwreck on Map
The Vessel and Her Loss
Bessie White was a Canadian four-masted schooner carrying coal from Newport News, Virginia, toward Saint John, New Brunswick, when she ran aground in fog on a Fire Island sandbar. All twenty crew members escaped safely, though one was injured when a lifeboat capsized in the surf. The wreck was largely salvaged and then buried by shifting sand for decades, resurfacing dramatically after storms, most notably Hurricane Sandy in 2012.
Vessel
- Not established
- Not established
- Not established
- Wood
- Not established
- Not established
- Not established
- Sail
- Not established
Loss
- February 6, 1922
- Grounding
- About a mile west of Smith's Point, Fire Island
- Atlantic Ocean
- Newport News, Virginia → Saint John, New Brunswick
- Coal
- 20
- 0
- Not established
The Wreck Today
- Not established
- Buried hull periodically exposed by storms and shifting dunes
- Not established
- Exposed by Hurricane Sandy in 2012; previously exposed after a 2006 nor'easter
- Within Fire Island National Seashore
Position
- 40.68° N 72.86° W
- Approximate position
- Fire Island, New York
General location between Skunk Hollow and Whalehouse Point, Fire Island.
Evidence
Overall confidence: Partially documented (60/100)
Historic accounts disagree on whether the loss occurred in 1919 or 1922, and the exposed hull's identification as Bessie White remains a strong presumption rather than a certainty.
Fire Island National Seashore, National Park Service
Voyage, grounding, rescue, and later exposure history.
Live Science / OurAmazingPlanet
Corroboration of grounding details and 2012 exposure.
