AH-WR-1822

California

Full-Rigged Ship · United States · Lost January 1857; exact casualty day not established. · Boston Harbor & Massachusetts Bay

A former California hide-trade ship was swept from Gloucester Harbor by a January 1857 blizzard and wrecked at Cohasset.

Become Captain of Record

Artistic recreation based on recorded historical documents. See the documented evidence.

Interpretive Reconstruction, drawn to convey the vessel's era, type and general form. See the documented evidence.

The Vessel and Her Loss

California was built at Medford, Massachusetts, in 1830–31 under master carpenter George Fuller for Bryant and Sturgis and associates. The full-rigged ship carried general cargo to California and returned with cattle hides; Richard Henry Dana described its substantial, wall-sided hull during his 1834–36 West Coast voyages. George H. Rogers bought it in 1855 and employed it between Gloucester and Paramaribo, carrying salt fish outward and rum, molasses and Dutch domestic wares homeward. In January 1857, a blizzard struck while it was unloading to a schooner off Ten Pound Island, swept it out of Gloucester Harbor and across Massachusetts Bay, and drove it ashore at Cohasset as a total loss. Both men aboard survived.

Vessel

Built: Not established
Builder: George Fuller (master carpenter)
Yard: Medford, Massachusetts
Material: Not established
Length: Not established
Beam: Not established
Tonnage: Not established
Propulsion: Sail; full ship rig
Owners: Bryant and Sturgis and associates; George H. Rogers from 1855

Loss

Date: January 1857; exact casualty day not established.
Cause: Storm
Location: Driven ashore at Cohasset, Massachusetts, after a blizzard swept it from Gloucester Harbor across Massachusetts Bay
Water: Massachusetts Bay
Voyage: Not established
Cargo: Not established
Aboard: 2
Lives lost: 0
Master: Not established

The Wreck Today

Depth: Not established
Condition: Not established
Orientation: Not established
Discovered: Not established
Protection: Not established

Position

Coordinates: Not established
Accuracy: Position not established
Nearest: Cohasset, Massachusetts
Region: Boston Harbor & Massachusetts Bay

Historical coastal loss locality only; no verified modern wreck position provided.

Evidence

Overall confidence: Documented (87/100)

The exact casualty day, dimensions, hull material, verified wreck position, depth and present remains are not established in the museum account.

Cape Ann Museum — Fitz Henry Lane Online, California (Full-Rigged Ship), narrative by Erik Ronnberg
Complete museum construction, service and final-loss narrative with cited histories and quoted Dana description; 1830–31 construction range, January 1857 total loss at Cohasset and survival of both men aboard.