AH-WR-1825

Columbia

Fishing Schooner · United States · Lost August 1927; exact day uncertain in the accounts reviewed. · Nova Scotia & Sable Island

A Gloucester fishing schooner and Bluenose racing rival was lost off Sable Island in the August 1927 gales.

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Artistic recreation based on recorded historical documents.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

Columbia was built of timber at Arthur Dana Story’s Essex, Massachusetts yard in 1923 to a design by William Starling Burgess. The Gloucester fishing schooner raced Bluenose at Halifax that year while also serving the commercial fishery. She was lost off Sable Island in the August 1927 gales under Captain Lewis Wharton. Contemporary reports describe prolonged searches and loss with all hands, but the exact day, casualty total and verified wreck site remain uncertain.

Vessel

Built: 1923
Builder: Arthur Dana Story
Yard: Essex, Massachusetts
Material: Wood
Length: Not established
Beam: Not established
Tonnage: Not established
Propulsion: Sail; two-masted schooner
Owners: Not established

Loss

Date: August 1927; exact day uncertain in the accounts reviewed.
Cause: Storm
Location: Off Sable Island, Nova Scotia; precise wreck site not established
Water: North Atlantic Ocean
Voyage: Not established
Cargo: Not established
Aboard: Not established
Lives lost: Reported lost with all hands; a firm total is not independently established in the institutional account.
Master: Lewis Wharton

The Wreck Today

Depth: Not established
Condition: Present condition and verified wreck site not established.
Orientation: Not established
Discovered: Not established
Protection: Not established

Position

Coordinates: Not established
Accuracy: Position not established
Nearest: Sable Island, Nova Scotia
Region: Nova Scotia & Sable Island

Institutional account identifies loss off Sable Island but does not establish a wreck position.

Evidence

Overall confidence: Documented (86/100)

The exact loss day, independently established casualty total, depth and verified wreck position remain unknown.

Library and Archives Canada — archived Sable Island: The August Gales
Fishing schooner Columbia lost off Sable Island in August 1927; names of crew and Captain Lewis Wharton. No exact wreck position or complete casualty total.
Classic Boat — Jan Hein, Replica Gloucesterman Columbia (2017)
Original timber vessel built at Arthur Dana Story yard in Essex in 1923, Burgess design, Bluenose race and commercial fishing service; explicitly distinguished from 2014 steel replica. Exact loss day conflicts and modern specifications withheld.
Down to Sea — R. Sheedy, The Columbia, contemporary newspaper transcriptions
September–October 1927 missing-vessel searches, master Lewis Wharton, owners’ eventual all-hands loss declaration and conflicting August storm dates; precise wreck site not found.