Coyote
Steam Freighter · United States · Lost 1932 · Boston Harbor & Massachusetts Bay
A worn-out World War I-era wooden coal steamer, no longer worth repairing, was towed out and scuttled at Boston's harbor dumping grounds in 1932.
Become Captain of RecordSee Shipwreck on Map
The Vessel and Her Loss
Coyote was a wood-hulled steam freighter built in 1918 at Newark, New Jersey, one of many hastily built wartime coal carriers. After striking a rock en route to New Bedford in 1923 and later capsizing at a Chelsea Creek dock, she was sold for scrap and left to rot for years. In January 1932 she was towed out and scuttled at the Boston dumping grounds, still carrying part of her coal cargo. The wreck lay unidentified until located by fishermen in 1989 and confirmed by technical divers that same year.
Vessel
- 1918
- Not established
- Newark, New Jersey
- Wood
- 267 ft
- 40 ft
- 3500
- Steam, single screw
- Not established
Loss
- January 11, 1932
- Intentional sinking
- Dumping Grounds, outer Boston Harbor, Massachusetts
- Massachusetts Bay
- Not established
- Remaining coal cargo
- Not established
- 0
- Not established
The Wreck Today
- 155-175
- Upright and largely intact except for collapsed decking
- Not established
- 1989
- Not established
Position
- 42.37° N 70.72° W
- Approximate position
- Boston, Massachusetts
Position as published by wreck-diving sources for the Boston dumping grounds site
Evidence
Overall confidence: Partially documented (68/100)
Northern Atlantic Dive Expeditions
Build history, dimensions, wreck condition, and discovery narrative
Wreckhunter.net (Hunting New England Shipwrecks)
Dimensions, tonnage, coordinates, depth, and scuttling date
Massachusetts State Archives (1931 Senate Bill 0197)
Confirms the abandoned hulk of steamer Coyote in Boston Harbor prompted a 1931 legislative resolve for its removal
