Frederick W. Day
Sailing Schooner · United States · Lost 1914 · The Georgia & South Carolina Coast
A four-masted schooner that sank off Charleston in 1914 with a cargo of cement bags that hardened into a reef divers still explore today.
Become Captain of Record
The Vessel and Her Loss
The wooden schooner Frederick W. Day was en route from New York to Wilmington, North Carolina, with a cargo of bagged Portland cement in September 1914 when she struck an unknown object off the Outer Banks. Taking on water, she was driven toward Charleston by high winds and sank when her pumps failed and seawater reached the cement. Her crew escaped safely by lifeboat. Over the following century the cement cargo hardened into a distinctive reef formation that has become a popular Charleston-area dive site.
Vessel
- Not established
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- Wood
- 170 ft
- Not established
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- Sail
- Not established
Loss
- September 17, 1914
- Collision
- Roughly 11 miles off Charleston, South Carolina
- Atlantic Ocean
- New York → Wilmington, North Carolina
- Bagged Portland cement
- Not established
- 0
- Not established
The Wreck Today
- 40-60
- Cargo of cement bags hardened into a reef-like mass roughly 200 feet long, with wreckage largely below the cement formation.
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Position
- Not established
- Position not established
- Charleston, South Carolina
No documented position found; recorded as unlocated.
Evidence
Overall confidence: Partially documented (65/100)
The vessel's builder, launch year, and precise sinking coordinates are not established in the sources reviewed.
Post and Courier, "Spectacular new image reveals coral reef just 11 miles off Charleston"
Loss date, voyage, cause, cargo, crew survival, and later study of the wreck.
Scubago dive site listing, Frederick W. Day Wreck
Dive site depth and relief.
