Margaretta
Armed Sloop · Great Britain · Lost 1775 · Cape Ann & the Gulf of Maine
The British armed sloop captured at the 1775 Battle of Machias, the first naval engagement of the Revolution, and long said to have been burned afterward in Sawyer Cove.
The Vessel and Her Loss
Margaretta escorted merchant vessels to Machias, Maine, in June 1775 to trade lumber for provisions for the besieged British garrison in Boston. Local Patriots seized two merchant sloops and pursued Margaretta, capturing her after a running fight in which her commander, James Moore, was killed. Local tradition held that the British later burned the captured vessel in nearby Sawyer Cove, a claim recently supported by a multi-year archaeological study.
Vessel
- Not established
- Not established
- Not established
- Wood
- Not established
- Not established
- Not established
- Sail
- Royal Navy
Loss
- June 12, 1775
- Enemy action
- Sawyer Cove, Jonesport, Maine
- Machias Bay
- Machias, Maine
- Not established
- 40
- 5
- James Moore
The Wreck Today
- Not established
- Timber remains investigated in Sawyer Cove mud
- Not established
- 2021
- Site located on private property with no public access
Position
- Not established
- Position withheld to protect the site
- Sawyer Cove, Jonesport, Maine
Wreck site is on private property; precise coordinates not publicly disclosed.
Evidence
Overall confidence: Partially documented (68/100)
The identification of the Sawyer Cove wreck timbers as Margaretta is described by researchers as strongly supported but not fully confirmed.
Archaeological identification of the Sawyer Cove wreck
Battle narrative, casualties, and capture details
Maine Atlas Project, Maine Secretary of State
Historical context of the battle
