AH-WR-0993

HMS Sylph

Brig-Sloop Of War · United Kingdom · Lost 1815 · Long Island & the New York Approaches

A British warship, at war's end, was smashed apart on the Shinnecock bar in a January snowstorm with the loss of more than a hundred men.

Artistic recreation based on recorded historical documents.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

Historically Reconstructed. Drawn from partial documentation of this vessel together with her known class and configuration. See the documented evidence.

The Vessel and Her Loss

HMS Sylph, an 18-gun Royal Navy brig-sloop that had patrolled and raided along the Long Island coast during the War of 1812, ran onto Shinnecock Bar near Southampton in a violent snowstorm on the night of January 15-16, 1815. Struck with such force that it threw the crew off their feet, the ship was driven over the bar and broke apart by morning. Southampton villagers who reached the beach on horseback managed to save only a handful of the 121 aboard. The wreck occurred just two weeks after the Treaty of Ghent had ended the war.

Vessel

Built: 1812
Builder: Nathaniel Tynes
Yard: Bermuda
Material: Wood
Length: 107 ft
Beam: 30 ft
Tonnage: 399
Propulsion: Sail, ship-rigged brig-sloop
Owners: Royal Navy

Loss

Date: January 17, 1815
Cause: Storm
Location: Shinnecock Bar, off Southampton, Long Island
Water: Atlantic Ocean
Voyage: Patrol station off Long Island
Cargo: Not established
Aboard: 121
Lives lost: 115
Master: Commander George Dickins

The Wreck Today

Depth: Not established
Condition: Broke up completely on the bar in 1815; no coherent hull survives.
Orientation: Not established
Discovered: Not established
Protection: Not established

Position

Coordinates: Not established
Accuracy: Position not established
Nearest: Shinnecock Bar, Southampton, New York
Region: Long Island & the New York Approaches

General area of Shinnecock Shoals; no surveyed wreck position is published.

Evidence

Overall confidence: Documented (78/100)

The exact number lost is given differently across sources (roughly 105 to 121), and no wreck site position or surviving structure is documented.

The East Hampton Star (archival feature, citing Jeannette Edwards Rattray)
Date, location, captain's name, casualty account, and local rescue details.
threedecks.org (British sloop Sylph, 1812)
Build details, dimensions, armament, commanders, and Admiralty wreck record.
Dan's Papers, "Wreck of the Sylph"
Narrative detail on the wreck and local memorials.