Kiowa
Freighter · United States · Lost 1903 · Boston Harbor & Massachusetts Bay
A nearly new Clyde Line freighter sank at Boston’s harbor entrance after a snowstorm collision in 1903.
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The Vessel and Her Loss
Kiowa was built at Philadelphia in 1903 for the Clyde Steamship Company. The steel screw freighter was approaching Boston after loading in southern ports. Anchored near Nantasket Roads in a snowstorm, it was struck by Admiral Dewey on 26 December 1903 and sank. Cormorant assisted the crew, and BUAR records no fatalities.
Vessel
- 1903
- US official number 161229
- William Cramp & Sons Ship and Engine Building Co.
- Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Steel
- 291.2 ft
- 43.1 ft
- 2953 gross tons
- Steam, screw; triple-expansion engine
- Clyde S. S. Co.
Loss
- December 26, 1903
- Collision
- Approaches to Nantasket Roads, southeast of Boston Light
- Boston Harbor approaches
- Boston, Massachusetts
- Hard pine, rosin, turpentine, cotton, cloth, iron cores, clay, naval stores, fruit, cottonseed meal and rice
- Not established
- 0
- I. K. Chichester
The Wreck Today
- 30–45 (BUAR listing; not a new survey)
- Salvaged and demolished wreckage; largely flat debris, with some portions rising above the bottom.
- Not established
- Not established
- Massachusetts BUAR exempted shipwreck site; major site disruption prohibited.
Position
- 42.32° N 70.86° W
- Reported, unconfirmed
- Boston Light, Massachusetts
Massachusetts BUAR published position, arithmetically converted from degrees/minutes/seconds; not independently surveyed here.
Evidence
Overall confidence: Documented (88/100)
Published dive depths are historical listing information, and the present wreck condition and position have not been independently verified.
Massachusetts Board of Underwater Archaeological Resources
Build, dimensions, rig, collision and sinking date, rescue, historical dive depths and salvage.
