Maritana
Full-Rigged Ship · United States · Lost 1861 · Boston Harbor & Massachusetts Bay
Often called Boston Harbor's worst shipwreck, the ship Maritana broke apart on Shag Rocks near Boston Light in an 1861 gale, killing most aboard just short of safe harbor.
Become Captain of RecordSee Shipwreck on Map
The Vessel and Her Loss
Maritana was a 991-ton full-rigged ship that departed Liverpool on September 13, 1861, bound for Boston with 24 passengers, general cargo, and a small crew under Captain G. W. Williams. Approaching the harbor in a severe gale on the night of November 2-3, she struck Shag Rocks near Boston Light and broke in two the following morning. The captain and most aboard drowned; Hull mariner Samuel James rescued nine survivors single-handedly in a dory. A monument to those lost stands at Old Village Cemetery in Dedham, Massachusetts.
Vessel
- Not established
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- Wood
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- 991
- Sail
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Loss
- November 3, 1861
- Storm
- Shag Rocks, Broad Sound, near Boston Light, Massachusetts
- Massachusetts Bay
- Liverpool, England → Boston, Massachusetts
- Coal, wool, iron, and steel
- Not established
- 22
- Captain G. W. Williams
The Wreck Today
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Position
- 42.33° N 70.88° W
- Approximate position
- Boston Light, Massachusetts
Position as published for the Shag Rocks wreck site by academic sources citing the Encyclopedia of Civil War Shipwrecks
Evidence
Overall confidence: Documented (75/100)
Exact numbers of dead and total persons aboard vary between contemporary newspaper accounts.
Detailed loss narrative, figurehead history, and memorial
Wikipedia, citing Encyclopedia of Civil War Shipwrecks
Tonnage, coordinates, and general loss summary
Contemporary casualty figures and rescue details
