Muriel
Schooner · United States · Lost 1926 · Southern California & Catalina
A four-masted schooner refitted as a pirate galleon for the 1924 film The Sea Hawk, later wrecked at the entrance to Newport Harbor.
Become Captain of RecordSee Shipwreck on Map
The Vessel and Her Loss
Built in Alameda in 1905, Muriel spent nearly twenty years as a South Pacific trading schooner before being refitted as one of four mock 16th-century galleons for the 1924 film The Sea Hawk, filmed largely off Catalina Island. Sold afterward as a fishing barge at Newport Beach, she broke her towline and grounded at the harbor entrance in 1925; a winter storm the following year dislodged and finally destroyed the hulk. Her wreckage remained visible to visitors at low tide for several years.
Vessel
- 1905
- Not established
- Alameda, California
- Wood
- 162 ft
- Not established
- Not established
- Sail
- R. J. Shafer (final owner, fishing barge)
Loss
- January 1, 1926
- Storm
- Balboa Peninsula, Newport Beach, California
- Pacific Ocean, Newport Harbor entrance
- Not established
- Not established
- Not established
- Not established
- Not established
The Wreck Today
- Not established
- Not established
- Not established
- Not established
- Not established
Position
- 33.59° N 117.90° W
- General area only
- Newport Beach, California
General area only: coordinate of Balboa Peninsula, marking the named place of loss recorded for this vessel, not a surveyed wreck position.
Evidence
Overall confidence: Partially documented (68/100)
The precise date of final destruction and the builder's name are not established in the sources reviewed.
Build year, dimensions, film conversion, and grounding/loss history.
Balboa Peninsula — Wikidata, coordinate location statement
coordinate of the named place of loss
