Oscar C. Aiken
Schooner · United States · Lost 1898 · Long Island Sound & the Connecticut Shore
A coal schooner ran unmanned onto Bartlett Reef in a 1898 gale, and the wreck she left behind stayed unidentified for 121 years.
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The Vessel and Her Loss
The 74-foot schooner Oscar C. Aiken was carrying coal to Newport, Rhode Island, when a gale drove her onto rocks near Plum Island while she ran through The Race. Her rudder disabled, the crew abandoned ship and reached shore, while the schooner drifted and foundered off Bartlett Reef near Goshen Point. Divers found the wreck in 2012 but could not identify it until 2019, when newspaper research confirmed the ship's name.
Vessel
- Not established
- Not established
- Not established
- Wood
- 74 ft
- Not established
- Not established
- Sail
- Not established
Loss
- October 23, 1898
- Grounding
- Long Island Sound, about a mile and a half east of Bartlett Reef Light, off Goshen Point, Connecticut
- Long Island Sound
- Newport, Rhode Island
- Coal
- Not established
- 0
- Captain Howard Orr
The Wreck Today
- 70 ft
- Broken wooden hull and coal cargo pile identified by side-scan sonar and diver survey
- Not established
- 2012
- Not established
Position
- Not established
- Position not established
- Goshen Point, Waterford, Connecticut
General area reported by researchers; a precise published position was not available in the sources reviewed.
Evidence
Overall confidence: Documented (75/100)
Loss narrative, cargo, date, location, and identification history.
Confirmation of identification process and vessel details.
