AH-WR-0038

Paul Palmer

Coasting Schooner · United States · Lost 1913 · Cape Ann & the Gulf of Maine

A five-masted coal schooner that burned to the waterline in Massachusetts Bay in 1913, now a well-preserved and nationally listed wreck within Stellwagen Bank sanctuary.

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Artistic recreation based on recorded historical documents.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

Documented Likeness. Drawn from surviving builder's plans or clear photographs of this vessel. See the documented evidence.

The Vessel and Her Loss

Paul Palmer was a large five-masted schooner built in Maine in 1902 to carry coal along the Atlantic coast. On June 15, 1913, she caught fire and burned to the waterline before sinking in Massachusetts Bay, though no lives were lost. Her hull, still bearing part of her coal cargo, rests in about 80 feet of water within what is now Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary. The wreck was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2007 for its significance to the era of large multi-masted coasting schooners.

Vessel

Built: 1902
Registry: NRHP reference no. 07000288
Builder: George L. Welt
Yard: Waldoboro, Maine
Material: Wood
Length: 276.1 ft
Beam: 44.2 ft
Tonnage: 2193
Propulsion: Sail, five-masted schooner rig
Owners: William H. Palmer (1902–1911); J. S. Winslow & Co. (1911–1913)

Loss

Date: June 15, 1913
Cause: Fire
Location: Massachusetts Bay, within present-day Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary
Water: Massachusetts Bay
Voyage: Not established
Cargo: Coal
Aboard: Not established
Lives lost: 0
Master: Not established

The Wreck Today

Depth: 80 ft
Condition: Flattened hull profile on the seabed, well preserved for a wooden coal schooner, with cargo of coal still visible.
Orientation: Not established
Discovered: Not established
Protection: Within Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary; listed on the National Register of Historic Places

Position

Coordinates: Not established
Accuracy: Position withheld to protect the site
Nearest: Gloucester, Massachusetts
Region: Cape Ann & the Gulf of Maine

NOAA Stellwagen Bank Sanctuary describes the wreck's general setting (shallow water on Stellwagen Bank near Cape Cod) but does not publish exact coordinates for this NRHP-listed sanctuary wreck.