AH-WR-0032

Sparrow-Hawk

Small Merchant Ketch · England · Lost 1626 · Cape Cod & Nantucket Shoals

A small 17th-century English vessel wrecked on Nauset Beach in 1626, its timbers later recovered and long treasured as one of Colonial America's earliest known shipwrecks.

Become Captain of Record See Shipwreck on Map

Artistic recreation based on recorded historical documents.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

Interpretive Reconstruction, drawn to convey the vessel's era, type and general form. See the documented evidence.

The Vessel and Her Loss

The Sparrow-Hawk was a small English vessel bound from England to Virginia when a storm drove her ashore near what is now Orleans on Cape Cod in December 1626. Those aboard, including Irish indentured servants, survived and were assisted by nearby Wampanoag people and Plymouth Colony settlers, an episode recorded by Governor William Bradford. Storms uncovered her buried hull on the beach in 1863, and the timbers were recovered and displayed. Recent dendrochronological study has reinforced the identification of the timbers with the vessel Bradford described.

Vessel

Built: Not established
Builder: Not established
Yard: Not established
Material: Wood
Length: Not established
Beam: Not established
Tonnage: Not established
Propulsion: Sail
Owners: Not established

Loss

Date: December 1, 1626
Cause: Grounding
Location: Nauset Beach, Orleans, Cape Cod
Water: Atlantic Ocean
Voyage: England → Virginia
Cargo: Not established
Aboard: Not established
Lives lost: All aboard are reported to have survived and were assisted by Plymouth Colony settlers.
Master: Not established

The Wreck Today

Depth: Not established
Condition: Hull timbers recovered from beach sands after later storms exposed them; largely disassembled and preserved as timbers.
Orientation: Not established
Discovered: 1863
Protection: Not established

Position

Coordinates: 41.84° N 69.95° W
Accuracy: General area only
Nearest: Orleans, Massachusetts
Region: Cape Cod & Nantucket Shoals

General area only: coordinate of Nauset Beach from the USGS Geographic Names Information System, marking the named place of loss recorded for this vessel, not a surveyed wreck position.

Evidence

Overall confidence: Partially documented (55/100)

The vessel's construction details, builder, and precise original wreck position are not established in the sources reviewed; identification with the historical Sparrow-Hawk rests on documentary and timber-dating evidence rather than a ship's nameplate.

Pilgrim Hall Museum
History of the wrecking, recovery of timbers, and preservation.
Smithsonian Magazine
Background on discovery and recent dendrochronological analysis.
USGS Geographic Names Information System (via MyTopo) — Nauset Beach
coordinate of the named place of loss (Nauset Beach, Orleans)