AH-WR-0533

Vivian

Schooner · United States · Lost 1907 · The New Jersey Coast

A wooden schooner sunk in a fatal 1907 collision with another schooner, identified by divers decades later from a recovered artifact.

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Artistic recreation based on recorded historical documents.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

Vivian was a wooden schooner built in 1891 in New London, Connecticut. On December 27, 1907, she collided with the schooner Elizabeth Palmer off the New Jersey coast and sank, with the loss of one crew member. For decades the wreck was known to divers only as an unidentified site, until research by the New Jersey Historical Divers Association matched a recovered artifact to the vessel.

Vessel

Built: 1891
Builder: Not established
Yard: New London, Connecticut
Material: Wood
Length: 188 ft
Beam: 39 ft
Tonnage: 922
Propulsion: Sail
Owners: Not established

Loss

Date: December 27, 1907
Cause: Collision
Location: Off Barnegat, New Jersey
Water: Atlantic Ocean
Voyage: Not established
Cargo: Not established
Aboard: 10
Lives lost: 1
Master: Not established

The Wreck Today

Depth: 80 ft
Condition: Large wooden wreck with a massive central keel and low-lying side walls; scattered machinery, chain, and an old-style anchor
Orientation: Not established
Discovered: Not established
Protection: Not established

Position

Coordinates: 39.75° N 74.22° W
Accuracy: General area only
Nearest: Off Manasquan/Barnegat, New Jersey
Region: The New Jersey Coast

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