Historic shipwreck resurfaces at Short Sands Beach in York
YORK, Maine — A historic shipwreck that predates the American Revolution has again resurfaced from its place buried under Short Sands Beach.
Beachgoers have been taking pictures over the last couple of weeks of what one researcher has claimed is the wreck of a ship believed to have been built in 1754. The ship is buried under Short Sands Beach and resurfaces when weather events cause powerful tides to draw sand from the shore.
Two major storms hit the Seacoast on Jan. 10 and Jan. 13.
“Every three, four, five years, it pops out of the sands,” said former York town manager Steve Burns, who has seen the vessel’s skeleton showing for about a week and a half on his walks at the beach.
The ship most recently was spotted in 2018 and 2020. It measures about 50 feet long, and while it’s
not the largest boat, some say it would be expensive and challenging to move and preserve.
How did the ship get buried at Short Sands Beach?
The ship first appeared on York Beach in 1958. Stefan Claesson, a researcher, concluded in 2020 that the boat was a sloop named Defiance used for cargo.
The ship was heading for Portland's Casco Bay in 1769 when it was caught in a storm and crashed into the rocks along Cape Neddick Cove, according to an article in the Smithsonian Magazine.
Claesson said what remains consists of the bottom portion of the hull. He said the ship was originally 60 feet long.
“At some point, it got beached, and it wasn't salvaged, and it deteriorated,” said Joel Lefever, executive director of the Old York Historical Society.
Shipwreck likely to stay beneath the sand in York
The shipwreck has drawn interest from the public, and its resurfacing remains an event watched by people who frequent the beach. The ship's location has been identified and preserved using GIS technology.
Members of the public have been known to pull pieces from the shipwreck. Burns said state officials at one point put police tape around the shipwreck to keep people from breaking off a souvenir.
The piece of history is likely to stay based on the challenge of moving it. Lefever said historic ships and shipwrecks need to be preserved in specially built structures and are costly to maintain.
Burns, who worked for the town for 23 years, also said the ship is technically under the jurisdiction of the state, which oversees historic artifacts. He also said ships like this one are not uncommon, others having been found in the York River.
“If it's like a Viking ship, that would be worth building a building around,” Burns said. “It's probably safer there.”