The tugboat was sunk by (United States) in the Patapsco River. Her cook and engineer drowned.[4]
7 January[]
List of shipwrecks: 7 January 1897
Ship
Country
Description
United States
The laid up steamer was destroyed by fire at dock at Carrollton, Louisiana.[5][6]
United States
The steamer was crushed by ice in mid-channel between Evansville, Indiana and the Green River, a total loss. Her chief engineer drowned.[7]
9 January[]
List of shipwrecks: 9 January 1897
Ship
Country
Description
United States
The ferry burned to the waterline at Cairo, Illinois.[8]
United States
The steamer was wrecked on on a trip from New Orleans to Central America.[9]
14 January[]
List of shipwrecks: 14 January 1897
Ship
Country
Description
RIMS Warren Hastings
Royal Indian Marine
A sketch depicting the wreck of RIMS Warren Hastings, published by the Dundee Courier on 24 March 1897
The troopship was wrecked off the coast of Réunion with the loss of two lives.
21 January[]
List of shipwrecks: 21 January 1897
Ship
Country
Description
United States
The fishing schooner went ashore on Ram Island, near Lockeport, Nova Scotia. Her Cook drowned when she struck, a crewman broke both legs and died on the island before crew was able to get to shore.[10]
28 January[]
List of shipwrecks: 28 January 1897
Ship
Country
Description
United States
The yacht was sunk in a collision with (Norway) in the Mississippi River 80 miles (130 km) below New Orleans, Louisiana. Two passengers, reporters for the Times Picayune, were killed.[11][12][13]
29 January[]
List of shipwrecks: 29 January 1897
Ship
Country
Description
United States
The fishing schooner foundered on the Georges Bank. Her crew taken off by (United States).[14]
30 January[]
List of shipwrecks: 30 January 1897
Ship
Country
Description
United States
The steamer sprung a leak and sank at Greenville, Mississippi, a total loss.[15]
Unknown date[]
List of shipwrecks: Unknown January 1897
Ship
Country
Description
United States
The fishing schooner was last seen 11 January on and probably sank in a gale on 26 January. Lost with all 19 crew.[16][17]
February[]
1 February[]
List of shipwrecks: 1 February 1897
Ship
Country
Description
Alice
United States
The steamer struck a snag and sank in the Amite River Later raised.[18]
The laid up steamer was sunk by ice 1 mile (1.6 km) below Memphis, Tennessee, a total loss.[20]
2 February[]
List of shipwrecks: 2 February 1897
Ship
Country
Description
Imbros
United Kingdom
The steamship ran aground on the Helwick Bank, in the Bristol Channel. She was subsequently refloated and beached at The Mumbles, Glamorgan.[21]
4 February[]
List of shipwrecks: 4 February 1897
Ship
Country
Description
United States
The ferry's port side was crushed by ice and she sank opposite Lexington, Missouri in the Missouri River, a total wreck.[22]
7 February[]
List of shipwrecks: 7 February 1897
Ship
Country
Description
United States
The steamer was sunk by ice while harbored at the mouth of the Little Kanawha River, a total loss. Her machinery was salvaged.[23]
8 February[]
List of shipwrecks: 8 February 1897
Ship
Country
Description
United States
The steamer struck a snag near Clayton's Landing and sank in shallow water. The vessel was pumped out and taken to Pine Bluff, Arkansas for repair.[24]
9 February[]
List of shipwrecks: 9 February 1897
Ship
Country
Description
United States
The ferry sank lying at Glenwood, Pennsylvania in the Monongahela River when a pipe froze and burst. Later raised.[25]
11 February[]
List of shipwrecks: 11 February 1897
Ship
Country
Description
United States
The tow steamer's bow was damaged by ice in Lake Michigan, she made it in to the Calumet River and sank.[26]
United States
The tow steamer was sunk in a collision with tow steamer (United States) in the East River off Baltic street, Brooklyn. Raised and repaired. crew rescued by New York Central Lighterage Co. No. 19.[27]
12 February[]
List of shipwrecks: 12 February 1897
Ship
Country
Description
Rapid
United Kingdom
The ketch ran aground and was wrecked at Cardigan.[28]
13 February[]
List of shipwrecks: 13 February 1897
Ship
Country
Description
United States
The steamer struck something holing her and she sank at Gretna, Louisiana, a total loss.[29]
14 February[]
List of shipwrecks: 14 February 1897
Ship
Country
Description
United States
The tug sank at Brown's Station, Pennsylvania in the Monongahela River when a pipe froze and burst. Later raised.[30]
21 February[]
List of shipwrecks: 21 February 1897
Ship
Country
Description
United States
The fishing steamer was sunk at dock at the Pere Marquette Railway Company dock, Ludington, Michigan when struck by Pere Marquette (United States).[31]
22 February[]
List of shipwrecks: 22 February 1897
Ship
Country
Description
United States
The laid up launch foundered in a gale at dock in New Orleans, Louisiana. Later raised.[32]
23 February[]
List of shipwrecks: 23 February 1897
Ship
Country
Description
United States
The passenger steamer was forced onto the bank by ice at St. Louis and sank, a total loss.[33]
26 February[]
List of shipwrecks: 26 February 1897
Ship
Country
Description
United States
The passenger steamer burned at Lexington, Missouri, a total loss.[34]
March[]
2 March[]
List of shipwrecks: 2 March 1897
Ship
Country
Description
Cyril
United Kingdom
The ketch, registered at Falmouth, England, with official number 62042, went missing in Bristol Channel with the loss of her captain, master mariner Thomas G. R. Cooper, and his 17-year-old son Norman Copper, both of , Falmouth.[citation needed]
United States
The steamer struck a tree that had collapsed into the Big Sandy River causing her to careen and sink up to the hurricane deck, from which the passengers climbed onto the tree and from there they were taken to shore in boats. Her machinery was salvaged, otherwise a total loss.[35]
4 March[]
List of shipwrecks: 4 March 1897
Ship
Country
Description
United States
The passenger steamer was blown from her moorings at Kimmswick, Missouri sinking in the Mississippi River, a total loss.[36]
5 March[]
List of shipwrecks: 5 March 1897
Ship
Country
Description
United Kingdom
The cargo ship caught fire in the Atlantic Ocean 500 miles (800 km) off the coast of Ireland in a hurricane. Her 3rd engineer was killed in an explosion. The rest of the crew was rescued, when she was abandoned on 5 March, by (United Kingdom) that had been standing by for a break in the weather.[37][38]
8 March[]
List of shipwrecks: 8 March 1897
Ship
Country
Description
United States
The steamer struck a pier of the Union Bridge, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, rolled on one side and sank in the Allegheny River. Raised and repaired.[39]
9 March[]
List of shipwrecks: 9 March 1897
Ship
Country
Description
United States
The ferry struck a bridge entering her slip and sank at Camden, New Jersey.[40]
12 March[]
List of shipwrecks: 12 March 1897
Ship
Country
Description
United States
The steamer struck bottom crossing the bar into Nehalem River bringing down her smokestack and breaking the steam pipe disabling the ship. She was anchored and her crew went ashore. During the night she dragged anchor and went ashore, a total loss.[41]
14 March[]
List of shipwrecks: 14 March 1897
Ship
Country
Description
United States
The steamer, under tow of Oakland (United States), struck "The Big Eddy" off Hickman, Tennessee, parted her towlines, turned sideways, capsized and sank in 100 feet (30 m) of water, a total loss.[42]
United States
The steamer careened and capsized in the Ohio River in a gale near Jack's Run. Her pilot was killed. The vessel was raised and repaired.[43]
15 March[]
List of shipwrecks: 15 March 1897
Ship
Country
Description
Ville de Saint Nazaire
France
The 2,640-gross register tonsteamer foundered in the North Atlantic Ocean off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, during a storm with the loss of 80 lives. The 648-gross register ton schoonerHilda (United States) rescued her four survivors from a lifeboat on 22 March; they were all that remained alive out of 38 people who had boarded the lifeboat when Ville de Saint Nazaire sank.[44][45]
17 March[]
List of shipwrecks: 17 March 1897
Ship
Country
Description
United States
The sternwheel passenger steamer was capsized and sunk in a collision with barque (United States) in San Francisco Bay near Alcatraz Island. All 45 passengers and 16 crew transferred to Olympic before she sank by stepping across the decks. Later raised.[46][47]
International intervention in Crete: Attempting to reach Crete with a cargo of munitions and manned by Cretan insurgents, the schooner was sunk off , Crete, in an exchange of gunfire with the torpedo cruiserSMS Sebenico (Austro-Hungarian Navy), which was operating as part of the International Squadron intervening in the Cretan rebellion against rule by the Ottoman Empire. The schooner's crew suffered no casualties and swam to shore on Crete.[48]
18 March[]
List of shipwrecks: 18 March 1897
Ship
Country
Description
United States
The steamer was carried by wind and current into a lock wall at Lock No. 2 on the Kentucky River. She was towed off, but sank a short distance down river.[49]
The steamer was stranded on Regatta Reef, south east Alaska Territory.[50]
22 March[]
List of shipwrecks: 22 March 1897
Ship
Country
Description
United States
The steamer was sunk in a collision with (United States), Philadelphia. Crew rescued by Asa W. Hughes.[51]
25 March[]
List of shipwrecks: 25 March 1897
Ship
Country
Description
United States
The steamer burned at Brooklyn, Illinois, a total loss.[52]
28 March[]
List of shipwrecks: 28 March 1897
Ship
Country
Description
United States
The sloop foundered during a storm off the Bell Buoy in Pensacola Bay, Florida. Eight of nine people aboard lost.[53]
30 March[]
List of shipwrecks: 30 March 1897
Ship
Country
Description
United States
The steamer filled and sank at the Memphis Wharf at the foot of Beale Street, Memphis, Tennessee, in a violent storm, a total loss.[54]
31 March[]
List of shipwrecks: 31 March 1897
Ship
Country
Description
City of Columbus
United States
The steamer struck rocks and sank in Smith's Bend two miles (3.2 km) above Gordon, Alabama on the Chattahoochee River, a total loss.[55][56]
April[]
1 April[]
List of shipwrecks: 1 April
Ship
Country
Description
United States
The steamer struck an embedded log and sank at Barnett's Landing in the Chattahoochee River, a total loss. Her chief engineer and two other crewmen were killed. Her machinery was salvaged.[57][58]
2 April[]
List of shipwrecks: 2 April 1897
Ship
Country
Description
Clifton
United States
The steamer sank overnight at the Pittsburgh Wharf. Raised and repaired.[59]
3 April[]
List of shipwrecks: 3 April 1897
Ship
Country
Description
United States
The steamer took a shear in King's Eddy and struck the bluff tearing a hole in her starboard side and she sank in 10 feet (3.0 m) of water in the Cumberland River.[60]
5 April[]
List of shipwrecks: 5 April 1897
Ship
Country
Description
United Kingdom
The cargo ship was wrecked on Blonde Rock, off Cape Sable Island, Nova Scotia, Canada.[61]
The schooner struck the Scarweather Sands, in the Bristol Channel and was consequently beached in . Her five crew were rescued.[21]
9 April[]
List of shipwrecks: 9 April 1897
Ship
Country
Description
United States
The fishing schooner foundered off the Plymouth Light. Her crew was saved.[63]
United States
The barkentine was sunk in a collision in thick fog with steamer (United States) off the . Three crew rescued by La Grande Duchesse; her captain and four crewmen killed.[64]
11 April[]
List of shipwrecks: 11 April 1897
Ship
Country
Description
United States
The freighter grounded on a bar off a wharf at Hueneme, California causing her to flood and sink, abandoned as a total loss.[65]
12 April[]
List of shipwrecks: 12 April 1897
Ship
Country
Description
United States
The steamer struck a snag and sank in the Crooked River. Later raised.[66]
16 April[]
List of shipwrecks: 16 April 1897
Ship
Country
Description
United States
The fishing schooner wrecked on Sable Island, Nova Scotia. Her crew rowed to safety in her dories.[67]
Ibex
United Kingdom
The GWR-owned ship struck the Noirmontaise rocks off Jersey, Channel Islands and was beached in Portlet Bay, Jersey. She was refloated and re-entered service.
The destroyer was wrecked in the River Plate off Colonia del Sacramento, Uruguay.[69][70]
27 April[]
List of shipwrecks: 27 April 1897
Ship
Country
Description
Wanderer
United States
The steamer burned to the waterline at dock when a nearby burning warehouse exploded and she was enveloped in flames at Newport News, Virginia. Two crewmen drowned.[71]
The barge, under tow of (United States), sank five miles (8.0 km) southeast of Montauk Point. The crew were rescued by Right Arm.[73]
5 May[]
List of shipwrecks: 5 May 1897
Ship
Country
Description
General Siglin
United States
The 81-ton, 80-foot (24.4 m) sealingschooner was sighted by the sealing schooner Willard Ainsworth (United States) in the North Pacific Ocean at 53°15′N135°55′W / 53.250°N 135.917°W / 53.250; -135.917 (General Siglin) in a waterlogged condition, dismasted, with her bulwarks stove in and her boats missing. Ordered to search for General Siglin after Williard Ainsworth reported the sighting, the revenue cutterUSRC Thomas Corwin (United States Revenue Cutter Service) found her again on 14 June with the body of her first mate and a young boy on board, but the bodies of the other seven people who had been aboard were never found. General Siglin was salvaged and returned to service.[74]
United States
The schooner-yacht was sunk in a collision in thick fog with steamer (United States) off Falkner Island in Long Island Sound. The crew were rescued by City of Fitchburg after abandoning ship in her boat.[75][76]
6 May[]
List of shipwrecks: 6 May 1897
Ship
Country
Description
United States
The passenger steamer struck a snag below De Witt, Missouri and sank in the Missouri River, a total loss. Her machinery was salvaged.[77]
The steamer struck rocks and the wrecked United States an hour after Ruth had wrecked in the Upper Kootenai River going through "Jennings Canyon" five miles (8.0 km) above . Later raised and taken to Jennings for repair.[78]
United States
The steamer was destroyed by fire at dock at Conway, South Carolina.[79]
United States
The steamer struck rocks in the Upper Kootenai River going through "Jennings Canyon" five miles (8.0 km) above when a log jammed her rudder, a total loss.[80]
9 May[]
List of shipwrecks: 9 May 1897
Ship
Country
Description
United States
The schooner was sunk in a collision with the tug Paoli (United States) off Cape Cod, or Nauset Light, in 50 feet (15 m) of water with her mast tops above water, but a total loss. Her captain and two crewmen died. Two crewmen were rescued by Paoli.[81][82]
10 May[]
List of shipwrecks: 10 May 1897
Ship
Country
Description
United States
The steamer sank in a gale at , Galveston Bay, Texas, a total loss.[83]
The canal boat, under tow by steamer (United States) was sunk in a collision with a car float under tow by the steamer (United States) off Roosevelt Street, New York City, New York, in the East River.[86]
The steamer grounded at a wharf in Beverly, Massachusetts and filled. Raised and repaired.[90]
12 June[]
List of shipwrecks: 12 June 1897
Ship
Country
Description
Gangut
Imperial Russian Navy
The coast defense ship struck an uncharted rock and sank in the Gulf of Finland.
14 June[]
List of shipwrecks: 14 June 1897
Ship
Country
Description
United States
The steamer's condenser pipe developed a leak and she was put ashore on Tinicum Island to make repairs. She caught fire and burned to the waterline.[91]
15 June[]
List of shipwrecks: 15 June 1897
Ship
Country
Description
United States
The steamer struck a snag near Pittsburgh in the Ohio River springing a bad leak. She was run onto a bar and sank up to her main deck. Raised and repaired.[92]
The training ship, a former ship-of-the-line, was driven ashore at Blackpool, Lancashire, England, and wrecked.
18 June[]
List of shipwrecks: 18 June 1897
Ship
Country
Description
United States
The steamer was destroyed by fire in Black Creek off the St. Johns River.[93][94]
20 June[]
List of shipwrecks: 20 June 1897
Ship
Country
Description
United States
The schooner was sunk in a collision with Dorchester (United States) near .[95]
21 June[]
List of shipwrecks: 21 June 1897
Ship
Country
Description
United States
The steamer grounded at a wharf in Lynn, Massachusetts and sank. Raised and repaired.[96]
25 June[]
List of shipwrecks: 25 June 1897
Ship
Country
Description
United States
The fishing sloop was sunk in a collision with (United States) near Monhegan Island. Her crew of two were saved by State of Maine.[97]
United States
The schooner was sunk in a collision with the tug Chicago (United States) near Poplar Island in Chesapeake Bay.[98]
30 June[]
List of shipwrecks: 30 June 1897
Ship
Country
Description
United States
The steamer was sunk in a collision with the barge D. H. Keyes, under tow by (both United States), in the harbor at Duluth, Minnesota.[99]
July[]
1 July[]
List of shipwrecks: 1 July 1897
Ship
Country
Description
Queensland
The steamer was wrecked three miles (4.8 km) off Cape Tribulation. Raised in November, repaired and returned to service as .[100]
5 July[]
List of shipwrecks: 5 July 1897
Ship
Country
Description
Heathmore
United Kingdom
The Liverpool steamer ran into the Seven Stones Reef at full speed while en route from Santander to Glasgow with 2,400 tons of iron-ore. She floated clear at 8 am and anchored two miles away with the crew pumping water all day. By evening they took to the boats and were picked up by Lady of the Isles as Heathmore sank in 40 fathoms (240 ft; 73 m).[101]
9 July[]
List of shipwrecks: 9 July 1897
Ship
Country
Description
United States
The schooner was damaged in a collision with (United States) off Goose Island and was beached to prevent sinking. One crewman was declared missing.[102]
15 July[]
List of shipwrecks: 15 July 1897
Ship
Country
Description
United States
The steamer sprung a leak and sank at dock at Madison, Indiana. Later raised.[103]
While anchored off New South Wales, Australia, in Botany Bay at the entrance to Cooks River, the schooner was driven ashore on Lady Robinsons Beach during a fierce squall after her port anchor chain parted and she dragged her starboard anchor chain. She was refloated, repaired, and returned to service.
United States
The passenger steamer struck a bridge at Sioux City, Iowa and sank with two holes in her hull, a total loss.[108]
28 July[]
List of shipwrecks: 28 July 1897
Ship
Country
Description
United States
The sloop was sunk in a collision with (United States) in the harbor of Boston, Massachusetts.[109]
United States
The steamer struck a snag in the Upper Willamette River four miles (6.4 km) above Salem, Oregon sinking in eight feet (2.4 m) of water.[110]
31 July[]
List of shipwrecks: 31 July 1897
Ship
Country
Description
United States
The fishing schooner wrecked at Great Point, Nantucket. Crew Saved.[111]
August[]
3 August[]
List of shipwrecks: 3 August 1897
Ship
Country
Description
United States
The schooner was sunk in Chesapeake Bay. Work to remove the wreck was completed on 18 November 1897.[112]
4 August[]
List of shipwrecks: 4 August 1897
Ship
Country
Description
United States
The steamer was sunk at dock in Detour, Michigan when struck by the barge Martha (flag unknown). Raised and repaired.[113]
5 August[]
List of shipwrecks: 5 August 1897
Ship
Country
Description
United States
The steamer was dragged down and sunk while tied up along side (United States) when she filled and sank at Greenville, Mississippi. Later raised.[114]
United States
The steamer filled and sank over night due to a leak at Greenville, Mississippi, a total loss. She dragged down (United States) tied up alongside.[115]
Mexico
United States
During a voyage from Sitka, Territory of Alaska, to Victoria, British Columbia, and ports in Puget Sound in Washington with 70 passengers, 71 crewmen, and a cargo of three tons of general merchandise on board, the 1,797-gross register ton, 265-foot (80.8 m) steamschooner sank in 510 feet (155 m) of water two hours after striking West Devil Rock (54°40′N131°36′W / 54.667°N 131.600°W / 54.667; -131.600 (West Devil Rock)) in Dixon Entrance on the Canada-United States border between British Columbia and the Territory of Alaska. Everyone on board reached safety in the ship′s boats.[116]
The passenger cargo ship ran aground on the bar at Ballina, New South Wales, Australia. She was refloated, repaired, and returned to service.
12 August[]
List of shipwrecks: 12 August 1897
Ship
Country
Description
United States
The tow boat sprang a leak over night and sank at dock in Port Richmond, New York. Raised the next day.[117]
Navarch
United States
Trapped in pack ice in the Chukchi Sea off Icy Cape, Territory of Alaska, since July 1897, the 494-ton steamwhalingbark was abandoned off (71°23′29″N156°28′00″W / 71.39139°N 156.46667°W / 71.39139; -156.46667 (Blossom Shoals)). Sixteen of her crewmen died while trying to cross the ice and reach shore. Her 16 surviving crewmen were rescued by the revenue cutterUSRC Bear (United States Revenue Cutter Service) and the steamer Thrasher (United States). Navarch eventually drifted in the ice as a derelict to the vicinity of Point Barrow, where she ultimately was burned by salvors in January 1898.[118]
Unknown coal boat
United States
The coal boat was sunk in a collision with the excursion barge Carrier, under the tow of ( both United States), at "Glass House" in the Ohio River. Raised and repaired.[119]
13 August[]
List of shipwrecks: 13 August 1897
Ship
Country
Description
United States
The tow steamer burned at Providence Dry Dock, Providence, Rhode Island, a total loss.[120]
16 August[]
List of shipwrecks: 16 August 1897
Ship
Country
Description
Onward
United States
The tow boat burned at Lucas Landing in the Monongahela River, a total loss.[121]
18 August[]
List of shipwrecks: 18 August 1897
Ship
Country
Description
United States
The steamer foundered lying at New Orleans, Louisiana, a total loss.[122]
The schooner was sunk in a collision with Potomac (United States) near in Chesapeake Bay. Work to remove the wreck completed on 18 November 1897. Her captain drowned.[127][128]
September[]
1 September[]
List of shipwrecks: 1 September 1897
Ship
Country
Description
United States
The steamer foundered at when her seams open. Later raised.[129]
6 September[]
List of shipwrecks: 6 September 1897
Ship
Country
Description
Unknown barge
United States
The barge, under the tow of (United States), foundered in the Niagara River near Strawberry Island. One crewman was killed.[130]
The steamer burned to the waterline at dock in Mayport, Florida.[132]
12 September[]
List of shipwrecks: 12 September 1897
Ship
Country
Description
United States
1897 Hurricane No. 2: The steamer sank at dock in a hurricane at Sabine Pass.[133]
United States
The steamer struck an obstruction and sank in four feet (1.2 m) of water in the Ohio River at . Raised and repaired.[134]
United States
1897 Hurricane No. 2: The tug broke free from the barge Mexico (flag unknown), capsized and sank in a hurricane in Sabine Pass, later located in Sabine Lake. All on board, her captain, the pilot, and one other crewman died.[135]
United States
1897 Hurricane No. 2: The steamer sank at dock in a hurricane.[136]
13 September[]
List of shipwrecks: 13 September 1897
Ship
Country
Description
United States
The steamer burned at dock in Nantasket, Massachusetts, a total loss.[137]
14 September[]
List of shipwrecks: 14 September 1897
Ship
Country
Description
United States
The passenger steamer struck an obstruction below Chester, Illinois and sank in the Mississippi River, a total loss.[138]
15 September[]
List of shipwrecks: 15 September 1897
Ship
Country
Description
United States
The steamer was sunk in a collision with (United States) off Fifty-Eighth Street, New York City, New York in the North River. Crew and passengers were rescued by St. Johns and a tug. One boy possibly died. Raised, rebuilt and returned to service as .[139][140]
The steamer caught fire at dock over night at East Twenty-First Street, New York City. The New York City Fire Department was unable to put out the fire and she sank.[145]
The steamer was crowded by (United States) that was trying to pass in Buffalo Creek causing her to tip enough to fill and sink. Her engineer was killed.[153]
The Quail-classdestroyer ran aground on Dodman Point, Cornwall, England, in fog. She was escorted to Falmouth, Cornwall, and eventually made it to Devonport for repairs.[154]
Unknown date[]
List of shipwrecks: unknown September 1897
Ship
Country
Description
United States
The laid up steamer sprung a leak and sank at . Total loss.[155]
October[]
1 October[]
List of shipwrecks: 1 October 1907
Ship
Country
Description
Idaho
United States
The 81-gross register tonschooner was stranded on on the coast of Maine. All three people on board survived.[156]
2 October[]
List of shipwrecks: 2 October 1897
Ship
Country
Description
United States
The passenger steamer struck an obstruction at and sank, a total loss.[157]
3 October[]
List of shipwrecks: 3 October 1897
Ship
Country
Description
United States
The steamer struck a snag and sank in 12 feet (3.7 m) of water at . Raised and repaired.[158]
6 October[]
List of shipwrecks: 6 October 1897
Ship
Country
Description
United States
The steamer was sunk in a collision with City of Chester (United States) in dense fog at Norfolk, Virginia.[159]
United States
The steamer was sunk in a collision with (United States) in dense fog at Norfolk, Virginia.[160]
During a voyage under tow by the steamerHiram W. Sibley (United States) from Sandusky, Ohio, to Ashland, Wisconsin, with a cargo of 1,000 tons of coal, the 186.8-foot (56.9 m), 523.45-gross register ton three-mastedschooner barge sank without loss of life in a reported 360 feet (110 m) of water in Lake Superior a few miles from Michigan Island when her seams opened. Hiram W. Sibley rescued her crew. Her wreck was discovered on 2 September 2016.[161][162]
United States
The schooner was wrecked in a gale on the west end of St. George Island, Florida.[53]
8 October[]
List of shipwrecks: 8 October 1897
Ship
Country
Description
United States
The steamer struck a snag and sank one-quarter mile (0.40 km) above Buena Vista, Iowa in eight feet (2.4 m) of water. Raised and repaired.[163]
United States
The tug burned to the waterline and sank while anchored at , a total loss.[164]
United States
The steamer foundered after suffering engine failure in a gale on Lake Huron and got caught in the wave troughs 37 miles (60 km) above Pointe aux Barques Light. After failed attempts to pass tow lines her crew was rescued by (United States).[165][166][167]
10 October[]
List of shipwrecks: 10 October 1897
Ship
Country
Description
United States
The steamer foundered on Grand Lake, Louisiana in a gale. Boiler and machinery were scheduled to be salvaged.[168]
The laid up steamer sank at Washington, Missouri in the Missouri River due to dried out seams, a total loss.[170]
16 October[]
List of shipwrecks: 16 October 1897
Ship
Country
Description
United States
The steamer caught fire on Lake Erie three miles (4.8 km) from Bar Point Shoal Light and burned to the waterline.[171]
United States
The steamer struck a snag and sank near Star Landing, Mississippi in the Mississippi River. Raised and repaired.[172]
17 October[]
List of shipwrecks: 17 October 1897
Ship
Country
Description
United States
The Sloop foundered off Marblehead, Massachusetts in a gale. Two crew died.[173]
19 October[]
List of shipwrecks: 19 October 1897
Ship
Country
Description
United States
The dredge was sunk when her boilers exploded at Charleroi, Pennsylvania in the Monongahela River, a total loss. Her captain and steward were killed.[174]
21 October[]
List of shipwrecks: 21 October 1897
Ship
Country
Description
United States
The steamer caught fire over night, burned to the waterline and sank at Letart Falls, Ohio, a total loss.[175]
23 October[]
List of shipwrecks: 23 October 1897
Ship
Country
Description
United States
The steam schooner was wrecked on Saunders Reef four miles (6.4 km) south of Point Arena in a gale causing her to capsize and go ashore, a total loss. 13 crew were killed, her captain and 1 crewman survived.[176][177]
Carrying a crew of 40 and a cargo of railroad ties, the 2,338-gross register ton, 327-foot (99.7 m) trampsteamer departed Port Gamble, Washington, on 3 October[179] or Port Townsend, Washington on 12 October[180] (sources disagree) bound for Taku, China, via Yokohama, Japan, and was never seen again after passing Cape Flattery, Washington[180] (although one source claims she was last sighted on 16 October[72]). A message in a bottle later found washed ashore on the coast of the Territory of Alaska on the Alaska Peninsula in (50°34′N155°35′W / 50.567°N 155.583°W / 50.567; -155.583 (Portage Bay)) on 15 May 1899[181] was from a man known to be aboard Pelican, and it stated that Pelican was sinking in the North Pacific Ocean about 120 nautical miles (220 km; 140 mi) south of Atka Island in the Aleutian Islands at 57°N175°W / 57°N 175°W / 57; -175 (SS Pelican) and that those aboard were abandoning ship in "frail" lifeboats.[179] Another message in a bottle from the same man found on "Ukomok Island"[182] (probably Chirikof Island in the Gulf of Alaska)[179] on 9 February 1900 identified the date of the sinking as 24 October 1897.[179][182] Other ships reported a severe gale in the area in which Pelican sank at the time she sank.[181]
28 October[]
List of shipwrecks: 28 October 1897
Ship
Country
Description
United States
The oyster boat sank at dock at East Providence, Rhode Island when an unknown person boarded and opened her seacock. Raised and found undamaged.[183]
When a strong gale struck while she was anchored in the Seto Inland Sea off Nagahama, Shikoku, Japan, the central battery ironclad's anchor chain broke and she drifted across the harbor, collided with the ram of the protected cruiserMatsushima, and then struck the protected cruiser Itsukushima (both Imperial Japanese Navy). To keep her from sinking in deeper water, she was run onto a reef, where she sank in shallow water.[184][185][186] She was refloated in July 1898 and returned to service in 1900.[186]
Unknown date[]
List of shipwrecks: Unknown October 1897
Ship
Country
Description
United States
The fishing schooner vanished after leaving Southwest Harbor, Maine in mid October, one source believes sank in a gale on the Georges Bank or Grand Banks on 12 November. Lost with all 14 crew.[187][188]
United States
The fishing schooner reported lost on 19 October on the Grand Banks of Newfoundland, or was last sighted on 22 November 25 miles (40 km) south east of Sable Island heading for home. All 18 crew were killed.[189][190]
November[]
1 November[]
List of shipwrecks: 1 November 1897
Ship
Country
Description
United States
The dredge burned and sank at the foot of Twenty-Second Street, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in the Monongahela River.[191]
The steamer foundered in a heavy gale of rain and hail in Lake Erie 12 miles (19 km) above Long Point, Ontario in 7 fathoms (42 ft; 13 m) of water. Her Captain and 18 crew died. Two crewmen were rescued by (flag unknown) from her mast.[193][194][195]
7 November[]
List of shipwrecks: 7 November 1897
Ship
Country
Description
United States
The steamer struck a piling below a bridge at Sioux City, Iowa in the Missouri River and sank. Later raised and repaired.[196]
The steamer foundered at anchor in a gale in Saginaw Bay.[198]
12 November[]
List of shipwrecks: 12 November 1897
Ship
Country
Description
United States
The steamer struck an obstruction and sank to just over her main deck below Portsmouth, Ohio in the Ohio River. Declared a total loss after several unsuccessful attempts to raise her.[199]
13 November[]
List of shipwrecks: 13 November 1897
Ship
Country
Description
United States
The steamer struck a snag and sank at , a total loss.[200]
17 November[]
List of shipwrecks: 17 November 1897
Ship
Country
Description
United States
The steamer struck the pier of a railroad bridge and sank at Point Perry in the Monongahela River. Raised and repaired.[201]
The sternwheeler passenger/cargo steamer burned at Chester, Illinois in the Mississippi River, a total loss.[203][204]
United States
The steamer was caught in a three-daygGale that began on 16 November. she developed a significant leak on 17 November and was wrecked when rising water put out her fires after crossing the bar into Umpqua River on 18 November and went ashore, a total loss. All on board were rescued by the United States Life Saving Service.[205][206][207]
22 November[]
List of shipwrecks: 22 November 1897
Ship
Country
Description
United States
The schooner was sunk in a collision with the tug (United States) near the .[208]
United States
The schooner was sunk in a collision with (United States) in Boston Harbor in 30 feet (9.1 m) of water on the north side of the Main Channel, south of Governor's Island.[209][210]
United States
The passenger steamer struck the bank 15 miles (24 km) above Louisville, Kentucky with such force that she sank, a total loss.[211]
The steamer stranded on Point Abbaye in Lake Superior in a snowstorm. Pulled off on 30 November.[215]{[216]
27 November[]
List of shipwrecks: 27 November 1897
Ship
Country
Description
J. R. Silliman
United States
The barge, under tow of (United States), was sunk in a collision with (United States) between Watch Hill, Rhode Island and Fall River, Massachusetts. Her captain and a crewman drowned.[217]
United States
The schooner was sunk in a collision with the barge J. R. Silliman, under tow of (both United States) between Watch Hill, Rhode Island and Fall River, Massachusetts. The crew were rescued by Gertrude.[218]
29 November[]
List of shipwrecks: 29 November 1897
Ship
Country
Description
United States
The steamer burned to the waterline at Norfolk, Virginia.[219]
United States
The steamer caught fire at the Chicago and North West Dock No. 4 at Escanaba, Michigan. The dock caught fire and was destroyed along with 30 ore cars, and she was burned out. Two crewmen killed.[220][221][222]
Unknown date[]
List of shipwrecks: Unknown date November 1897
Ship
Country
Description
United States
The fishing schooner vanished after leaving Southwest Harbor, Maine in mid October, one source believes sank in a gale on the Georges Bank or Grand Banks on 12 November. Lost with all 14 crew.[223][224]
United States
The schooner sank on the in the gale of 12–13 November. Crew taken off by .[225]
United States
The schooner sank in the vicinity of the Kewaunee, Wisconsin Life Saving Station. Salvage started, with assistance of the United States Life Saving Service, on 21 September 1898 and hauled onto the ways on 28 September.[226]
United States
The fishing schooner was reported lost on 19 October on the Grand Banks of Newfoundland, or was last sighted on 22 November 25 miles (40 km) south east of Sable Island heading for home. All 18 crew were killed.[227][228]
The ship sank in a storm in the English Channel near the Goodwin Sands with the loss of eight lives.
United States
The schooner was spoken to a few days before the gale of 12–13 November and probably sank in it. Lost with all 16 hands.[229]
United States
The schooner left Provincetown, Massachusetts on 25 November and vanished. Lost with all 19 hands.[230]
December[]
2 December[]
List of shipwrecks: 2 December 1897
Ship
Country
Description
Friend to all Nations
United Kingdom
The Margatesurfboat capsized with the loss of nine of her 13 crew.[231] She was going to the assistance of Persian Empire (United Kingdom).[232]
Persian Empire
United Kingdom
The ship collided with a steamship and was beached on the Margate Sands, Kent. Her crew were rescued by the lifeboatQuiver (Royal National Lifeboat Institution.[232]
Belgium
The steamer collided at Antwerp, Belgium, with the sailing ship (United Kingdom) and sank. She was raised on 6 July 1900.[233]
5 December[]
List of shipwrecks: 5 December 1897
Ship
Country
Description
United States
The steamer, (also known as ), caught fire from a lantern exploding in the engine room. She was run aground 100 yards (91 m) off Greenwood Avenue, Evanston, Indiana and burned to the waterline, a total loss. Her engine was salvaged in 1898. Her wreck was removed in 1918.[234][235][236]
The steamer broke her shaft off the Columbia River and drifted ashore at , Vancouver Island, British Columbia. Refloated and taken to Quartermaster Harbor arriving on 5 January 1898. Her crew abandoned ship in her boats. One died of exposure. One boat with eight crew aboard disappeared and was lost. 13 crew and 2 passengers survived.[237]
United States
The freighter broke her rudder crossing the bar into Coquille River and went ashore, a total loss.[238]
7 December[]
List of shipwrecks: 7 December 1897
Ship
Country
Description
United States
The lighter filled and sank at dock at the foot of Sixteenth Street, New York City, New York, in the East River due to a tank being allowed to overfill. Raised and drydocked.[239]
9 December[]
List of shipwrecks: 9 December 1897
Ship
Country
Description
United States
The steamer caught fire over night, burned to the waterline and sank just below Plymouth, West Virginia in the Great Kanawha River, total loss.[240]
The steamer struck a snag and sank in the Mississippi River near the mouth of the Red River, a total loss.[242]
United States
The steamer struck a snag at Ober's Landing, Cross's Post Office, or Schleicher's Landing, 25 miles (40 km) below Natchez, Mississippi in the Mississippi River. Her bow was run onto the bank with the stern sunk in four feet (1.2 m) of water. Later raised.[243][244]
Susan P. Thurlow
United States
During a voyage from Hillsborough, New Brunswick, Canada, to New York City with a cargo of plaster rock, the 126-foot (38 m), 460-gross register ton three-mastedschooner was wrecked during a gale at night on a reef off the south end of Cushing Island in Casco Bay off the coast of Maine with the loss of six lives. Ove crewman survived.[245]
18 December[]
List of shipwrecks: 18 December 1897
Ship
Country
Description
United States
The tow steamer filled and sank at dock at the foot of One Hundred Thirty Third Street, New York City, New York in the Harlem River due to a tank being allowed to overfill.[246]
United States
The fishing schooner was lost off Newfoundland in a gale. All seven crew were killed.[247][248]
The laid up steamer caught fire, burned to the waterline and sank in three feet (0.91 m) of water at Paint Creek near Paintsville, Kentucky in the Big Sandy River, a total loss. Her machinery was salvaged and installed in the mill boat Ray.[254][255]
29 December[]
List of shipwrecks: 29 December 1897
Ship
Country
Description
United States
The tug was destroyed by fire while lying at Coeymans, New York.[256]
30 December[]
List of shipwrecks: 30 December 1897
Ship
Country
Description
Clarissa Radcliffe
United Kingdom
The 2,544 GRT steamer was on a voyage from Odessa to Rotterdam with a cargo of grain. The vessel met a gale off Cape St Vincent, the cargo shifted and the vessel sank with the loss of sixteen lives.
Unknown date[]
List of shipwrecks: Unknown December 1897
Ship
Country
Description
United States
The schooner was last sighted on 17 December, the day before a severe three-day gale set in. Lost with all seven hands.[257]
The Welsh schooner from Port Dinorwic was lost at Gurnard's Head, Cornwall.[259]
Mortera
Spain
The cargo ship was lost at the entrance to the harbor at Nuevitas, Cuba, in an accident caused by strong tides and currents.[260]
New Racket
United States
The approximately 50-foot (15.2 m) sternwheel paddle steamer was carried away and wrecked in the breakup of ice on the Yukon River in the Territory of Alaska in the spring of 1897, ending up on a stump about 0.25 miles (0.40 km) into the forest at the back of a blind slough about four miles (6.4 km) above the trading post at .[118]
Sapphire
United States
The 109-ton sealingschooner caught fire and exploded in the North Pacific Ocean 20 nautical miles (37 km; 23 mi) off Ucluelet, British Columbia. Her crew of four abandoned ship just before the explosion and survived.[261]
^Chesneau, Roger, and Eugene M. Kolesnik, Conway's All the World′s Fighting Ships, 1860-1905, New York: Mayflower Books, 1979, ISBN0-8317-0302-4, p. 404..
^Chesneau, Roger, and Eugene M. Kolesnik, Conway′s All the World′s Fighting Ships, 1860-1905, New York: Mayflower Books, 1979, ISBN0-8317-0302-4, p. 263.
^Chesneau, Roger, and Eugene M. Kolesnik, Conway′s All the World′s Fighting Ships 1860-1905, New York: Mayflower Books, 1979, ISBN0-8317-0302-4, p. 219.
^ Jump up to: abLengerer, Hans (September 2007). Ahlberg, Lars, ed. "The IJN's First Warship Order to a Foreign Country: Armoured Frigate Fusô and Belted Corvettes Kongô and Hiei – Part III". Contributions to the History of Imperial Japanese Warships (Paper III), p. 46.
^"Lost at sea". gloucester-ma.gov. Retrieved 21 May 2021.
^"MORLEY, GEORGE W. (1888, Steambarge)". Alpina County George N. Fletcher Public Library N.E. Michigan Oral History and Historic Photo Archive. Retrieved 7 April 2020.