Coyote

The Coyote was built in 1918 – 1919 and was used throughout her life as a coal steamer.  She was 267 ft long with a 40 ft beam and had an uneventful career until March of 1923 when she struck a rock while entering New Bedford harbor.  The cost of the repairs was decided to be more than the value of the ship, and she was sold for scrap.  After eight years, she finally capsized and sank at the dock, after which she was re-floated and towed out to the Boston dumping grounds and sunk in January of 1932.

 The wreck was located first by fishermen and subsequently confirmed as the Coyote by Capt. Eric Takakjian in 1989.  The hull is still largely intact, although almost all of the upper decking has collapsed.  It is a very large and impressive wreck with some very large timbers - the upper portions can be found at about 155 ft of water and the lowest at almost 180 ft.  Visibility is usually pretty good on this wreck at 20 ft, but because it is heavily fished it is usually covered in monofilament and should be navigated carefully.  It’s pretty hard to get lost on the wreck because the hull is completely intact, but it’s also hard to see the entire wreck on a single dive due to the size.  I’ve seen some very large lobster and scallops inside the wreck, and schools of cod are not uncommon, which is what makes it a popular fishing spot.  If you swim along the outside of the wreck, the muddy bottom is also interesting with large sections of mud tilting in different directions much like ice floes.

 Very close to the Coyote is another wreck named the “Pipe Wreck”, discovered accidentally in 2002 by divers from Northern Atlantic Dive Expeditions while trying to hook the Coyote.  It appears to be an old wooden dredge approximately 60 – 70 ft long and with a lot of what appears to be pumping equipment inside on the decks.  This wreck is pretty broken up, and obviously scuttled like the Coyote.  One dive was enough to satisfy our curiosity on this one – we recommend you stick with the Coyote, although I did happen to see a very impressive cod.