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Wreck of Frolic

United States

Position
About 39.4° N, 123.8° W (within about 10 km)
Sank
—
Cause
—
Depth
—

Protection status

Location generalised to protect a protected site

The position shown is generalised to within about 10 km. The exact position is not published.

Officially designated: National Register of Historic Places listed place.

Legal basis: National Register of Historic Places listed place.

How this was decided: Voydar's protection rules, from the sources we hold, confidence 90%. When in doubt, Voydar generalises the position.

The Frolic was a brig which sank northeast of Point Cabrillo, near Caspar, California. Historians have called it "the most significant shipwreck on the west coast". Its shipwreck site, later known as "Pottery Cove" or "Frolic Cove", was listed on the National Register of Historic Places as Frolic (brig) in 1991. The ship was built in Baltimore. It was on return from trading in China with a load of porcelain and perhaps opium when it sank. The opium-trading brig Frolic wrecked on a reef north of Point Cabrillo, a few miles from what is now Mendocino in 1850. Agents of Henry Meiggs investigated the wreck for salvageable cargo but found that anything of value had already been taken by the local Pomo people, possibly coming from Buldam near modern Mendocino.

History from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA.

About this wreck

Frolic is a recorded shipwreck site. Voydar shows wreck locations alongside live ship traffic, free, from Wikidata and public hydrographic records.

Other wrecks named Frolic

These wreck sites share the name Frolic. Until September 2026 they shared one web address; each now has its own page.

WreckLocationLostPosition
FrolicUnited Kingdom—57.7° N, 2.6° W

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