Further Reading
- Karamanski, Theodore J. Schooner Passage: Sailing Ships on the Lake Michigan Frontier, 2000. Wayne State University Press, Detroit, Michigan.
- Creviere, Paul J., Jr. Wild Gales and Tattered Sails: The Shipwrecks of Northwestern Lake Michigan From Two Creeks, Wisconsin To Dutch Johns Point, Michigan, and All of the Bay of Green Bay. 1997. Self published, Paul J. Creviere.
- Hirthe, Walter M. and Mary K. Hirthe. Schooner Days in Door County, 1986. Voyageur Press, Minneapolis, Minnesota.
- Labadie, C. Patrick and Charles E. Hernendorf. Wreck of the Scow Schooner W.R. Hanna: An Archaeological Investigation in Lake Erie at Kelleys Island, Ohio , 2004. Great Lakes Historical Society, Vermillion, Ohio.
- Olmstead, Roger R. Scow Schooner of San Francisco Bay, 1988. California History Center, Cupertino, California.
Tennie & Laura
Scow schooner
Tennie & Laura, courtesy Wisconsin Maritime Museum
The
Tennie & Laura was discovered in 1999 while searching for the lost fish tug
Linda E off Port Washington. Built in 1876 by Gunder Jorgenson in Manitowoc, the 73-foot scow schooner was bound for Milwaukee from Muskegon, Michigan with a load of lumber on August 2, 1903, when she founded in a storm off Port Washington, taking one of her crew with her. Resting in over 300 feet of water, this small scow schooner has only been tentatively identified as the
Tennie & Laura. As the most intact scow schooner located to date in Wisconsin waters, this site holds unlimited potential to learn about how these unique vessels were constructed, as well as how sailors lived and worked aboard small Lake Michigan coasting schooners.
Daniel Lyons
An unknown schooner, similar to the
Daniel Lyons, is towed into Milwaukee, courtesy Milwaukee Public library
The
Daniel Lyons was a traditional clipper-type schooner, built in Oswego, New York in 1873. Loaded with grain, the
Daniel Lyons was downbound from Chicago to Buffalo, New York, on October 18, 1878, when she collided with the
Kate Gillet during a clear, crisp night off Algoma. With the
Kate Gillet’s bow deeply impaled in the
Daniel Lyons’ side, the
Daniel Lyons’ crew climbed aboard the
Kate Gillet to watch their schooner sink in 95 feet of water. Today the
Daniel Lyons lies broken on the bottom, and excellent site to learn about Great Lakes schooner construction.
Ocean Wave
Scow schooner
Ocean Wave's bow, courtesy Tamara Thomsen
One of the newest shipwreck discoveries in Wisconsin, the scow schooner
Ocean Wave was inadvertently located in 2003 when a fishing vessel discovered a wooden mast entangled in its nets. Built on Harrison’s Island, Michigan in 1860, the
Ocean Wave was bound for White Lake, Michigan with a load of limestone from Moonlight Bay when she foundered in a storm just after 3:00 AM on September 23, 1869. Sinking quickly, the crew barely escaped in their yawl boat and paddled through the night, arriving safe, yet exhausted, at Whitefish Point that morning. Resting in 110 feet of water off Whitefish Point, the wreck is broken up, but the bow and bowsprit still stand upright, making a unique dive and excellent site to document scow schooner construction.
Iris
Scow schooner
Iris, courtesy Wisconsin Maritime Museum
The
Iris was a small 74-foot scow schooner built in 1866 in Port Huron, Michigan. She lead a long and interesting career as a coasting schooner, sailing out of Washington Island’s Detroit Harbor for much of her career. Much of what we know of the Iris is gleaned from contemporary accounts from the
Door County Advocate, including having been given up for lost on several occasions, the loss of Captain Anderson when he fell overboard in Milwaukee harbor, battling fierce Lake Michigan storms, collisions, and repeated changes of ownership. Having survived an amazing 47 years on the Great Lakes, the
Iris was eventually abandoned in Jackson Harbor in 1913 after having run aground. Today, her remains lie in 2 feet of water a short distance from the Rock Island Ferry Dock in Jackson Harbor.
Joys
Steam barge
Joys, courtesy Milwaukee Public Library
The steamer
Joys was built in 1884 at the Milwaukee Shipyard Company, and employed in the lumber trade between Menominee, Michigan and Milwaukee. A very efficient vessel for her day, during the 1892 season she made more than 50 round trips between the two cities, carrying 350,000 board feet of lumber each trip. On the night of December 24, 1898, the
Joys was laying over in Sturgeon Bay, awaiting calm weather to continue her return trip to Menominee, when she caught fire at the pier. The crew barely escaped with their lives, and the
Joys burned to the waterline and sank. Thereafter used as a breakwall for the Pankrantz Lumber Company, the remains of the
Joys lie in 10 feet of water off Sunset Park in Sturgeon Bay.
