| Description: |
The remains of the Carringon, a pre-Civil War Great Lakes schooner, lie in 32-57 feet of water just off the southwest side of Hat Island shoal. A WHS seasonal mooring buoy marks the site.
On October 30, 1870, the schooner Carrington left Green Bay with a load of pig iron and shingles, bound for Chicago. Around 2 a.m., in a thick fog, Captain Connell mistook the Eagle Harbor light for the Green Island light and attempted to steer around the island. A half hour later, the Carrington struck the reef off the southwest point of Hat Island. With the vessel leaking badly, the crew secured the schooner and put off in a small boat for Menominee, fourteen miles away. Returning the next morning, the crew found the vessel in deeper water and rolled over on its port side�a total loss.
During the winter of 1871, salvage divers recovered about 125 tons of pig iron, but little else. More recently, the vessel has suffered extensive looting by recreational divers. Fortunately, some of the Carrington�s structure remains intact, and the vessel offers a rare glimpse into pre-Civil War Great Lakes ship construction. The Carrington is one of only 24 schooners among Wisconsin�s shipwrecks exhibiting an inverted ceiling arch, used to prevent the vessel�s ends from sagging.
|
